Action Alert: FREE Jason Lauve, Colo. Medical Marijuana Patient

[colorado420]

Action Alert: FREE Jason Lauve, Colo. Medical Marijuana Patient!!!

PLEASE COPY AND RE-DISTRIBUTE THIS ALERT!!!

Contact Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett
Phone: 303-441-3798
Email: sgarnett@bouldercounty.org
Ask him to drop all charges against Jason Lauve and stop prosecuting patients!!!

Action Alert

Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative, one of the oldest cannabis therapeutic organizations in Colorado, is using the upcoming 4/20 International Cannabis Day to call attention to the prosecution of medical cannabis patient Jason Lauve (pronounced 'laav') and hundreds of patients like him in Colorado.

Watch the video here:
Colorado 420 Coalition - Free Jason Lauve!!!

Despite the passage of Colorado's Medical Marijuana Law in 2000, Boulder County is still arresting and prosecuting patients who are supposed to be protected under the law. Colorado's Medical Marijuana Law (specifically, Article 18, Section 14 of the Colorado Constitution) allows patients with debilitating medical conditions to use cannabis as medicine if their physician recommends it. If a patient has a valid Medical Marijuana Registry ID card from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, they are supposed to be exempt from the state's criminal laws regarding cannabis possession and cultivation.

Jason is a Boulder County resident who became a medicinal cannabis patient when he suffered serious back injuries in an accident at Eldora Ski Area in December 2004. Jason had been waiting in a lift line, when a snowboarder lost control and flew through the air, slamming directly into Jason's back from behind. Jason never saw it coming, and suffered severe injuries to his back. The accident left Jason permanently disabled with the promise of crippling pain for the rest of his life.

Fortunately, cannabis helped control his chronic pain. It was a medicine that he could produce himself inexpensively and use as an alternative to strong and addictive narcotics. Jason found cannabis was a safer and healthier medical choice to manage his pain. On his physician's advice, Jason obtained his Medical Marijuana Registry card in February 2005. He was in 100% compliance with all the laws and regulations required to use medicinal cannabis in Colorado. According to his physician's recommendation, he had only enough cannabis that was medically necessary to adequately treat his condition.

However, in June 2008, Jason was arrested and charged with felony possession of marijuana by the Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett. Jason's attorney, Rob Corry, has provided DA Garnett with Jason's medical records along with statements from Jason's physicians and therapeutic cannabis experts to prove that Jason is a legitimate patient. But DA Garnett refuses to drop the charges against Jason. Instead, Garnett has let the case drag on for almost a year. This has caused Jason immeasurable physical, emotional and financial harm. Jason must now take expensive and damaging narcotics and pain-blockers to manage his pain. His life has been in limbo since he was arrested. He is out on bail, awaiting trial in August.

"Jason Lauve is a law-abiding, hard-working, taxpaying citizen who deals with his excruciating pain in the only way that works for him long-term and how the voters of Colorado intended," says Rob Corry, Jason's attorney, who will be participating in the National Marijuana Forum in Boulder next Sunday to discuss Jason's case.
NORML@CU: The CU Boulder Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

Corry continues, "The Boulder DA made the wrong decision in failing to prosecute the reckless snowboarder who destroyed Jason's back, and now the Boulder DA is compounding its error by prosecuting Jason when he is only seeking the miracle relief that medical marijuana provides him."

Why is DA Garnett so intent on pursuing felony charges against Jason, a legal patient with no previous criminal record? Jason did nothing wrong and has followed the letter of the law at every step.

Citizens should be extremely disturbed by this prosecution of medical patients. The Boulder District Attorney should be focusing on violent crimes and not persecuting patients with serious medical conditions based on their legal choice of medicine.

"What is happening to Jason is happening to patients all over the state," says Timothy Tipton, patient advocate with Rocky Mountain Caregiver Cooperative. "Public officials like the Boulder DA need to educate themselves on how Colorado's Medical Marijuana law is supposed to protect patients from prosecution. Until they do, it's up to concerned citizens to put pressure on their elected officials to uphold the Constitution and stop arresting sick people."

We are asking concerned citizens to call and email Boulder DA Stan Garret and ask him to drop all charges against Jason Lauve and stop prosecuting patients.

Contact Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett
Phone: 303-441-3798
Email: sgarnett@bouldercounty.org
Ask him to drop all charges against Jason Lauve and stop prosecuting patients!!!
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Distributed as a Public Service by the:
Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative
Rocky Mountian Caregivers Cooperative

Colorado 420 Coalition
Colorado 420 Coalition
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