Charles Lynch Sentencing Postponed In Medical Marijuana Case

Sentencing delayed in medical marijuana case

Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

Charles Lynch speaks with supporters outside federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday. The judge heard from several character witnesses, including one of Lynch’s patients and the patient’s father.

A federal judge says he’s inclined to impose less than the required five years on Charles Lynch, who ran a Morro Bay dispensary. Lawyers are given time to file briefs before a June hearing.

By Scott Glover
April 24, 2009

The sentencing of a man who has become a key figure in the national debate over medical marijuana was postponed Thursday, with a federal judge saying he was inclined to impose a more lenient sentence than the five years required by federal sentencing guidelines, but questioning whether he had the authority to do so.

“If I could find a way out, I would,” U.S. District Judge George H. Wu said. He gave lawyers in the case until June 2 to file briefs regarding the impending sentence of Charles Lynch.

Lynch, 47, ran a medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay on the Central Coast in 2006 and 2007. Despite having the blessing of the city’s mayor and other public officials, he was charged with violating federal drug laws for distributing marijuana and was convicted by a federal court jury in Los Angeles last year.

At the hearing Thursday, Wu heard from several character witnesses, including one of Lynch’s patients and the young man’s father.

“I stand before you today because I believe a man is being punished for reasons that don’t make much sense,” said Owen Beck, whose parents took him to Lynch’s Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers when he was battling bone cancer at age 17. “I believe a great injustice is being done.”

Beck’s father, Steven, told Wu that the chemotherapy his son was undergoing was having devastating side effects.

“He could not eat. He could not sleep. His personality became dark and angry,” the elder Beck said. He told the judge they decided to try medical marijuana on the advice of their son’s Stanford University oncologist. He said Lynch usually gave them marijuana for free or at deeply discounted rates.

“I never felt as though Charlie was there for the money,” Beck said.

Such testimony was not allowed at Lynch’s trial because the Supreme Court has ruled that a claim of medical necessity is not a valid defense.

Janice Peters, the mayor of Morro Bay, described Lynch as a “polite, compassionate” man who did everything the city asked of him with respect to his business.

Rob Schultz, the town’s city attorney said he received only one complaint about Lynch the whole time he was in business “and that had to do with the quality of the medical marijuana.”

The comment drew loud laughter from Lynch’s supporters, who packed the courtroom, many of them wearing green ribbons with the word “compassion” printed on them.

Cultivating, using and selling doctor-recommended medical marijuana is allowed under some circumstances in California and a dozen other states, but federal law bans the drug altogether.

Though Lynch was not charged with violating state law, prosecutors contend that he broke the law because he was not truly a “primary caregiver” entitled to dispense marijuana to patients and that he profited from the operation of his business.

Much of the discussion Thursday dealt with whether Wu was required to sentence Lynch to a mandatory minimum of five years or whether the defendant was entitled to a lesser sentence under a so-called safety valve.

The next hearing in the case, which the judge said would be the last, is scheduled for June 11.

scott.glover@latimes.com

How to Find the Best Medical Marijuana Doctors

From the Medical Marijuana Blog

Medical marijuana has been through a long road of controversy, and the field and study still have a long way to go. Currently about a fourth of US states allow patients to take medical marijuana legally for various medical conditions. The scientific evidence keeps piling up in favor of medicinal cannabis, and many patients are seeing vast improvement in their symptoms with this treatment.

Studies have shown that medical marijuana can aid in reducing symptoms of terminal illnesses such as AIDS and cancer, by helping pain and nausea from treatment and also increasing appetite. Some doctors and researchers also believe that cannabidol can help anxiety, glaucoma, depression, arthritis, convulsion and inflammation. Each new study that comes out finds new possible ways medicinal cannabis can help those who need it.

If you would like to be evaluated by a doctor to see if medical marijuana would help you, ask your current doctor for an evaluation. If you have a condition where this medicine has been used as a treatment, your doctor may give you a recommendation to try medical cannabis.

In the states that have laws deeming this practice legal, there may also be medical marijuana doctors who have a specialty in seeing patients interested in obtaining treatment. Many argue that these doctors are the best ones to go to, if this treatment is what you seek. When researching doctors, look for those that are medical cannabis specialists though before you go see one, you should already have a diagnosis and medical records from your regular doctor.

To find the best medical marijuana doctor in your area, look to a trusted source for recommendations. The WeedMaps.com website has a list of trustworthy cannabis doctors in California. The Marijuana Medicine Evaluation Center also has a list of doctors at their seven Southern California locations.

If you do not have a Marijuana Medicine Evaluation Center clinic in your area, specialty wellness clinics may also have medical cannabis specialists at their offices. Look for the words holistic, wellness, or natural care in the office name. These types of clinics often participate in non-traditional treatments for their patients and may be able to help you with a consultation.

The patient card is becoming the favored form of identification for medical marijuana patients, as it is much smaller and easier to carry around than the recommendation letter. This more discreet form of ID can be shown at medicinal clinics to obtain medicine and has all the information necessary on it, including your photo and an expiration date.

To obtain a patient card from somewhere other than a clinic, you can go through the state. You will need to fill out an application in most cases and pay a fee check with your local county office to see what kind of identification is needed to fill out the application and obtain the medical marijuana card. Usually you will want to contact the local Public Health office in your county.

As more scientific studies keep being published, we will most likely see more and more doctors recommending the use of medical cannabis to reduce symptoms of many painful diseases. The controversy of medical marijuana as a treatment will decrease with time, as it often does with new treatments.

Using the internet to find a medical marijuana doctor is still the most common way. Directory listings may not give much information, but seeing which doctors trusted cannabis foundations like the Marijuana Medicine Evaluation Center recommend can narrow the list down. Call to make your consultation appointment, and you can be on your way to receiving treatment.

Please let us know your thoughts on having a specialist medical marijuana doctor, treat your medical conditions.

Florida Medical Marijuana Petition is Certified

Political Action Committee pushes for medical marijuana use in Florida


The Political Action Committee (PAC) People United For Medical Marijuana (PUFMM) pushes for legalized medical marijuana use in Florida

Florida residents with debilitating illnesses would have the option of treating their pain and symptoms with medical marijuana if Florida becomes the next state to allow its use for medicinal purposes.

A petition is circulating now for signatures seeking to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2010 ballot posing the issue of allowing the seriously ill to use legalized medical marijuana (lmm) for medical treatment.

The Florida Division of Elections last week approved the petition for PUFMM (PAC) proposing the amendment, thus allowing People United for Medical Marijuana to start collecting voters’ signatures.

“Our first threshold is to get close to 68,000 signatures to give to the (Florida) Supreme Court for their approval,” said Kim Russell, founder and chairwoman of the committee. “By Feb. 1, we must have 700,000 signatures.”

Russell, a stay-at-home mother who lives in Orlando became involved in the cause because of her father’s diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. Legalized Medical Marijuana can help stop the further degeneration associated with the illness.

She is confident enough registered Florida voters will sign the petition necessary to get the amendment question on the ballot. The group also hopes to raise $5 million to promote the cause.

The petition language says nobody would be deprived or penalized for the cultivation, purchase, use or possession of medical marijuana in connection with the treatment of diseases or illnesses when its use was recommended by a physician.

Supporters tried in 1998 to get a medical marijuana question on the ballot but it didn’t make it. At that time, Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) and other groups said campaigns are couched as a compassionate plea for the sick and dying but are really designed to be a foothold for a bigger objective of full blown legalization of marijuana.

The police chief’s association has not addressed the latest petition and will not revisit it now, according to Amy Mercer, a spokeswoman for the association. If it does become a legislative issue, then the group will take it up again.

Meanwhile, the association’s 1998 position against medical marijuana still stands, she said.

Russell says misconceptions about marijuana for medicinal purposes can be blamed on the federal government labeling it decades ago as a Schedule 1 drug with no medicinal value. Instead, it was lumped together with other drugs such as LSD and cocaine.

“It’s been proven time and time again to have lots of medicinal uses,” she said.

According to the PUFMM PAC, there are 1.7 million seriously ill people in Florida who could benefit from medcial marijuana be provided relief from their pain. Medical Marijuana could help stop the spread of breast cancer, treat arthritis, glaucoma and other conditions. In Parkinson’s patients, it stops tremors and prevents further deterioration.

The American Medical Association last December at a House of Delegates meeting in Orlando “referred for study” proposed action to support reclassifying of marijuana and urged law enforcement agencies to stop prosecuting doctors and patients in medical marijuana states.

The Florida Medical Association in 1997 endorsed medical marijuana when the issue was in California and recanted the position shortly afterward, Russell said. A spokesman for the FMA on Friday could not say what the association’s current position is on medical marijuana.

Thirteen states have passed medical marijuana laws; most recently in Michigan last November where a two-thirds majority of voters approved a ballot proposition to allow people with serious or terminal illnesses to use marijuana if certified by a doctor. If the issue gets on the Florida ballot and is passed by voters, Russell said she would like to see the law modeled after Oregon which has experienced a low abuse rate.

The Medical Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., says the American College of Physicians, the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association and the Leukemia/Lymphoma Association are among groups that support medical marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The PAC’s Web site is http://www.pufmm.org/ and the petition can be downloaded, printed and mailed back to the group.