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Aside from my standing disagreement with all public officials who insist "pending litigation" always justifies hiding behind a "no comment," one lawsuit in particular really ought to be an exception.
This suit was just filed against the Manatee County Sheriff's Office by a now well-known Parrish couple, Cathy and Robert Jordan.
They want their marijuana back, and the sheriff has it.
The Jordans also want the sheriff to promise to leave them alone and not take any more pot plants from their yard and home.
So Sheriff Brad Steube could do the state a real service by talking very publicly. But he isn't. His spokesman told me the office will not comment.
I assume one factor is that this lawsuit is not the joke it must sound like if you know nothing about Cathy Jordan. But as the sheriff knows well, Jordan uses a wheelchair while coping with a form of the painful, crippling and slowly fatal Lou Gehrig's disease. She has long been urging Florida lawmakers to pass a medical marijuana bill, and says the illegal plant has been the only effective treatment for easing her pain and other symptoms.
The couple was surprised, and quite upset, when deputies arrived at their home in late February and seized their marijuana from the backyard. The deputies had acted on a tip from someone who saw the plants, and they arrived unaware of Cathy Jordan's medical condition and of her activism on the issue.
Decently enough, the deputies did not make an arrest, though cultivation of marijuana is a felony charge in Florida. Instead, the sheriff's office left that decision to the State Attorney's office, and filed a report saying Robert Jordan had said he was growing the plants for his wife's use and believes marijuana has been vital for her well being.
After reviewing medical records and advice that Cathy Jordan got from a doctor about the helpful properties of marijuana, prosecutors decided not to file charges. The decline memo cited a court decision that said the state can't interfere if marijuana is the only effective treatment for a serious medical problem.
Though relieved, the Jordans have still faced a serious problem: Where to get more marijuana for Cathy?
Robert Jordan had insisted all along he would not – and could not – stop growing pot for his wife, or even falsely promise to stop as part of any plea deal to avoid felony prosecution. He said he would go to prison rather than stop helping his wife in the only way that eases her terrible condition.
But growing plants takes time. What about the meantime? And how can the Jordans be sure any new plants won't again be taken away by deputies?
Hence the lawsuit that seeks return of their plants and a promise that there will be no more such confiscations.
What's a sheriff to do?
I know it must be tough for a lawman to even imagine handing marijuana plants back to the grower. I get that.
But I much wish I could announce that Steube was about to boldly do the right thing anyway: Publicly state that Cathy's need for marijuana is no joke, as prosecutors already determined, and that he will hand the seized plants to the Jordans as asked, maybe on a negotiated schedule as needed.
Steube could say that whatever the pros and cons of keeping pot illegal for recreational use, anyone dealing with Lou Gehrig's disease or undergoing chemotherapy is a special case, as some courts have recognized, and so, he is glad to comply now that prosecutors have made it clear why there will be no criminal case.
Come on sheriff. That marijuana isn't evidence now. It is medicine for a really sick woman. Why not say so, and be brave enough to act accordingly?
Daring to do so would also totally cure another irritating symptom: severe laryngitis due to pending litigation.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: heraldtribune.com
Author: Tom Lyons
Contact: Contact Us | Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Website: Lyons: Parrish woman's pot is medicine now, not evidence | HeraldTribune.com
This suit was just filed against the Manatee County Sheriff's Office by a now well-known Parrish couple, Cathy and Robert Jordan.
They want their marijuana back, and the sheriff has it.
The Jordans also want the sheriff to promise to leave them alone and not take any more pot plants from their yard and home.
So Sheriff Brad Steube could do the state a real service by talking very publicly. But he isn't. His spokesman told me the office will not comment.
I assume one factor is that this lawsuit is not the joke it must sound like if you know nothing about Cathy Jordan. But as the sheriff knows well, Jordan uses a wheelchair while coping with a form of the painful, crippling and slowly fatal Lou Gehrig's disease. She has long been urging Florida lawmakers to pass a medical marijuana bill, and says the illegal plant has been the only effective treatment for easing her pain and other symptoms.
The couple was surprised, and quite upset, when deputies arrived at their home in late February and seized their marijuana from the backyard. The deputies had acted on a tip from someone who saw the plants, and they arrived unaware of Cathy Jordan's medical condition and of her activism on the issue.
Decently enough, the deputies did not make an arrest, though cultivation of marijuana is a felony charge in Florida. Instead, the sheriff's office left that decision to the State Attorney's office, and filed a report saying Robert Jordan had said he was growing the plants for his wife's use and believes marijuana has been vital for her well being.
After reviewing medical records and advice that Cathy Jordan got from a doctor about the helpful properties of marijuana, prosecutors decided not to file charges. The decline memo cited a court decision that said the state can't interfere if marijuana is the only effective treatment for a serious medical problem.
Though relieved, the Jordans have still faced a serious problem: Where to get more marijuana for Cathy?
Robert Jordan had insisted all along he would not – and could not – stop growing pot for his wife, or even falsely promise to stop as part of any plea deal to avoid felony prosecution. He said he would go to prison rather than stop helping his wife in the only way that eases her terrible condition.
But growing plants takes time. What about the meantime? And how can the Jordans be sure any new plants won't again be taken away by deputies?
Hence the lawsuit that seeks return of their plants and a promise that there will be no more such confiscations.
What's a sheriff to do?
I know it must be tough for a lawman to even imagine handing marijuana plants back to the grower. I get that.
But I much wish I could announce that Steube was about to boldly do the right thing anyway: Publicly state that Cathy's need for marijuana is no joke, as prosecutors already determined, and that he will hand the seized plants to the Jordans as asked, maybe on a negotiated schedule as needed.
Steube could say that whatever the pros and cons of keeping pot illegal for recreational use, anyone dealing with Lou Gehrig's disease or undergoing chemotherapy is a special case, as some courts have recognized, and so, he is glad to comply now that prosecutors have made it clear why there will be no criminal case.
Come on sheriff. That marijuana isn't evidence now. It is medicine for a really sick woman. Why not say so, and be brave enough to act accordingly?
Daring to do so would also totally cure another irritating symptom: severe laryngitis due to pending litigation.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: heraldtribune.com
Author: Tom Lyons
Contact: Contact Us | Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Website: Lyons: Parrish woman's pot is medicine now, not evidence | HeraldTribune.com
