At the NYT, a video “opinion documentary,” ‘The Fight Over Medical Marijuana’, by Rebecca Richman Cohen.
“Our federal marijuana policy is increasingly out of step with both the values of American citizens and with state law,” she writes. “The result is a system of justice that is schizophrenic and at times appalling.”
After the elections, medical pot is now legal in 18 states and Washington, D.C., and pot is legal for adults to use for recreational use as well in Colorado and Washington State. But the federal government plans to continue its draconian enforcement approach, regardless of state voters’ choices.
Her short film focuses on the case of a medical cannabis grower, Chris Williams, who opened a grow house in Montana after the state legalized medical cannabis.
Mr. Williams was eventually arrested by federal agents despite Montana’s medical marijuana law, and he may spend the rest of his life behind bars. While Jerry Sandusky got a 30-year minimum sentence for raping young boys, Mr. Williams is looking at a mandatory minimum of more than 80 years for marijuana charges and for possessing firearms during a drug-trafficking offense.