Up In Smoke by Tiffany Pan

Cheryl and Charles: Up in Smoke states’s treatment of sick citizens scorched by federal stance by Mindy Poder

ast week, Cheryl Jones received a large, cloudy vacuum-sealed bag containing numerous smaller bags from a man she met on an internet message board. The free “care package” consisted of an eighth of Magic, an eighth of Granddaddy Purple, an eighth of Humboldt Lemon Kush, an eighth of Purple Napal, an eighth of G-Rex, an eighth of E-32 (aka “Train Wreck”), an eighth of Humboldt Royale, a fourth of Livesaver, a third gram of fullmelt hash, a third gram of kief, a bottle of topical marijuana body oil, and a compact canister of faded green throat lozenges of two different strengths. She admits that she has smoked “Lifesaver” four times today. It is four o’clock P.M. “I am blown away,” Cheryl confesses, “by how my body feels since I have gotten it four days ago.” Cheryl always feels like she has slept on her arms and neck the wrong way. There is a kink deep in her neck, covered by her pale skin and long, light blonde hair, which will not go away. Tingling shoots from her

neck into her arms and travels down to the tips of her ring and pinky fingers. Burning sensations manifest in her hands, wrists, forearms, elbows, shoulders, collarbone, and the backs of the upper arms. Pressure headaches develop when the blood struggles to pump through the compression. Her back responds in spasms and her bloodstarved muscles tense up and pull her spine out of alignment, perpetuating her painful discomfort. “This is always going on,” she says, “in some variation or form.” Since the onset of her pain in 2005, Cheryl has seen numerous doctors who have given her different diagnoses. The pain, a result of repetitive strain from her job as a checker at Trader Joe’s, has received as many labels as she has symptoms: tendonitis, cubital tunnel syndrome, ulnaritis, and thoracic outlet syndrome. As a result, she has been prescribed nearly 100 different kinds of prescription medicine for what she believes is TOS. “The prescription—the new set of pills—is never in consideration of how effective it is,” she says, angrily recalling the very intense pain medications that left her feeling completely “zonked out.” She could not handle her responsibilities when she was “buzzed out of [her] mind on muscle relaxer.”

Eventually, Cheryl took matters into her own increasingly numbing hands. Around the time she prepared to return to school to study English literature at UCLA, she knew she had to find an alternative to the harmful and expensive pharmaceutical drugs that were not working. She began treating herself with marijuana and noticed that some strains aggravated her pain, while other strains alleviated her pain. Like other prescribed medicines, medical marijuana requires its users to find the right version and dosage for their condition. In the past, doctors have prescribed Cheryl medications from the addictive opiate family such as vicodin and morphine. Relatives of heroine and opium, these drugs took away Cheryl’s cognizance, whereas the proper strains of marijuana do not make Cheryl feel mentally incapacitated. annabis is a genus of flowering plants which has three distinct species: Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. Marijuana is the dried buds and flowers of the plant and it contains at least 60 chemicals called cannabinoids. THC, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is largely responsible for marijuana’s mind-altering

effect and has been proven to help alleviate nausea and increase appetite. Cannabinol and cannabidiol (CBD) share similar properties to THC, but are less psychoactive and thought to be effective in treating pain. Since most marijuana is the result of interbreeding, a variety of strains are available. Patients suffering from AIDs, cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, anorexia, or chronic pain conditions are amongst the many who have attested to the healing effects of marijuana. Because a variation in strains allows for a variation of desired effects, marijuana is able to alleviate a number of symptoms. When a strain is appropriately matched with its patient, marijuana can help with distinct problems such as nausea, cramping, pain, decreased appetite, anxiety, and muscular spasms. When getting the drug on the “black market,” or from an unlicensed dealer, it can be difficult for a patient to find the correct strain. “Black market cannabis wasn’t that effective because,” Cheryl explains, “I had to guess that it would be in the range that would help me.” Most black market dealers do not know the composition of their marijuana, are not specially trained to deal with sick patients, and possess little variety or consistency in

the marijuana they sell at any given time. Also, relying on the neighborhood drug dealer can be belittling, dangerous, and inconvenient. After she read a UCSD report that concluded that moderate amounts of THC eased neurological pain, Cheryl started noticing that strains low in THC and high in CBD effectively alleviated her pain without any psychoactive side effects. Seeking verification for her speculations, Cheryl frequented an online message board for medical marijuana patients where she came in contact with a Humboldt County caregiver. He informed her about a strain called “Livesaver” which he suspected had low THC and high CBD. Most of his patients did not like it, he warned, but his multiple sclerosis and pain patients greatly favored the strain. Ever since Cheryl has tried it, she cannot imagine managing her pain without it. Largely because of the help of caregivers and the variety offered at dispensaries, Cheryl has finally found her saving strain. “I pray to God,” Cheryl asserts, “that my government will never force me to get marijuana from the black market ever again.”

n 1996, California voted in favor of Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act. In addition to ensuring that sick Californians with a doctor’s prescription have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes, the act ensures “that patients and their primary caregivers who obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a physician are not subject to criminal prosecution or sanction.” In 2003, Senate Bill 420 clarified and extended the 1996 act and offered new

ideas such as the issuance of a Medical Marijuana Identification Card. “Because it’s legal, I have so many options,” Cheryl says. “I can see the variety, the name, and am able to inspect it. Sometimes people tell me if I don’t like the strain I can bring it back.” Dispensary caregivers, like the Humboldt man who gave Cheryl the complimentary care package, show compassion by actively helping patients find their right strain. This cancer-victim-turned-dispensaryowner gives new patients ample samples of each strain, has registered nurses on his staff, and sells other medical supplies like bedpans and walkers. In addition to giving new patients near 1000 dollars in samples, he gives away about half his medication to paraplegics and sick patients suffering from AIDs, cancer, and MS who cannot afford their medication. As exceptional as he is, this caregiver is not an anomaly. Charles Lynch, the Managing Caregiver of Morro Bay’s Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers, use to treat Owen Beck, a 17 year old victim of bone cancer, with free medication. After he got his leg amputated to stop the disease from spreading, Beck suffered from phantom pains. Despite the medicine cabinet full of pain medications, Beck’s pain did not lessen. Desperate, his parents decided to try Lynch’s dispensary and found that marijuana eased their son’s pain and nausea like nothing else had and increased his appetite during chemotherapy. Lynch, a victim of debilitating migraines and Morro Bay’s only compassionate caregiver, cannot help sick patients anymore. The Drug Enforcement Administration raided Lynch’s dispensary and home and arrested him on federal drug charges.

Lynch was found guilty on five charges. He faces up to 100 years in prison.

nder the Controlled Substances Act, the federal government classifies drugs with “high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision” as Schedule I substances. Heroin, PCP, and Ecstasy are part of this premier outlaw’s club, as is a plant that no one has ever died from: cannabis. Because it is a Schedule I drug, the DEA must approve requests to research marijuana’s medicinal properties. Since the federal government holds that marijuana has no medicinal purpose, it tends to refuse such requests as pointless and is able to perpetuate propaganda against marijuana. “We don’t need misinformation to scare people,” Cheryl says, “but medically proved, solid information so that patients can be helped the best they can be.” Schedule II drugs, like cocaine, opium, oxycodon, and methamphetamine (speed) are less restricted and can be used medicinally, meaning that under gun point, a DEA agent would rather give his kid pills of synthetic heroin than a special brownie. “It’s a joke” and as Cheryl shrugs—a physical movement made possible to her by the Lifesaver that relieved her neck pain—she speaks for the entire medical marijuana community and all the physicians who have prescribed marijuana instead of other medications. While the state and federal laws dealing with marijuana are supposed to co-exist, the conflicting attitudes they represent provoke equally distinct action. “The federal law does not trump or nullify the state law

but,” Cheryl dejectedly adds “the state law won’t protect you from the federal law.” After watching the trial of Charles Lynch, a man she continually describes as “sweet,” who she did not know before his arrest, who, upon their first meeting, affected in her a deep reaction, and who has provoked in her a vow to always help him, Cheryl knows this paradox all too well. “The DEA says they go after the most egregious cases,” Cheryl explains, “but Charlie ran such a good business. He kept all his records, verified the patients’ medical recommendations, checked the doctors’ medical board standing with the state, and made ID cards so no one could come in.” During the trial, Lynch’s lawyers even presented the phone numbers of the DEA agents Lynch called before opening his dispensary. He inquired about their views on opening a dispensary, but they said it was not up to the DEA, but his city and county. Lynch complied with California state law under Proposition 215 and followed all the business license requirements, city regulations, and county restrictions. The mayor even came to his store opening to help cut the ribbon, but that did not stop the DEA from coming to his shop the following year with full assault weapons and riot gear.

uring the voir dire process of his federal trial, potential jurors who had tried medical marijuana, appeared thoughtful about long jail sentences, or understood their right to jury nullification were asked to leave. Because the federal government denies marijuana’s medicinal value, the phrase “medical marijuana” was banned, equating the herbal treatment to an obscenity. Any piece of evidence with the words “for medical use only” was redacted, deleting

a history of spasms, kinks, jerks, vomit, numbness, shooting pains, and fatal loss of appetite overcome. Without the real context for Lynch’s actions, jurors were placed in an un-reality of Orwellian proportions. Even if jurors understood Lynch’s position as a compassionate caregiver, federal law—which was painstakingly detailed in over thirteen pages of jury instructions—and little public knowledge of jury nullification—the jury’s right to find a certain law void in the particular case—made it very difficult for the jurors to find Lynch innocent.

harles Lynch gets up from his seat and offers me his chair. His public defenders are about to ask the judge for the opportunity to present new evidence for a new trial. Reuven is witty and young, and attempts to lighten the tension by calling Charles “Pablo Escabar, over here,” but his hair—brown with visible gray strands—gives him away. John is a handsome and sharply dressed young man who shuts his eyes tightly as he hugs and gives support to Charlie’s mother. Mike is the oldest of the group and he does not bother speaking much, hardened and unable to maintain a façade. Guy, their supervisor, is accompanied by his two sons, in jerseys and fresh from a soccer game, for what he terms a field trip to the “fascist federal felony factory.” The defense lawyers are granted their request, at the dismay of the prosecuting attorneys: a stumpy, newly graduated female law student hungry for victory and an aging and manic man whose rhetorical style is a descendant of the fire and brimstone puritanical ministers of the 18th century. The accompanying DEA agent is a tall, blonde, blanked eyed devil in a powder-blue skirt suit who says nothing

and feels nothing, especially when she walks past Charlie’s grieving mother, who has recently lost her other son to colon cancer. If Judge Wu, a federal judge who is stern, but maintains a humored grin as the prosecution spews its rhetoric, denies their request for a new trial with a new jury, the judge will sentence Lynch on January 12th. Lynch can appeal the decision as soon as he is sentenced. “You get good guys like Lynch who are trying to do a good thing, but” Cheryl adds, “now they don’t want to get near it. Instead, you end up with people who are thugs, who don’t mind carrying assault weapons. I’d rather have a nice person dealing with it.”

he federal government arrested 872,721 individuals for marijuana charges in 2007, which is far more than the combined number of arrestees for all violent crimes, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Many economists, such as the late Nobel laureate and conservative icon Milton Friedman, are vehemently opposed to marijuana prohibition and project that the government wastes about 7.7 billion taxpayer dollars annually in efforts to keep marijuana illegal. Nearly two hundred years ago, Henry David Thoreau famously expressed his moral resistance to the federal government’s war on Mexico by refusing to pay his poll tax. This past November, Michigan taxpayers joined twelve other states in resistance to the War on Drugs’ treatment of marijuana by passing a proposition that allows for its medical use. The margin of 63 percent to 37 percent is the largest margin ever for a medical marijuana initiative. Massachusetts decriminalized marijuana by a margin of 65 percent to 35 percent,

showing the growing disagreement between the federal government and the citizens it is supposed to serve. “Either the law changes in Congress and the president approves it or,” Cheryl explains, “the federal government changes the priority to not focus on marijuana or medical marijuana.” According to statements made on the campaign trail, Obama does not believe prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana patients is a sensible use of Justice Department resources. Diane, a red haired mother of seven whose prescription pills cause her to start bleeding while she speaks to Cheryl and an activist from Americans for Safe Access (ASA) named Loring, is hopeful that Barack Obama’s presidency will help Charles Lynch and the cause of medical marijuana. Cheryl, however, is not quick to equate a presidential appointment with rapid change, in a way predicting Obama’s shocking appointment of Eric Holder as attorney general. Holder has pushed for increased mandatory minimums and more penalties for marijuana offenders. Instead, Cheryl emphasizes the importance of increased awareness and activism. Many people she speaks to support medical marijuana, but have not personally dealt with the threat of it being taken away. As a result, even caregivers have a sense of false comfort about its availability and legality. Though aware that “people get burnt out doing this because they push, push, push and see no response,” she continues to educate politicians, patients, and citizens. She has informed staff at the offices of Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein and is going to Washington D.C. to speak with governmental officials. She continues to attend meetings for

groups dedicated to modify marijuana policy and always provides support for those in need. “Every time I see Charles, he is so grateful,” Cheryl says with surprise. “I always tell him I am doing for you what I would want someone to do for me if I was in your situation.” heryl takes a palm-sized container of “Mom’s Balm” out of her bag, lifts the lid, and rubs her fingers on the light green medical marijuana substance. It is solid until it reaches her warm and ailing skin. Upon contact, the balm melts into her skin, melting her pain and discomfort along with it. Cheryl always carries the case of balm with her and because it has no intoxicating effects, it is perfect for class and public use. She remembers rubbing it around her collarbones as she sat behind the judge and lawyers prosecuting Charles Lynch, a man who makes such medications available to her. Since smoking is not practical in public, she relies on inconspicuous edibles, oils, and sprays throughout her day. This variety, provided by her medical marijuana access, is essential to her ability to focus beyond her pain. “I sprayed some medicinal marijuana on at church,” she recalls with a smile. “A woman hugged me and she said ‘you smell good.’” “I told her ‘I know.’”