War on drugs hits new low

The Austin Chronicle ^ | NOVEMBER 25, 2005 | JORDAN SMITH

[JTN]

The federal war on medi-pot patients hit a new low last month when Royal Canadian Mounted Police nabbed 38-year-old Steven W. Tuck from his Vancouver, B.C., hospital bed, whisked him to the border, and relinquished him to the custody of U.S. officials, who wanted him on charges related to a 2001 marijuana bust in California. Tuck, an Army vet, uses marijuana to help treat chronic pain associated with injuries he received in a parachuting accident back in the 1980s (reportedly his parachute failed to open during a jump). In 2001, after his marijuana-growing operation in California was busted, Tuck fled to Canada in an effort to avoid prosecution, reports The Washington Post. For four years, he had been navigating the Canadian system, seeking asylum, but was abruptly, and surprisingly, denied that safe harbor last month, says Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML.

Police arrested Tuck on Oct. 7 after he checked himself into a Vancouver hospital seeking treatment for prostate problems. According to friend Richard Cowan, Tuck was on a gurney, fitted with a catheter, when RCMP nabbed him, cuffed him, and put him in an SUV bound for the border. "I would not believe it unless I had seen it," Cowan told the Post.

Tuck was turned over to authorities and thrown in jail, where he remained for five days with the catheter in place and with only ibuprofen for his pain – pain for which he'd been prescribed morphine and Oxycontin, among other narcotic drugs, says St. Pierre. He was finally taken to court on Oct. 12. "This is totally inhumane," Tuck's lawyer Douglas Hiatt told the Post. "He's been tortured for days for no reason." U.S. Magistrate James P. Donohue re-leased Tuck, at least temporarily, so that he could be taken to a hospital. Tuck's trip to the hospital was waylaid, however, by law enforcement officials who immediately picked him up on a detainer issued by Humboldt Co., Calif., officials in connection with state drug charges related to his growing medi-pot for him-self and others. (Although Tuck is a California state-registered medi-pot patient – meaning he's authorized under state law to possess and grow marijuana for medical purposes – he was also growing for others. At the time, California law enforcers were working under a patchwork of local regulations that defined who could grow for dispensary purposes and exactly how much each person could grow. Tuck had been busted in two different California jurisdictions for growing more than the local law allowed.)

After a flurry of phone calls, Tuck was taken to the hospital, and since then his attorneys have negotiated his release from jail – with the promise that he'll make his various California state court appearances. Sources tell "Weed Watch" that given Tuck's medical condition and the current state of California's medi-pot laws, his supporters are cautiously optimistic that the state charges against him will be dropped. If that happens, whether Tuck will face any prosecution will be left solely up to the feds, who want him on one count of unlawful flight to Canada to avoid the California charges. Whether the federal narcos will exercise their right to bully the sick remains to be seen.

[Allosaurs_r_us]

Apparently, there is no limit to government thuggery when it comes to the war on drugs.

 

I suspect there is quite a bit more to this story than is being reported. Humboldt County is the weed growing capital of Calif! I have known "growers" in my younger days from Humboldt, and they were selling the stuff for as much as $3,000 a lb! Chances are this guy is one of them. Not only is he growing pot for himself but is more than likely making 50 to 60 grand a year in the process. Trust me there are no other jobs in this area. The economy of the whole place is based on pot. It is capitalism at its best. The competition is tremendous, and most haven't paid any income taxes in 10 to 15 years. Last time I was there, about 20 years ago, they were smoking weed in the post office! I think the Feds are more pissed about the revenue they are being cheated out of than they are the weed.

[darkangel82]

I'm not really a libertarian, but I'd rather be one than a statist like you. Be warned, the totalitarian government you want can and WILL turn against you.

[pageonetoo]

Nope, jus the fear that someone, somewhere is dying of drugs...

Dying of marijuana consumption, or stupidity, like the friends you previously referenced? If stupidity, then why are you still alive. If from marijuana, please cite some facts...

[beaver fever]

Cogito Ergo Sum

Descartes not Sartre

[beaver fever]

" Oh yeah, I also smoke pot every day."

Wow you obviously aren't smoking enough if you're doing all that. You are one busy guy!

[Loud Mime]

I was joking around.

[Know your rights]

the fear that someone, somewhere is dying of drugs

It's impossible to fatally overdose on marijuana. Fatal overdoses of the legal drug alcohol, by contrast, are a regular occurence; do you support banning that deadly drug, and if not, why not?

[Hank Rearden]

Yeah, life's a bitch when you commit a major felony and then flee the United States to avoid paying for your massively criminal behavior--behavior that contributes to the death or stupidification (through the well-known 'burn-out' syndrome) of your customers.

Apparently, stupidity -and a basic lack of respect for human liberty- is what props up this idiotic War On Some Drugs.

[Hank Rearden]

Scratch a libertarian, find a sensualist who doesn't want to be held accountable to anybody for what they do to others.

Oooooh. A "sensualist". I'd like to take a weekend off and be one of those - where do I go to sign up?

Do I need to bring my own lotions and unguents, or are they included with the Sensualist Society dues?

[Sam Cree]

"Scratch a libertarian, find a sensualist who doesn't want to be held accountable to anybody for what they do to others."

First, sensuality has no direct relationship with accountability, or lack of it. Second, freedom cannot work without a "virtuous people," that is to say, people who take responsibility for their own actions. It's one of the first principles of libertarianism.

[Hank Rearden]

I'm not really a libertarian, but I'd rather be one than a statist like you. Be warned, the totalitarian government you want can and WILL turn against you.

Once you encounter enough self-righteous control freaks who want to run every aspect of your public and private life, you will be.

See my tagline.

[Know your rights]

The individual's freedom is sacrificed by the drug user when he drives a car

I support punishing DUI.

or requires public funds for survival or treatment.

It's government ... not the drug, alcohol, or cheeseburger abuser ... who steals "public" funds from their rightful owners.

[Know your rights]

There are already laws against neglegent homicide regardless of whether you are under the influence of drugs at the time or not. Harming someone is illegal already and plenty of people harm others without drugs. This is another straw-man argument promulgated by drug warriors and others desperate to cling to phohibitionist policies that are illogical, have never worked, and which make no sense.

New WODmaniac, same old WODmanure.

[Know your rights]

freedom cannot work without a "virtuous people," that is to say, people who take responsibility for their own actions.

Yes, but there is no evidence that a people (adults) can be made virtuous by restricting their freedom.

[webheart]

And one of those laws is to keep a certain green leafy substance off of the grocery store shelves so that stupid fourteen year olds can't all get stoned all the time.

It is INTENDED that stupid 14-year-olds can't get stoned. It intends to deter by punishment. The intent of the law is noble, but in reality, 14-year-olds get stoned all the time, and the law serves only to make the price and profit high so that the providers reap great rewards betting that they won't be caught. Most don't get caught. If they did, there would be a lot fewer users. The real fact of the matter is that the number of users is so large that if you were to catch and jail all the users, there would be no space in the jails.

[goldstategop]

I hope the federal narcs prosecute him. They're arguing a sick man deserves prison for breaking the law to ease his suffering. I'd vote for nullification in a heartbeat.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[darkangel82]

I'm not really a libertarian, but I'd rather be one than a statist like you. Be warned, the totalitarian government you want can and WILL turn against you.

Once you encounter enough self-righteous control freaks who want to run every aspect of your public and private life, you will be. See my tagline.

I have always had a few libertarian leanings, never really looked into it past that, but I agree with you. My tagline applies here also.

[Jigsaw John]

Yeah, life's a bitch when you commit a major felony

A pot bust is only major felony in the eyes of big government. If they were really concerned about it, do you think they would allow thousands of pounds of pot to enter daily/nightly from Mexico, along with just about everything else imaginable?

[panaxanax]

Here's an intersting site to visit.

http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread1444.shtml

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

And I know a hundred people who are stupider than probably your friends and they never smoked a joint.there would be NO difference if the "drug" was alcohol. BTW..alcohol is way more destructive to our society ...so lets just make that illegal, along with ALL pain meds.