US Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) and more than 20 congressional cosponsors Tuesday introduced a bill that would allow defendants in federal medical marijuana prosecutions to use medical evidence in their defense -- a right they do not have under current federal law. The Truth in Trials Act, H.R. 3939, would create a level playing field for such defendants.
More than a hundred medical marijuana providers have been prosecuted for violating federal marijuana laws, and more cases are coming down the pike. More than two dozen cases are currently pending. While the Justice Department last week issued guidelines to federal prosecutors discouraging them from prosecuting providers who comply with state medical marijuana laws, that guidance does not require that courts or prosecutors allow testimony about medical marijuana, nor does it suggest that prosecutors drop those cases.
"The Truth in Trials Act will restore the balance of justice and bring fundamental fairness to federal medical marijuana trials," said Caren Woodson, government affairs director with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the nation's largest medical marijuana advocacy group. "This legislation complements the recent Justice Department guidelines for federal prosecutors and is now more necessary than ever."
While Farr has introduced the Truth in Trials bill in earlier sessions, supporters hope this time the bill will gain some traction. It has already been endorsed by more than three dozen advocacy, health, and legal groups, including ASA, the ACLU, the National Association of People With AIDS, the National Minority AIDS Council, and the AIDS Action Council.
Truth in Trials?
How can drug laws get anymore strict? I guess we are admitting that there is no truth at all in trials. I know that some of us think that these little steps are moving the cause ahead, but truly we are just tripping over ourselves. More stall tactics and pleas from the so-called "power" to just hang on a little more while they build more prisons and kill us all a little more. If you can still think, you know that we need to legalize and get on with it. Sam Farr, you are far too nice. You want to keep your job, even though you know it is at the expense of real people's lives. Eat your cake then.
truth and trials
This "Truth In Trials" act should be a revelation to many Americans about the true state of the Federal court system.
Take a minute to reflect about the enormity of a gag rule that actually discounts the testimony of licensed doctors! The case of Charles Lynch, director of med pot clinic in California is exemplary: Federal prosecutors wanted years in jail for a man who, at the request of parents and doctors, gave pot to boy with cancer. Lynch was actually barred from mentioning this to a jury! He was made out to be virtually a pedophile in court. Utterly horrifying, and I do hope this recent bill passes and that prosecutors who for years barred doctors' testimony in court get a jail cell somewhere.
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