To the Editor:

I am a 38 year old male convicted in 1997 for cultivation of marijuana in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and sentenced to 93 years on a first offense. I was a productive, tax-paying, Army veteran with a family.

I used marijuana for medical purposes. I have crippling arthritis in my feet, hips, lower back and hands. I had my garden in an underground bomb shelter with a locked corrugated steel door. When I self medicated, I would convene to my bedroom behind closed doors.

The Tulsa Police entered our home on December 28, 1995 on a "John Doe" search warrant, looking for methamphetamine. They found my medical marijuana garden and a total of $28.00 in cash. All of this transpired due to a "confidential informant" whom the judge refused to bring forth at trial.

When the District Attorney and the Special Investigations Division found out that I had no intention of plea bargaining, they put on pressure. On October 22, 1996, as I pulled into a gas station, a Tulsa police officer pulled in behind me, stated that I had failed to signal, searched my person, and my vehicle. He stated that he "knew" I had marijuana either on me or in the car. He phoned in the officers who had arrested me in 1995. They found no marijuana on my person or in my car yet arrested me for failure to signal. Before they released me, the police obtained another search warrant, and while no one was there, searched our home. They claimed that I had the odor of marijuana about me granting them access.

Now, I am in prison because 12 people decided that smoking and/or growing marijuana is more harmful than murder. Since I have been incarcerated, I have received no medical treatment. I risk the loss of my left leg.

Once upon a time, I believed in America. We were a happy typical family who had a life and dreams.

Don’t allow them to make me a martyr for nothing.

Peace to all.

William Foster DOC#252721, Mansfield, TX private prison