Pubdate: Mon, 03 Jul 2000
Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)
Copyright: 2000 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact:  (907) 452-7917
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Website: http://www.newschoice.com/newspapers/Fairbanks/Miner/
Author: Charles Rollins Jr

MEDICAL CANNABIS

To the editor:

A friend and colleague in the cause of medicinal cannabis, Peter
McWilliams died recently. The facts surrounding his death are clear.
The cause of death? He choked on his own vomit. (Orange County
Register, Saturday, June 24, 2000).

Was Peter using cannabis at the time of his death? No. He and a
co-conspirator Todd McCormick (who's serving five years on the same
charge) were busted for growing medicinal cannabis. (Daily News of Los
Angeles, Sunday, June 25, 2000.) The judge didn't allow cannabis to be
used medically.

The judge also wouldn't allow Peter to mount a medical necessity
defense, stopping any chance at a proper defense, so Peter and Todd
took a plea bargain.

A third person caught up in this raid was Renee Boje, who simply took
pictures of the plants. The U.S. government is currently trying to
extradite Renee from Canada. The DEA claims during the photo shoot
Renee also moved and watered the plants. (March 2000 Playboy magazine).

This death could've been prevented. Peter found relief from the
medicinal use of cannabis. Science backed Peter's conclusions.

"Of patients who received no relief from standard anti-nausea drugs,
78 percent received positive results from cannabis," a quote from
"Inhalation marijuana as an anti-emetic for cancer chemotherapy," New
York State Journal of Medicine 1998.

"A study found that cannabis caused a 40 percent caloric increase," a
quote from "Effects of smoked marijuana on food intake and body weight
of humans living in a residential laboratory," Appetite magazine, 1998.

All things considered, should Peter have waited until there was enough
evidence for the U.S. government to approve cannabis as a medicine?
The government knows cannabis medical value. "Cannabis is one of the
most ancient healing drugs," a quote from "Marijuana and Health,"
fifth annual report to the U.S. Congress from the secretary of Health,
Education and Welfare, 1975.

It's better to have a bleeding heart, than no heart at
all.

Sincerely,
Charles Rollins Jr.
North Pole
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