This press release begins by explaining the trial and conviction of Dr. Mollie Fry and Dale Schafer in California.  Dr. Fry has been helping medical marijuana patients in California by writing recommendations for the therapeutic use of the herb, and Mr. Schafer has been growing the plants and providing the buds to patients.  Let’s take a look at how our federal law enforcers view the plight of these compassionate caregivers, (and note how they always use quotation marks around “medicinal”, because in the bizarro world of the DEA, a plant found to be medicinal by the American College of Physicians and the Institutes of Medicine and twelve US states isn’t medicinal):

News from DEA, Domestic Field Divisions, San Franciso News Releases, 03/20/08
These recommendations enabled the holder to avoid arrest under California’s “medicinal” marijuana law, Proposition 215. The proposition provides a legal defense to state (not federal) criminal charges when marijuana is possessed for treatment of a serious medical condition.

Evidence introduced at trial, however, showed that FRY sold these recommendation statements to people for diagnoses such as asthma, alcoholism, and sore elbow.

California’s law allows a doctor to recommend marijuana for any condition for which he or she believes marijuana will help.  It may seem counter-intuitive, but vaporized marijuana is a bronchodialator that helps some asthmatics, it can definitely help as an analgesic for a chronically sore elbow, and yours truly will testify that without marijuana, I’d have been in some severe trouble with the alcoholism of my youth.

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[Updated from previous post — “R”R]

News - Pair get prison in pot case - sacbee.com
An El Dorado County couple – a physician and an attorney – were sentenced Wednesday in Sacramento federal court to five years in prison for conspiring to grow and distribute marijuana.

U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. said federal law left him with no choice but to impose on both Dr. Marion “Mollie” Fry and attorney Dale Schafer the mandatory minimum sentence.

But, to the delight of supporters who packed the courtroom, the judge allowed the pair to remain free on bail until their appeals have been decided.

The statutory minimum applied because of the number of plants – at least 100 – found by a jury in August to be the crux of a conspiracy to grow and distribute pot from their offices in Cool and their home in Greenwood.

Were it left up to him, the judge said, the punishment would be less. “It is a sad day, a terrible day,” he said.

At the conclusion of a grueling, emotional hearing, Damrell ruled the couple could remain free on $25,000 bail each pending the outcome of their appeals.

Mandatory minimum sentencing seems to me to be against the intent of the Framers of our Constitution. They wanted a government with checks and balances - Congress makes laws, but the President can check that with a veto. Presidents can sign laws, but courts can check that against constitutionality. But to take away the discretion of the judge to impose a sentence she feels is appropriate to the facts and circumstances of the case, and instead vest that authority in the statutes passed by Congress and signed by the President, makes the judge merely a rubber stamp for the judgment-free minimums passed by a Congress trying to appear to be “tough on crime”. (Visit Families Against Mandatory Minimums for more info.)

But there is one last check - the jury. Juries have the right of nullification - they can check any bad law by simply refusing to convict, regardless of the facts, evidence, or circumstances. A jury can simply say, “We refuse to convict this couple because the law itself is unjust,” even if they were caught growing a billion marijuana plants. Learn more about jury nullification at the Fully Informed Jury Association.

Medical Marijuana Activists Get 5 Years Each - KCRA 3 News Story - KQCA Sacramento
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An El Dorado County couple were sentenced to five years in federal prison Wednesday for growing and selling marijuana, U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said.

Dr. Marion “Mollie” Fry, and her husband, Dale Schafer, were convicted in August.

Fry and Schafer were charged with growing and selling in their hometown of Cool.

They claim they were acting under state law.

Schafer said his wife was targeted by the federal government after she prescribed marijuana to patients under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.

Fry, who was diagnosed with breast cancer, said she used marijuana to treat the side effects that were a result of her chemotherapy sessions.

Keep in mind that during these federal trials, defendants are forbidden from even saying the words “medical marijuana”.  They are not allowed to present the evidence of their medical needs, their patients’ medical needs, or the fact that they were dutifully following the laws of California.  This is a travesty of justice.

The federal sentencing of medical marijuana defendants Dr. Mollie Fry and her husband, Attorney Dale Schafer will take place on Thursday, March 6th at the US courthouse in Sacramento (5th and I St.). The sentencing is at 10 AM. There will be a press conference afterwards at Noon in front of the Court House. The couple was denied the right to defend their actions that were protected under the Laws of the State of California.

WHO: Sentencing in Federal Court of Dr. Mollie Fry and her husband, Attorney Dale Schafer for cultivation and dispensing medical marijuana under the Laws of California.
WHAT: Press Conference to follow at NOON
WHEN: Sentencing is Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 10am
WHERE: Federal Court House, 501 I St., Sacramento, CA

“ We never would have grown marijuana had it not been sanctioned by the Laws of the State of California, the Attorney General of California and the District Attorney and Sheriffs’ of El Dorado County. Why aren’t they being charged with conspiracy to violate Federal Law?” Dr. Fry asks a group of patients who are waiting to see her at her clinic.

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