Instead, why not arrest those responsible for this- namely the politicians that pass such laws, and the police and courts that have debased themselves for violating their oaths to uphold the U.S. Constitution?
From MPP:
The story I'm about to share with you sickens me. It's a story of how our government turns the prohibition of medical marijuana into an excuse for murdering a cancer patient.(excerpt)
Dallas resident Stephen Thorton was a thyroid cancer survivor who used marijuana to control chronic pain, eliminate nausea, and gain weight. In 2005, a federal court in Texas convicted Thorton of "possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance and for distributing marijuana and marijuana plants."
In other words, this cancer patient faced a federal prison sentence for having a gun that would have been legal except for the presence of marijuana, which he was using to treat a life-threatening illness.
Thorton fled Texas in late 2005, fearing that his prison term would undermine his battle against cancer -- and in the process became a fugitive who was wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service. He took up residence in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he continued to grow his medical marijuana. Last week, he was shot and killed by law enforcement officers in a drug raid at his home.
Investigators said they thought Thorton was the "kingpin" of a marijuana manufacturing ring.
You can read more about this latest victim of our government's war on marijuana users at http://control.mpp.org/site/R?i=qHADv-WKrjJpjR4sg4FMOQ.. .
When sheriff's deputies and ABC officers entered Thornton's home, they found evidence of a full-scale marijuana-growing operation, including 43 marijuana plants in various stages of growth, soil additives, lights and plant-growing chemicals, according to a search warrant made public Monday.
Thornton was wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service. He fled Texas in late 2005, before he was to be sentenced by a federal judge for possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance and for distributing marijuana and marijuana plants.
Texans for Medical Marijuana disbanded in May after two bills the group supported to legalize the medical use of marijuana stalled in the state legislature. Its former executive director, Noelle Davis, did not know Thornton but said that he was likely living with a lot of shame because he had to use an illegal substance for relief from his illness and that his fear of prison was probably compounded by the prospect of receiving inadequate medical treatment.
"It could have been a death sentence for him," said Davis, who now works as a consultant for the Marijuana Policy Project, the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States.
A Republican activist and medical marijuana advocate, Ann Lee of Houston, called Thornton a casualty of a failed war on drugs.
"They took a life because of it," said Lee, whose paraplegic son is a medical marijuana user. "Why have they spent $30 billion and not achieved a single goal?"
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