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New Jersey Medical Marijuana Patient Sent to Prison

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #698)
Politics & Advocacy

A New Jersey man convicted of marijuana manufacture after he grew 17 plants in his backyard to use to treat his multiple sclerosis was ordered to prison to begin serving a five-year sentence Wednesday even as he appeals his conviction to the state Supreme Court.

John Ray Wilson demonstration, 2009 (courtesy CMMNJ)
According to a report from New Jersey-Pennsylvania marijuana reform activist Chris Goldstein's Freedom is Green blog, John Ray Wilson, 38, was taken into custody at the Somerset County Courthouse in Somerville immediately after a hearing where he sought unsuccessfully to continue to be granted bail pending the result of that appeal.

Wilson was arrested in 2008 and convicted of manufacture after he was not allowed to present evidence that he was growing the plants for his own use. He served five weeks in jail then before being granted bail and freed as he appealed to the New Jersey Appellate Division. He lost in the appeals court last month, and his attorney, William Buckman then filed a notice of petition to the Supreme Court to appeal the manufacturing conviction.

In Somerville Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Angela Borkowski ruled that any bail appeal should be made not to her court but to the Appellate Division, Goldstein reported. Buckman said he would file for bail immediately.

Deputy Attorney General Russell Curley argued during the hearing that Wilson should begin serving his sentence immediately, and Judge Borkowski agreed. He was taken into custody after the hearing.

"We think that the appellate decision is misguided," said Wilson’s attorney William Buckman, "We are hoping that the Supreme Court will set the record straight that New Jersey doesn’t want to put sick people or simple individual marijuana users into prison at the cost of $35,000 a year."

Wilson's plight has drawn the attention of activists who have championed his cause, including the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey, whose executive director, Ken Wolski, was in the courtroom Wednesday.

"CMMNJ is still hopeful there is a chance for justice in the state Supreme Court," he told Goldstein. "But we are very disappointed that John is back in jail."

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

Frank Fulbrook (not verified)

          For the record, John Ray Wilson was arrested, prosecuted and convicted while a Democrat was the governor, namely Jon Corzine. Governor Corzine, who signed the NJ Medical Marijuana law, didn't have the guts to pardon Wilson before he left office on Jan. 20, 2010.

          Be that as it may, Governor Christie should pardon Wilson now.

          -- Frank Fulbrook, Camden

Thu, 08/25/2011 - 5:10pm Permalink
Pam gari (not verified)

Jersey is no different than anywhere else. These stick up the bum bureaucrats DEPEND on people being sent to prison, from the judge and prosecutor, down to the screws in the prison. It's the only way these leeches know how to keep themselves employed. And the sick people that just want to stop hurting, well, they don't keep pit bulls and weapons to fight back with when they get raided do they?  When you have to grow outdoors,, you have to grow a years worth. After culling out any male plants, I find that 17 plants is a very small amount, And knowing how it goes, some of those 17 might have been tomato or pepper plants that got "mixed in".  MMJ is the ONLY thing that stops nerve pain.

Thu, 08/25/2011 - 7:10pm Permalink
David Hart (not verified)

When the War on Minority Drug Users is over, I wonder how many of its proponents will plead mental illness? Even allowing for corruption and vested interests, it's very hard to think of a coherent definition of 'sanity' that could contain someone who would this person in jail.

Thu, 08/25/2011 - 8:28pm Permalink
Shell (not verified)

Put him in Prison and are dead set on keeping this evil war going . If they ever had to walk a mile in his shoes without medication they would change their tune , reminds me of an old Twilight Zone about the soldier that kept changing sides and then coming to the realization that it was just plain wrong.

Fri, 08/26/2011 - 2:12am Permalink
Ezra Bones (not verified)

In reply to by asseff (not verified)

You're a f*cking moron. I've been around and used marijuana for over 23 years and have never heard of "injecting" it. Why would you do that? Even if you are allergic to smoke, it can be taken in pill form, or added to food in liquid form. As I stated before, you're a f*cking moron.

Fri, 08/26/2011 - 1:28pm Permalink
asseff-is-a-liar (not verified)

Firstly, asseff, "injecting marijuana"? You need to get a life and stop trolling the internet. No one injects marijuana. And to overdose?! You are more ridiculous than the law.

 

Read some studies and you will find that overdosing on marijuana is nearly impossible.

 

Secondly, can we overthrow the government already. The US is being run by a bunch of corrupt crooks playing games with people's lives.

 

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE?!

Fri, 08/26/2011 - 7:31am Permalink
sicntired (not verified)

In reply to by asseff-is-a-liar (not verified)

I was put on Cesamet when I asked for a federal exemption from the marijuana law to be able to grow my own.This stuff is snortable,injectable and probably smokable.It's not marijuana and is a bastardization of big pharma.Why would a person want to shoot cannabis anyway?No,this is a BS posting done by a prohibitionist,maybe Obama or Holder themselves.With Stephen Harper now trying to hijack the supreme court ruling that we had the right to purchase our medicine from who we choose.He wants to eliminate the patient grower and hand it over to big pharma.I,for one,will never buy my cannabis from big pharma.I have tried to opt out of the program since I found it far too heavily sativa with very little indica.

Sat, 08/27/2011 - 6:45am Permalink
Paul Pot (not verified)

What's he been charged with? Reckless and dangerous gardening. Gardening without due care and attention.

 
This is just another example of the 'crimes against humanity' our courts and governments are guilty of and in the very near future they are going to change places with the people they have put in prison.
Sat, 08/27/2011 - 3:44am Permalink
BillieBudd (not verified)

There was a story in the Boston paper telling of a 30 day sentence for a woman whose actions caused the death of a young child at a day care center. I know nothing of the case so will not comment on her sentence but in comparing it to what this poor guy faces for something that harmed no one at all, something just isn't right with the legal system

Sat, 08/27/2011 - 7:43pm Permalink
Ned (not verified)

I think the injecting comment was an attempt at humor. Dry sarcastic wit about the absurdity of the anti- pot laws.

As a legal technical matter, I think this guy should appeal the sentencing. I know it would be more fair and better to reverse the conviction but the system, when challenged, usually will get technical. He did do it when the law was different than now. I don't agree with that but he has a much better chance of staying out of jail or prison if he agrees that it was a different law at the time but the sentence should basically be nothing. 

Sun, 08/28/2011 - 4:59pm Permalink
sicntired (not verified)

The US is the most insane place on the planet when it comes to both sentencing and enforcement.Marc Emery is doing 5 years for selling seeds.They charged him with conspiracy to manufacture cannabis.With the three strike laws there are people in your country doing life for non violent drug crimes.Life!They fly people from anywhere on the planet for supposed drug crimes.They send in assassination teams to blow up labs and shoot "targets",all in the name of their stupid drug war.At the conference in Vienna,most of the world agreed that prohibition had failed and a new solution was needed.This was supported by all but a few hard liners from,guess where?The United States of America.The drug war is only the latest use of prison to hold sick people.This is what happens when people have a vested interest in keeping up the prison population.Private prison unions and share holders are among the most vocal opponents to drug reform.Don't forget the treatment community,they oppose any lessening of the drug laws as well.

Mon, 08/29/2011 - 10:42pm Permalink
saynotohypocrisy (not verified)

I keep asking the prohibs how many people are killed by alcohol vs. killed by cannabis. Not because I expect them to have the common decency, honesty and respect for fellow citizens to answer, but because it shows them up as such damn evil hypocrites when they ignore such an essential question. They are stonewalling thugs, they don't have a leg to stand on, and one of these days we're going to nail the alcohol supremacist bigots who've created so much suffering.

Fri, 09/02/2011 - 11:51am Permalink

Why would government choose to put this man in prison? Because they have to, there is no law the stating that because someone has a debilitating disease her or she cannot be sentence to more than X amount of years in prison. This is a very unfortunate situation and leaves both parties in a shitty situation. But in the end the judge and the law make the decisions, but that is not to say the judge or law is correct.

Tue, 09/06/2011 - 11:30pm Permalink

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