cannabisnews.com: Judge Places Gag Order On Convicted MMJ Patient!





Judge Places Gag Order On Convicted MMJ Patient!
Posted by FoM on June 25, 1999 at 08:15:40 PT
Norml's Weekly Update News!
Source: NORML
Venice, CA: An arthritis patient may smoke marijuana legally at his home while on probation, but faces two years in jail if he advocates the drug's use to others, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled earlier this week.
  "This is a case of misguided judicial activism," said NORML Foundation Litigation Director Tom Dean. "This case involves a patient who demonstrated full compliance with the law, yet was convicted of a criminal offense. No wonder the judge is concerned about word getting out."   A jury found patient Joe Kidwell guilty of cultivating 14 marijuana plants to treat arthritis and chronic pain. Kidwell possessed recommendations to use the drug from several area physicians, two of whom testified at his trial. Kidwell's attorneys are appealing his conviction, stating that the jury misunderstood the state's medical marijuana law, and that the judge's terms of probation violate the First Amendment.   "This was an illegal conviction," charged Ron Richards, one of Kidwell's attorneys. "A medical patient with a written doctor's recommendation is exempt from the ... laws that he was charged under. He has four written doctor recommendations and two [doctors] who testified on his behalf."   NORML Foundation's Dean agreed. "The jury decided to ignore the law and unlawfully substitute its judgment for that of the expert medical doctors who testified at trial," he said. "The judge's actions allowing Mr. Kidwell to be convicted of using marijuana while simultaneously giving him permission to use marijuana are irreconcilable."   Judge Albert Matthews also ordered Kidwell to cease all operations at the First Hemp Bank Distribution Network, a Venice "buyers' club" that distributes medical marijuana to patients who possess a doctor's recommendation.   For more information, please contact Tom Dean, Esq. of The NORML Foundation   (202) 483-8751. Judge Matthew's Reefer Madness Ruling! http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread1773.shtml
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