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Charlie Lynch appeal gets help

July 11, 2012

Charles Lynch

An appeal of the federal conviction of former Morro Bay medical marijuana dispensary owner Charles C. Lynch has been joined by a national advocacy organization.

Oakland-based Americans for Safe Access (ASA) filed an amicus “friend of the court” brief Tuesday in San Francisco’s 9th Circuit Court.

Lynch’s establishment, Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers, enjoyed widespread community support and endorsement from local government, but fell afoul of federal enforcement of anti-pot laws. The dispensary was shut down in 2007 and Lynch was later arrested, tried and convicted. His sentence of one year and one day in a federal prison will be argued on appeal this winter.

“We feel strongly that the federal government is abusing its prosecutorial discretion on medical marijuana cases like Lynch’s,” said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, who filed the brief in support of Lynch. “These types of prosecutions against medical marijuana providers continue unabated under the Obama Administration based on more than 70 such indictments since the president took office.”

ASA has filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration to reclassify medical marijuana, now considered a Schedule I drug. The federal government’s present position is that marijuana has “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States,” and has a “high potential for abuse.”


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Seventy-five percent of our nation is Christian. We’re told that this is a Christian nation. The Republicans, are for the most part, Christian. So, the obvious question has to be asked. WHEN IN THE HELL ARE THE REPUBLICANS GOING TO PRODUCE A BILLTHAT LEGALIZES MARIJUANA RELATIVE TO BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES?!


“Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you.” (Genesis 1:29)


“For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected.” This says that “Mary Jane” is good and is not to be rejected. Get it? (1Timothy 4:4)


This Hebrew-Christian God-given food and medicine should be readily available and inexpensive to His creation. Any hungry or sick and suffering person that could benefit from it should do so without paying either the exorbitant prices caused by its illegality, their arrest, or caused by pharmaceutical company profits.


Drug companies ask astronomical prices for a largely ineffective artificial substitutes for different maladies. Jesus said, “You can not serve God and mammon”, (Mat 6:24). Mammon is money. The mammon in marijuana prohibition is greed and profit!!! 2+2=4.


“Mary Jane” should be received with gratitude. “For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude.” (1 Tim 4:4) If you would like to see grateful people, you will find them wherever marijuana has reduced pain, helped with blindness, whose tumors have shrunk or disappeared, whose depression is vanquished, or have just gathered in happiness to share each other’s loving company by toking some pot!


Republicans, since you’re not keeping your promise in creating job bills subsequent to your take over of Congress in 2010, at least do something worthwhile by following biblical axioms and legalize pot!


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Ted, that is excellent. Except for one critical detail, I STRONGLY agree. This is beautifully written and very a propos. The Bible can be a very powerful weapon in argument.


The one relatively minor disgreement that I have is that, though your criticism of the Republicans is quite welcome in my book, I don’t think that they alone are standing in the way of this. The D’s are just as much to blame. Since I don’t buy into the Democrat/Republic paradigm (I’m a Libertarian), I look beyond old party labels to those much more powerful who control both parties.


Other than that, I think you are RIGHT ON TARGET.


Bravo.


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Gimlet,


Yes, the bible is a very powerful tool that many pseudo-christians don’t want to see in many cases. It proves without a doubt that 99.99 percent of all Christians are hypocrites to the word, and we all know what Jesus thought about hypocrites! They’re cultural Christians, in name only.


The hell bound Republicans are blocking anything that is voted upon in countless of ways! Just check out the link below and read the headings to see the obvious pattern.


http://www.google.com/search?q=republicans%20vote%20small%20business%20bill%20down&sourceid=mozilla2&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8


It makes me even sicker to see the Democrats not sticking together at times as well. Reagan and Nixon are spinning in their graves at the actions the current Republican Party.


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The ‘war on drugs’ has become another political bullet-point at taxpayer expense. A Prohibition is problematic when logic is ignored and truth subverted.


Many law enforcement personnel I know recognize the waste of resources and goodwill that result from a disproportionate emphasis on drug enforcement. In fact, an international law enforcement group, (www.leap.cc/), presents a strong case against certain prohibitions.


The sad fact is that much of the power/wealth realized by the Mexican drug cartels flows from the high-dollars per-ounce sale of the forbidden marijuana. Review our history from 1920 to 1933 and the prohibition of alcohol. Nothing good came from it, unless you were part of the beginnings of nations’ organized crime families.


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Our federal government is a croc of you know what. The ignorant woman who heads the DEA was asked, “What is more harmful, heroin or marijuana?” And she refused to answer one way or the other. Our government is so bought out by public employee unions, corrupt prison guard unions, public funded California Narcotic Officer’s Association, private prisons, etc.. All of them can rot in hell as far as I am concerned. All these complete idiots will stand up for big pharma, big tobacco, and alcoholic beverage companies because their jobs depend on prohibition of marijuana that has to date never caused an overdose. But Noooooo………Let them keep defending the trillion dollar war on drugs thanks to that watergate ahole Nixon. Sorry for the rant but this is getting old like our lame president.


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It has to be all political as a schedule 1. It makes zero sense medically speaking. The current president and as well as Governor Christy have announced the war on drugs is a failure and new strategy has to be employed. MJ can be both medicinal and recreational if politicians and physicians could work together.


To date, the UK has a lead on the USA


http://www.gwpharm.com/Sativex.aspx


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What is the government’s present position on tobacco? It is highly addictive, causes serious medical conditions and death, has extended dangers to those suffering from 2nd hand smoke. Nothing good comes from tobacco products…except the money the government gets from taxing the hell out of it. If our government wants to convince me they have my best health interest at heart, they must first prohibit all tobacco products. THEN they can come to me to discuss the possible dangers of medical marijuana.


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From the article: “The federal government’s present position is that marijuana has “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States,” and has a “high potential for abuse.””

Therein lies the heart of the problem; with the current classification as a Schedule 1 Drug, no medical research can legally happen in the US, so it is very easy for the government to make such a foolish proclamation, facts be dammed. Or one could give credence to the use of cannabis that is not heated; it is apparently in the heating of cannabis that the “THC” is released, and that is where the “high” comes from. So using unheated cannabis that does not give the user a high should be considered, but cannot as long as the federal government keeps the Schedule 1 Drug classification on the books.

If one is interested, here again is a link I found here one time: Juicing Cannabis for health.


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