LA Judge Ignores Both Prop 215
And The 1st Amendment:
Not Only Convicts Patient, But Also Orders Him Not to Talk About Medical Marijuana
As A Condition of Probation
(Marijuananews note: This is so extreme that it
will not only be overturned, but will also make the prohibitionists look like idiots.) June
20, 1999
From The Santa Monica Our Times
SMOurTimes@earthlink.net
http://www.ourtimes.com/home/ourtimes/santamonica/
By Gina Piccalo
June 20, 1999
JUDGE: ACTIVIST CAN’T PROMOTE POT
Venice Man With Doctor’s Permission To Smoke Marijuana Convicted Of Illegal
Cultivation.
VENICE—Joe "Hemp" Kidwell, a marijuana activist
convicted for illegally cultivating the plant, has been ordered to stop promoting pot or
face two years in prison - a sacrifice he’s willing to make to test new marijuana
laws.
Kidwell, 45, was sentenced Tuesday for illegally cultivating 14 marijuana plants at his
Lincoln Boulevard office. He was arrested Aug. 10 after a Los Angeles police officer
noticed the plants at his business.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Albert Matthews has banned
Kidwell from promoting marijuana as a condition of his probation and has restricted him
from using marijuana anywhere but in his own home. The order also prevents him from
speaking to the media or speaking publicly on the subject of marijuana use.
See
"Orange
County is willing to use incarceration as a means to prevent Marvin from educating
people about medical marijuana." -- Orange County Weekly Quoting Chavez’s
Attorney
Before his conviction, Kidwell, 45, operated First Hemp Bank Distribution Network, a
buyer’s club based in Venice for people who use marijuana as prescribed by a
physician. The judge has also ordered him to stop operation of that business.
During his May trial, orthopedic physician Dr. Fred Hakmet
testified that he recommended Kidwell use marijuana for his arthritis and chronic back
pain.
Since Jan. 1, 1997, state law has permitted the use and cultivation of marijuana for
medical purposes with a physician’s verbal or written recommendation.
"As soon as the law was enacted, we started to test the law," said Ron
Richards, one of Kidwell’s attorneys.
Kidwell has one prior misdemeanor conviction for offering an undercover police officer
marijuana in March 1998. Santa Monica police arrested him May 2 for possession of
marijuana after someone reported that he was smoking pot on the Third Street Promenade.
Police reports show that officers found no marijuana on him. A preliminary hearing on
that case is scheduled June 29.
Richards has filed an appeal on the most recent case stating that Kidwell’s First
Amendment rights are being violated by the judge’s order and that the jury
misunderstood the law. "This was an illegal conviction,"
Richards said. "A medical patient with a written doctor’s recommendation is
exempt from the ... laws that he was charged under. He has four written doctor
recommendations and two [doctors] who testified on his behalf."
Copyright: 1999 Times Community Newspapers
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