Scott Carriere thought he did everything right.
After hearing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder say the federal government wouldn't raid medical marijuana clubs in states allowing medicinal use of pot, Carriere got a business license a year ago, then paid a visit to Sangamon County Sheriff Neil Williamson.
"I told him that I was going to open a medical marijuana dispensary and that I was going to dispense marijuana to patients," Carriere recalls. "He said he would have to distance himself from that. If he would have simply said, 'If you do that, I'm going to arrest you,' none of this would have happened."
Baloney, says the sheriff.
"I think I told him, 'You can't do that,' " Williamson said.
Regardless, Carriere alerted the media to his new venture via news release. Within hours, police were at his door, and Carriere was on his way to jail, charged with felony possession of marijuana after officers found dozens of plants.
The case
Holder, in fact, did say the federal government wouldn't go after medical marijuana clubs in states with medical marijuana laws, and the Illinois General Assembly did, in fact, pass a bill back in 1978 that allows for medical use of marijuana, although the law has never been implemented.
But Carriere didn't become a poster child.
When prosecutors offered a plea bargain, Carriere took it, accepting four years of probation with no jail time. He blames his attorney.
"The lawyer said he wouldn't fight at all – he said he didn't want to get into the medical marijuana issue at all," Carriere says. "I really did want to fight it."
Dan Fultz, Carriere's attorney, doesn't recall complaints.
"He never made me aware that he was dissatisfied with the offer of probation we obtained on his behalf," Fultz said. "I think anyone who knows me knows that if there's a contestable issue, I'll try it."
The aftermath
Carriere in February was banned from the state Capitol, where he once delivered letters, daily, to the governor's office, the House speaker's office and the state Senate. He says he also got a visit from Secretary of State Police and Illinois State Police.
"They do the little interview: Are you getting enough sleep? Are you mad at the government?" Carriere said.
Yes, Carriere says, he did write that officials should be hung by their necks until dead, that they weren't worth the bullets to end their lives, that if they were on fire, he wouldn't urinate on them.
"That's not saying I'm going to do it, it's not saying someone else is going to do it," Carriere says. "It's saying 'I hope it happens to you.' How is that a threat? ... They're not letting us get our medicine – that's treason."
At least one thing has gone Carriere's way. He says he hasn't taken a drug test while on probation, and he still uses marijuana, the only affordable remedy for his carpal tunnel syndrome, the pinched nerve in his elbow and his headaches.
"If I smoke marijuana, I take just a couple of Vicodin all day," he said.
What's next
Carriere says he's had his fill of Springfield.
"The day I get off probation, I'm leaving Illinois," he vowed.
News Hawk: Warbux 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The State Journal-Register.com
Author: Bruce Rushton
Contact: bruce.rushton@sj-r.com
Copyright: 2010 The State Journal-Register
Website: 'Marijuana club' operator plans to leave state - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register
After hearing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder say the federal government wouldn't raid medical marijuana clubs in states allowing medicinal use of pot, Carriere got a business license a year ago, then paid a visit to Sangamon County Sheriff Neil Williamson.
"I told him that I was going to open a medical marijuana dispensary and that I was going to dispense marijuana to patients," Carriere recalls. "He said he would have to distance himself from that. If he would have simply said, 'If you do that, I'm going to arrest you,' none of this would have happened."
Baloney, says the sheriff.
"I think I told him, 'You can't do that,' " Williamson said.
Regardless, Carriere alerted the media to his new venture via news release. Within hours, police were at his door, and Carriere was on his way to jail, charged with felony possession of marijuana after officers found dozens of plants.
The case
Holder, in fact, did say the federal government wouldn't go after medical marijuana clubs in states with medical marijuana laws, and the Illinois General Assembly did, in fact, pass a bill back in 1978 that allows for medical use of marijuana, although the law has never been implemented.
But Carriere didn't become a poster child.
When prosecutors offered a plea bargain, Carriere took it, accepting four years of probation with no jail time. He blames his attorney.
"The lawyer said he wouldn't fight at all – he said he didn't want to get into the medical marijuana issue at all," Carriere says. "I really did want to fight it."
Dan Fultz, Carriere's attorney, doesn't recall complaints.
"He never made me aware that he was dissatisfied with the offer of probation we obtained on his behalf," Fultz said. "I think anyone who knows me knows that if there's a contestable issue, I'll try it."
The aftermath
Carriere in February was banned from the state Capitol, where he once delivered letters, daily, to the governor's office, the House speaker's office and the state Senate. He says he also got a visit from Secretary of State Police and Illinois State Police.
"They do the little interview: Are you getting enough sleep? Are you mad at the government?" Carriere said.
Yes, Carriere says, he did write that officials should be hung by their necks until dead, that they weren't worth the bullets to end their lives, that if they were on fire, he wouldn't urinate on them.
"That's not saying I'm going to do it, it's not saying someone else is going to do it," Carriere says. "It's saying 'I hope it happens to you.' How is that a threat? ... They're not letting us get our medicine – that's treason."
At least one thing has gone Carriere's way. He says he hasn't taken a drug test while on probation, and he still uses marijuana, the only affordable remedy for his carpal tunnel syndrome, the pinched nerve in his elbow and his headaches.
"If I smoke marijuana, I take just a couple of Vicodin all day," he said.
What's next
Carriere says he's had his fill of Springfield.
"The day I get off probation, I'm leaving Illinois," he vowed.
News Hawk: Warbux 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The State Journal-Register.com
Author: Bruce Rushton
Contact: bruce.rushton@sj-r.com
Copyright: 2010 The State Journal-Register
Website: 'Marijuana club' operator plans to leave state - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register
