Colorado Juror: Medical Marijuana Case A Waste Of Resources
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August 16, 2009
If you’re confused over the term ‘jury nullification’, a prime example of such emerged from a courtroom in Boulder, Colorado last week. Many legal and sociology experts recognize a significant change in society by whether or not juries, made up of one’s local peers, will continue to enforce what many in a society have come to believe are bad and/or antiquated laws.
Throughout America’s relatively short history, when elected policymakers and bureaucrats are not responsive to the will of the citizens or pass laws not supported by society, citizens sitting on a jury have an absolute right to vote their conscience, which also means in effect nullifying the law by not voting for conviction.
The effect of this becomes abundantly clear when jurors consistently refuse to convict so-called ‘criminal offenders’, and numerous examples abound from prior civil rights movements in America: Abolitionists, Women’s Sufferage, Minority Rights and Access To The Vote and Gay/Lesbian.
In time, and NORML is observing this right now around the country in ever-increasing amounts, prosecutors are having an increasingly harder time winning criminal convictions for ‘crimes’ a majority of the citizens do not in fact believe is a crime.
Want to know more about the awesome power each of us possess as jurors to stop ‘bad’ laws from their continued enforcement? Check out FIJA!
I want to personally thank ‘D. Walters, Erie, CO’ for both voting their conscience while sitting in judgment of a fellow cannabis consumer, and for letting their fellow citizens in the Boulder area know via a letter-to-the-editor what a waste of time and valuable social resources cannabis prohibition enforcement is for the criminal justice system.
Medical marijuana case a waste of resources
Posted by Camera staff in Tuesday, August 11th 2009I was a member of the jury on the medical marijuana case and beg to differ with Mr. Garnett’s assessment as presented in this Open Forum on Tuesday.
This case was both a waste of taxpayer money and a travesty of justice that the charges against this man were ever brought in the first place. First of all, Mr. Garnett’s assertion that the jury found “that the amount of marijuana in Mr. Lauve’s home was medically necessary” is an inaccurate statement. The job of the prosecution was to prove that the amount in possession was NOT medically necessary and that Mr. Lauve was aware that he was in violation of the law. The prosecution presented absolutely NO EVIDENCE regarding either point of law. They brought no witnesses to show that the amount was not medically necessary. They did not even assert that the amount was not medically necessary. In fact, they prevented the defense from offering evidence regarding medical necessity. The prosecution did not even attempt to assert that Mr. Lauve knew the amount was excessive or suggest that he was doing anything inappropriate with the ‘excess’.
This jury admired Jason Lauve for standing up to an unfair prosecution. The physical, emotional and legal costs to Jason Lauve of defending himself do not seem to be of concern of Mr. Garnett.
And the cost to taxpayers? 4 full days spent by a judge, two prosecutors, a bailiff, a clerk, a detective, assorted police officers and 12 jurors! Plus laboratory time and expense to prove that it was ‘real’ marijuana. All of us could have spent these 4 days doing something that actually involved prosecuting a crime.
D. Walters
Erie93 Responses to “Colorado Juror: Medical Marijuana Case A Waste Of Resources”
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Bravo. I too would never convict anyone for possession of cannabis for medical use. It’s just plain ignorant to do so.
Bravo.I would never convict anyone for possession of cannabis for medical or personal use. It’s just plain ignorant to do so.
P.S. Boycott Obama 2012
Can this also be used for other cannabis cases not just medical?
Right On, now that’s what we have been screaming about this whole time! Its ALL prosecution with seemingly no chance of defense and such a Huge waste of money and time! I’m re leaved to know that at least a portion of the law is still in the taxpayers hands. This is truly where a difference can be made…in the belly of the beast or as we call it, Court.
I completely agree it is a complete waste of resources, let alone a doctor allowed him to have possession of it, its insane that prosecutions are still going on for this victim-less offense. This needs to end.
i would never convict anyone for possession of any amount of cannabis for any reason…..its a non lethal plant that is used by tens of millions of americans for an array or different reasons. you are never going to stop drugs… never! its impossible…. prohibition does not work…. you would think this country would know that by now….if using cannabis does nothing but make you relaxed and melts away stress at the end of the day then that is a good reason to use it….. other option? drink alcohol and have a greater risk overall of going to prison, mainly for beating your wife after a hard days work and some whiskey
Few people realize they have this power, Jury nullification, it is, I believe the way to end this prohibition. Educate your friends and the walls will fall.
Bill
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legalize cannabis & hemp in california 2010. http://californiacannabisinitiative.org/
Good job! Way to stand up the the “man” in his own house! I applaud your efforts and support your case!!!
I too would never convict any one for smoking medical
pot or pot at all. This is just another fool like Benton, who should be voted out. If you live in Colorado u know what u have to do. Run him out of court! (added by Mobile using Mippin)
This is just sick. Somebody has to make sure he gets fire or run him out of court before he does anymore damage to anybody. (added by Mobile using Mippin)
It seems law enforcement will do anything and spend anything to prosecute anyone connected with medical marijuana. Sacramento CA DA has assembles a legal team at the cost of many tens of thousands to prosecute Adrienne Simone; San Diego DA has spent hundreds of thousands on a sting operation called Operation Green RX to prosecute Donna Lambert and Eugene Davidovich and is trying to overturn CA medical marijuana laws. Three lives torn apart and millions collectively spent in counties that are broke and a state that is bankrupt, while gangsters rob people on the street at gunpoint and homes are invaded almost daily.
Jury nullification. Jury nullification. JURY NULLIFICATION! Learn it and spread the word!
Hoorraa! I wouldnt convict anyone of any crime involving cannabis. I will welcome the day I would be called for a case on this. Its in our hands people.we do have the power.
I applaud Mr. Walters for having common sense. I am always on the open forums of the local news discussing case after case of wasted police time and taxpayer money, yet in my area it continues. wasted money prosecuting non-criminals. All those who believe in our cause should never get themself out of jury duty. Nullify!
Finally some good news! Good to hear!
Just like that, the people have had enough.
“Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against marijuana in private for personal use.” –President Jimmy Carter; Message to Congress. August 2nd, 1977
Would Jimmy support us today? We need someone to ask the first black president why racist laws do not bother him.
YAY!! for standing up for patients!
Thank you , we need more brave people out there to stand up and wit patients
I don’t care if it’s for medical use or not. I would never convict anyone for possessing cannabis. It’s just plain ignorant to do so.
Hear, hear!
This story hits home with me because my sister recently served on a jury that prosecuted a man for marijuana she feels that the laws are unjust but she said guilty because she didn’t want them to suspect her of useing marijuana(though she has), I guess my point is as long as we accept unjust laws for fear of legal or social prosicution nothing will change. (added by Mobile using Mippin)
It’s not a war on (some) drugs it’s a war on minorities to replace lost slave labor with prison labor. Read tinyurl.com/1mn
im happy for wut they did, im glad they had a heart.
Oh I’m so jealous he got to be a juror on such a case. I would love to be a juror in ANY case let alone a drug offense so I could stand up against the tyranny of the drug war. I would finally have power to make a difference in the legal system instead of being a victim in such system for doing something that is clearly not a crime.
We the ppl ! Great job Boulder ! Shame it had to go that far though ! Maybe after a few of these wasted court proceadures they’ll figure it out ……. this is a BIG WAST OF RESOURSES ! My friend got busted for weed a long time ago & he just sold weed to pay his fines & court costs …… made Sinsemilla to me !
Good, I’m glad to see more focus being brought onto the option of jury nullification. Not only does the offender stand trial, but the law itself.
Convicting the offender will leave them with a criminal record, which may include jail time, lose drivers license, lose job, have your children taken away, no be able to vote (to change these prohibition laws) and much more.
If the jury doesn’t believe the severity of the punishment fits the severity of the crime, then they can return a verdict of not guilty, by jury nullification. This is one of the few great way we can fight back from within the system, to ultimately change it.
I wouldn’t convict anyone for cannabis use PERIOD.
that’s great everyone needs to stand up like this and make it known you can’t get in trouble for your decision as a jury member
as it stands i wont convict any one on any marijuana charge not until they change most of the laws the average pot head is not a criminal so i can’t help a system that labels me and my friends scum of society
i wouldnt convict n e one with small amounts medicaly or not
this is the next step in protest of the unfair laws. this is basic states rights.
This is a very interesting post. Thanks so much for everything you guys do. I read the blog every day, and I very much appreciate your efforts to end cannabis prohibition.
However, I’d like to strongly suggest that you find a good copyeditor. Twice in this article, you write the phrase “vote your conscious,” which should obviously be “vote your conscience.” I hate to say it, but typos and misspellings like this occur frequently here on NORML.org and, as the preeminent site working for the reform of marijuana laws, clean copy would go a long way towards gaining the increasing respect of the educated public and the media. I often share posts with friends, but it can be pretty embarrassing when articles have several glaring errors, particularly considering the stereotype of the dumb, lazy, careless pothead that we are all trying so hard to change. I say this not for the sake of being critical, but to aid the truly important cause for which NORML is so valiantly fighting. Thanks for everything that you do and keep up the great work!
[Editor’s note: Thanks for pointing out a typo. However you’re too hyper-vigilant about the entire image of NORML, or cannabis consumers, because of a blog typo…the NYT and WSJ have dozens of professional copy editors, and yet these papers of record have typos every single day…do you not forward those articles/columns/blog posts to your friends out of possible fear of reflected embarrassment? Content is king, typos are minor.
NORML does over 2,000 media interviews a year and no editor, producer, or writer has ever expressed a concern about a typo or rare misuse of a word…
:>)
Finally someone with common sense!
The problem is that most juries don’t get to hear if someone is using it for medical purposes. Secondly, what happened to a harm for a harm, and who is being harmed. I think we all must only convict if the charge is brought by another citizen…such as someone giving food to another individual without telling them that MJ is in it, those sort of things. If it is just a defendant and the police, or the state, then corruption can be assumed as a possibility and beyond a shadow of a doubt is not proved.
If not guilty becomes the norm, any state would reconsider the budget used against private possession arrests.
At last there are some good news to calm people down.
i wouln’t convict a medical marijuana user either. That’s like taking chemo from a cancer patient, or dialysis from a person waiting for a kidney.
I think you meant “voting their conscience”.
I could have figured out if the marijuana was “real” in about 2 minutes for free, let me know next time.
Honestly, it shouldn’t even matter if it were used medically or not. Pot is less harmful and less addicting than alcohol, and I know this through having to do a 5 page research paper on it for a college class. If anything, it makes more sense to have pot legal over alcohol. Pot doesn’t intoxicate to the point in where you swerve over the lines or go through stop signs like someone under the influence of alcohol. Crime would be reduced considering the fact that a lot of gangs would go out of business, and there would be less violence since the only reason violence is caused from it, is that people have to solve issues with violence, since going to a lawyer or a cop isn’t an option with it being illegal. Just legalize it already, jesus.
Enlighten the people generally,and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish evil spirits at the dawn of day . T.J.
Enlighten the people generally,and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day . T.J.
please always stop these crimnal police from prosicution of any marijuana cases.lets put a end to these dispicable proffiteeres in human misery.
If you are the writer of this article, it might be a good idea to see why someone else is claiming to have written the same article here:
http://www.medicalpot.net/?p=3132
[Editor's note: The webpage is apparently ripping off existing content, claiming 'greenmachine' posted it and then sell Google ads...pretty unethical and bad karma. Thanks!]
Many of the supporters of medicinal marijuana believe that legalization is the next logical step, that industrial production of cannabis can revolutionize US economy and improve social life of many as a medicine, as an employement opportunity and simply as a recreational activity.
There are many claims that there has not been enough studies that could provide positive data on marijuana. In fact, marijuana has been in use for thousands of years and under pretty close watch for the last 40 years, with US government taking particular interest in this category 1 drug. Why???
Based on information available on the web, several books and documentaries, some might come to these conclusions….
1. Private Prison Security has been a gold mine for many investors, with over 200 new prisons built, each billions of dollars to build and to maintain, most of it government funded with tax payers money. Legalization of marijuana will destroy current prison systems and will make the War on Drugs unnecessary. Private prisons has been pouring money back into government to make sure that number of arrests and imprisoned does not decrease, and they been doing a great job since the number of inmates in US has been steadily growing year after year. US has 5% of worlds population and 25% of worlds prisoners. Really a staggering number. US imprisons 760 out of 100,000 while Japan imprisons 70 people out of same 100,000. At this rate by 2020 we will have 50% of all the inmates in the world. So we are paying government to throw us in jails so some people can make money off of us. So putting people in prisons has nothing to do with taking criminals off the streets but has everything to do with making crazy money. Law enforcement agents themselves admit that if Marijuana would be legalized there would be no need for suck huge task force and so many DEA agents, as a matter of fact the War on Drugs would pretty much end because we would need a fraction of law enforcement and DEA agents that are out there today and majority of them are doing marijuana busts. So legalize pot and half the prisons will need to shut down, more than half of the DEA agents would loose their jobs, police force would have to be reduced, and even DA and prosecutors will have to take a cut. When interviewed, almost every single drug dealer will confess that they would have to see marijuana legalized as it would mean serious financial losses to them. Ironic that most police officers also object marijuana legalization. So drug dealers and law enforcement are on the same side. Does that make any sense?
2. Pharmaceutical companies are spending billions of dollars every year to make sure marijuana stays illegal. They have 3 lobbyists for every member of congress, shouldnt be too hard to sway those congressmen the right way. Pharmaceutical companies are the biggest global revenue maker with over 600 billion in revenue each year globally and over 400 billion in US alone. Pharmaceutical companies make their money by patenting biochemical substances, and here comes the issue, Marijuana is ALL NATURAL, no company can parent it in it’s natural form. It is also proven that Marijuana is most effective in it’s natural state. Pharmaceutical companies have been going bananas for the last 20 years trying to make a drug that can replace cannabis, at the same time they claiming that marijuana has no medical use in it’s natural form. It doesnt make sense untill you realize that they cant make money off of the marijuana but they can sell us some pills that contain man-made THC and that would be fine because it’s no longer marijuana. Even government funded a 10 year research to come up with a substitute for marijuana, some of you might have heard about it “marinol”, and US government continues to develop man-made substitutes for marijuana, which costs millions to research and thousands to manufacture, again paid by the tax payers. Yet marijuana remains under category 1 drug which by the definition means “no known medical use”. Uhhhh what???? So free medicine is bad for the market and bad for the government. So how can they allow every American to grown their own medicine? Does that make sense?
3. Oil producing companies and their CEOs are shaking in their beds at the thought of legal marijuana, one of the best sources for bio fuel. Some scientist believe that with the use of solar, wind, water energy and natural bio fuels such as corn and marijuana, we can completely stop using fossil fuels. No more depleted resources no more green house effect no more OIL WARS. Oh but wait, that’s bad for the oil companies who also happen to pour billions of dollars into our government and if i’m not mistaken half the people in the government are investing into oil companies. So another red light for legalization. Marijuana also happens to be the best material for high quality paper, declaration of independence was written on paper made from cannabis stem. We can also make 4 times pore, higher quality paper, from 1 acre of cannabis stem than from the same amount of trees. We can save the amazon rain forests and protect many other endangered regions where deforestation has become hazardous to the environment. Aside from paper, cannabis stem can be used to produce over 20 household items, including clothing, rope, cellophane. So why are we still cutting down trees? why are we still fighting for oil? when we have a natural resource that is easy to grow, produce and manufacture. Does that make any sense?
4. Last but not least we cant forget about the BOOZE which is totally legal and socially acceptable. For those who know a bit about history, would know that alcohol wasnt always as legal and regulated as it is today. Prohibition of 1930s created chaos in american society, organized crime pretty much took off because of the prohibition. There was more booze sold than ever and more crimes related to booze than ever. It didnt take long for government to realize that prohibition has to end. So why havent we learned that prohibition doesnt work, especially on something that has such huge demand. By prohibiting anything, government is creating inflated market which is a spawning ground for criminals who see easy money, and with increasing demand more and more people are drawn into the criminal underworld.Which is exactly what happened with alcohol prohibtion. Yet, our government insist that prohibition of marijuana is the best course of action. Best course of action for who? Some people gladly admit that they would rather smoke a joint than have a couple of shots. So it would make sense that BOOZE sales will drop as well if marijuana is legalized and regulated similar to booze. Almost every american will admit that every once in a while after work, every day for some, they would come home and enjoy a glass of whisky or rum of whatever drink that helps them to take the edge off. So if an adult can responsibly enjoy a drink, why another adult cant responsibly enjoy a joint.Does that make sense?
Marijuana is by far one of the most useful natural resources and is one of the most problematic ones, as it it completely natural and does not require large investments for industrial, medicinal or recreational use. Legalizing marijuana is like taking billions of dollars from the government and all the private prisons, tobacco, pharmaceuticals and oil companies and putting that money into people’s hands. If marijuana is legalized, it’s value will decrease and with everyone growing their own stash, the demand will drop and eventually no one will be able to get rich off of it, other than industrial production of stem which can become a huge industry employing hundres of thousands if not millions of tax paying americans all across US..
So for every reason why marijuana should be legal we can find very strong opposition, very rich opposition and opposition in high places in the government.
FREE WEED FOR THE PEOPLE. PUT THE MONEY BACK IN OUR POCKETS AND NOT PHARMACEUTICALS OR PRIVATE PRISONS. STOP POLLUTING AND DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT. STOP PUMPING OIL AND GROW WEED INSTEAD. STOP SELLING US MEDS THAT MAKES US SICK, LET US GROW OUR OWN ALL NATURAL MEDICINE. STOP THROWING US IN JAIL FOR ACTIONS THAT SHOULD NOT EVEN BE CONSIDERED A CRIME, STOP THE WAR ON MARIJUANA AND FIND A DRUG WORTHY OF DESTROYING. GIVE US GOVERNMENT THAT SUPPORTS US, THE PEOPLE AND NOT THE LOBBYIST WHO REPRESENT CORPORATIONS.
FREE AMERICA FOR FREE PEOPLE
Well prosecution of any type of cannabis related offense is getting damn tiring. I truly wonder how much longer we have to wait till stoner emancipation. I went to a anti pot site last nite for parents just to see what theyd say and i gotta say its was a feeble attempt at scare tactics and propaganda.
Common sense prevails
Precedent is never set in stone. It is litigated according to agenda and regulation. When that is changed it is called precedent. The precedent attacks the agenda’s ability to regulate with law. It is we the people who have forgiven our stewardship of this personal right so far. Our young adults know the truth about cannabis and can in choice rebuke false claims by physical action. We are here, the time is now and its more important than ever. Thousands of years of history and proof can no longer be denied. (added by Mobile using Mippin)
Hi Allen,
Technically, this case was not a jury nullification of the law. The jurors in Jason’s case correctly interpreted Article 18, Section 14 of the Colorado Constitution as allowing a patient to possess any amount of cannabis that the patient feels is medically necessary. They followed the law as it ws written, and acquitted Jason based on that. There was no need for them to look outside the law for a reason to acquit. It was the prosecutor in this case that was asking the jury to nullify the law by ignoring the issue of medical necessity.