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Judge Jim Gray on The Six Groups Who Benefit From Drug Prohibition

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST

In 1992, Jim Gray, a conservative judge in conservative Orange County, California, held a press conference during which he recommended that we rethink our drug laws. Back then, it took a great deal of courage to suggest that the war on drugs was a failed policy.

Today, more and more Americans are coming to the realization that prohibition's costs—whether measured in lives and liberties lost or dollars wasted—far exceed any possible or claimed benefits. Reason.tv's Paul Feine interviewed Gray about drug policy and the prospects for reform. The interview was shot by Alex Manning and edited by Hawk Jensen.

Judge Jim Gray is the author of Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs.

Approximately 8.30 minutes.

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And come back to Reason.tv March 15 through March 19 for the debut of Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey: How to fix the "Mistake on The Lake" and other once-great American cities, an original six-part documentary series.

Pot Wars: Battlefield California

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST

Over the past couple of years, the medical marijuana industry in Los Angeles has exploded. Estimates vary, but there may be as many as 800 dispensaries currently open for business in the city of angels. An ordinance recently passed by the LA city council, however, is about to change all that.

The new ordinance will force hundreds of dispensaries to close and all but a few to relocate. The goal was to bring clarity to the medical marijuana industry, but the only thing that's clear is that the transition process will be difficult. Especially now that the DEA has begun raiding dispensaries again despite the promises made by the Obama administration.

While federal, state and local governments struggle to make sense of medical marijuana laws, an increasing number of Californians support a completely different approach: marijuana legalization. Nothing more than a pipe dream? Maybe. But consider this: Fixty-six percent of Californians currently support pot legalization, the same proportion of Californians who voted for the Compassionate Use Act, which legalized medical marijuana, back in 1996.

Produced by Paul Feine. Shot and edited by Alex Manning. Graphics by Hawk Jensen.

Hosted by Nick Gillespie.

Approximately 9 minutes.

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Jessica Corry: Republican Mom for Pot Legalization!

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:01:00 EST

Jessica Peck Corry is a Denver-based attorney, public policy analyst, and political strategist. She has been called one of Colorado’s most influential women by the Denver Examiner and named one of Colorado’s top political "movers and shakers" by the Colorado Statesman.

Reason.tv interviewed Corry on November 10, 2009. On the same day, she spoke to students at the Washington Center for Journalism and Politics on "The Politics of the Drug War" with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law's Keith Stroup. Stroup's interview is available here. The whole panel, hosted by Reason contributor Terry Michael, can be viewed here

Shot and edited by Reason.tv's Dan Hayes. Approximately 6 minutes.

Terry Michael, Jessica Corry, and Keith Stroup Discuss Marijuana Policy

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:01:00 EST

On November 10, 2009 Reason.tv caught up with the National Organization of the Reform of Marijuana Law Co-founder Keith Stroup, attorney Jessica Peck Corry and Reason contributor Terry Michael. They spoke to students at the Washington Center for Journalism and Politics on "The Politics of the Drug War." Shorter interviews with Stroup and Corry can be viewed here and here.

Shot and edited by Reason.tv's Dan Hayes. Approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Keith Stroup, Co-Founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:00:00 EST

Keith Stroup is an attorney and founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Reason.tv conducted this short interview with Stroup on November 10, 2009. On the same day, he spoke to students at the Washington Center for Journalism and Politics on a panel called "The Politics of the Drug War" with Jessica Peck Corry. Corry's interview is available here. The whole panel discussion, hosted by Reason contributor Terry Michael, can be viewed here.

Shot and edited by Reason.tv's Dan Hayes. Approximately 6 minutes.

Buy American Pot: A Special Message From The AMGA

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:17:00 EST

We all know that a lot of people are harmed by prohibition, but who benefits? Strangely enough, some of the biggest beneficiaries are the bootleggers. Sure, they take a big risk, but black marketeers don't have to pay taxes, they're protected from foreign competition, and they benefit from artificially inflated prices. Talk about protectionism.

What kind of message would an honest American Marijuana Growers Association have for us? "Thank you for your support of marijuana prohibition and buy American pot!"

"Buy American Pot" PSA was produced by Paul Feine, Alex Manning, and Hawk Jensen.

The farmer is played by Alexandra Fulton, who also has a pages on Facebook and IMDB.

For downloadable versions and embed codes, scroll down.

Visit Reason.tv's YouTube channel here.

"This is an injustice and I think everyone has gotten the message."

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Charlie Lynch is the medical marijuana dispensary owner whose business, fully legal under California state law, was raided by federal agents in 2007. Lynch was charged with five counts of violating federal drug laws. He faced as many as 100 years in prison, but on his June 11, 2009 sentencing date many expected the mandatory-minimum five-year sentence.

Although the fact that Lynch was prosecuted at all is an affront to anyone who believes in the 10th Amendment or the efficacy of medical marijuana, Lynch and his attorneys were relieved with the 366-day sentence delivered by U.S. District Court Judge George Wu. Lynch is free pending appeal, and his attorneys are hopeful he can avoid prison entirely. If he is imprisoned, the actual time he would spend behind bars would likely be about four months.

Defense attorney Reuven Cohen expects that his client will be among the last dispensary owners prosecuted in our nation’s failed war on drugs. "I really think," says Cohen, "you're looking at, if not the last, then the penultimate or third to last medical marijuana dispensary prosecution in the United States....This is an injustice, and I think everyone has gotten the message."

This video update is approximately three minutes. Produced by Ted Balaker; shot by Alex Manning and Paul Detrick.

The reason.tv documentary short, "Raiding California," which brought the Lynch case to a national audience, is here.

Reason’s coverage of the Lynch saga is here.

Lynch Media Tour Rolls Along

ted.balaker@reason.tv (Ted Balaker) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Charlie Lynch--and attorneys Reuven Cohen and John Littrell--speak with Larry King sub Tavis Smiley about the case at the center of the medical marijuana debate.

And hey, remember Smiley chatting with a certain game-show host, you know, the who was also the first to bring the Charlie Lynch story to a national audience?

Did you see Charlie Lynch with Al Roker? How about TIME's coverage?

Here's hoping that sunlight is indeed the best disinfectant.

Lynch on Larry Tonight

ted.balaker@reason.tv (Ted Balaker) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Tonight's Larry King Live will ask, "Should marijuana be legalized?"

Charlie Lynch, the former medical marijuna dispensary operator whose fate was recently put on hold, is scheduled to appear--as are Montel Williams and Stephen Baldwin, who will debate the question of the day.

To whet your appetite I include the above clip of Baldwin battling Ron Paul over the Phelps phlap.

Perhaps Larry will reflect on what it was like to be a boy in an America where cannabis was legal (And that's no hyperbolic dig at the newsman's age--his earliest years preceded the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act).

The Reason.tv Talk Show, Episode 13

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:30:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan and Nick Gillespie sit down with Kristina Rasmussen, Director of Government Affairs for the National Taxpayers Union, and Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, to the prospects of ending the drug war, the Obama administration's policy towards medical marijuana, the stimulus plan, and the Bush tax legacy.

Approximately 20 minutes. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

Click here for an archive of previous episodes of the Reason.tv talkshow.

Will Medical Marijuana Dispensary Owner Charlie Lynch Spend Decades in Jail?

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:07:00 EDT

Morro Bay, California medical marijuana dispensary operator Charles Lynch finds himself caught between the old guard and the new guard. While the dispensary he ran was fully legal under state law, he was convicted under federal law last year and faces the prospect of decades in jail--all for helping sick people.

Lynch is waiting on his sentence. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently signaled that the Obama administration would break with the Bush administration and prosecute medical marijuana dispensary owners only if they violated both federal and state law.

Lynch was convicted during the Bush years, but his sentencing will occur under the new regime. So where would that leave him on his sentencing day--a free man, a lifelong prisoner, something else?

It turns out that the man who hold Lynch's life in his hands isn't sure how the policy shift should affect sentencing. U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu postponed his decision until he learns more about the Justice Department's policy regarding such cases.

In this press conference, Charles Lynch and Reuven Cohen, one of his public defenders, answer questions about the man who stands squarely in the middle of the nation's debate over medical marijuana. Will Lynch be punished for following the law? Or will he be set free from the drug war's long reach?

Produced by Ted Balaker and Alex Manning of Reason.tv. Approximately 5 minutes.

For more video and information on Lynch's case, go here.

Watch "Raiding California," which lays out the miscarriage of justice at the heart of this case.

For more Reason.tv, go here.

Lynch To Be Sentenced Monday

ted.balaker@reason.tv (Ted Balaker) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EDT

This Monday, March 23 we will learn what the federal government will do with Charlie Lynch. Will he get the mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison? Will he spend the rest of his life behind bars?

But what about Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement that dispensaries will now have to violate both federal and state law before the feds will target them? Great news, but it could be too late for Lynch, which kicks the outrage meter up a few more clicks.

To review: Lynch operated his dispensary in accordance with state and local law (remember, even his mayor attended his ribbon-cutting ceremony).

San Louis Obispo County Sheriff Pat Hedges staked out Lynch's dispensary for nearly the entire first year of operation. He was just itching to find some state-level violation to pin on Lynch, but he couldn't--which is why he invited the feds to raid Lynch's home and dispensary.

And now what do we hear from Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for Thomas P. O'Brien, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles?

"In every single case we have prosecuted, the defendants violated state as well as federal law," Mrozek said.

How interesting, because during the entire trial Lynch's attorneys did everything they could to appeal to state law, but each time they got their hands slapped because, as they were reminded again and again, state law is irrelevant in federal court.

Sentencing is set for 10:30 am at the Federal Courthouse, 312 Spring Street, LA, CA (Judge Wu's courtroom). All are encouraged to attend.

Jacob Sullum at Hampden-Sydney College

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:00:00 EDT

In September 2008, Reason senior editor Jacob Sullum spoke at Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden-Sydney, Virginia, as part of a lecture series sponsored by the school's Center for the Study of Political Economy. His talk, Voodoo Pharmacology: Drug Use and Loss of Control, is approximately one hour.

Obama, You're No Stranger to the Bong

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:00:00 EST

Thank you, President Obama, for keeping your campaign pledge to end raids on medical marijuana dispensaries that are legal under state laws in California and elsewhere. Thank you for reversing an inhumane policy established by the Clinton administration and continued by the Bush administration.

Given the experience you and other elected officials have had with illegal drugs and your willingness to challenge the status quo, now is the time to reconsider decades of prohibitionist drug policies that have succeeded only in massively increasing the toll of human misery, violence, and hypocrisy. As with alcohol prohibition, the drug war intensifies and exacerbates every negative outcome it is ostensibly designed to combat.

President Obama, do the right thing and end the war on drugs.

"Obama, You're No Stranger to the Bong" was written, performed, and edited by Paul Feine; special thanks to Alex Manning.

GUILTY

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:00:00 EDT

The jury has delivered a verdict in the trial of Charlie Lynch: Guilty on all counts. The former medical marijuana dispensary operator could very well receive a sentence much longer than the average sentence first-degree murderers receive.

Hear from two of Lynch's defense attorneys, as well as the jury foreperson, in this video update produced by Ted Balaker and Rick Ray. Associate Producers are Seth Goldin and Brittney Bussian.

Previous Lynch trial video updates can be found here and here. reason.tv's documentary short, Raiding California, can be found here.

Silencing Owen

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:00:00 EDT

Chemotherapy treatments and an amputated leg left 17-year-old Owen Beck in constant pain and nausea. Nothing gave him relief until he tried the medical marijuana his parents purchased for him at Charlie Lynch’s dispensary in Morro Bay, California.

After armed federal agents raided his dispensary in 2007, Lynch now finds himself in the midst of a trial that could land him in prison for the rest of his life. On Tuesday Owen Beck was called to the stand to speak on Lynch’s behalf—and then promptly silenced.

In this video update, reason.tv continues its coverage of the saga first told in the documentary short, Raiding California: Medical Marijuana and Minors.

To learn why Owen's testimony was cut short, read Seth Goldin's courtroom dispatch.

The trial of Charlie Lynch is expected to continue into the week of August 4. The public is encouraged to attend:

U.S. District Court
Courtroom 10
312 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Raiding California

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:00:00 EDT

UPDATE: On August 5, 2008 Charlie Lynch was found guilty on all five counts. Sentencing is scheduled for June 11, 2009.

For reason.tv's coverage of the trial (including an on-camera interview with the jury foreperson), go here, here, and here.

For more information, visit Friends of Charles C. Lynch.

For information on how to contact your elected officials, please go here or here.

______

June 10, 2008

Should medical marijuana be kept from minors at all costs? Why is it that pharmacists can dispense amphetamines without getting busted, but legal operators who dispense medical marijuana face prison time? Why do armed federal agents persist in raiding California?

With its sun, surf and small town atmosphere, California's San Luis Obispo County is a good place to grow up. Seventeen-year-old Owen Beck played football and soccer for a local high school, but one day his thoughts abruptly turned away from sports and school. Doctors told Owen he had bone cancer, and would have to begin chemotherapy right away.

The young athlete suffered another blow—doctors would have to amputate his leg to try to keep the cancer from spreading. Chemotherapy attacked Owen's cancer and his body, leaving him bald, gaunt, and vomiting the food he needed to recover. The amputation introduced Owen to a bizarre, new agony called phantom pain, and although doctors gave him powerful medication, nothing helped.

But might a new kind of pharmacy offer new hope? A medical marijuana dispensary had recently opened in the nearby city of Morro Bay. More than a decade earlier, California voters legalized medical marijuana and Morro Bay's mayor and Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the dispensary, and its owner Charlie Lynch.

Owen's parents knew the idea of giving medical marijuana to a 17-year-old strikes many people as scandalous. Local Sheriff Pat Hedges even asserts that allowing medical marijuana is "not in the best interest of a community that prides itself on providing a healthy, family environment."

But the Becks weren't concerned about what other people thought; they were focused on helping their son. So with a written doctor recommendation in hand, they purchased medical marijuana for their teenage son. The new medication eased Owen's pain and nausea like nothing else had, and the Becks grew fond of Charlie Lynch, who would sometimes refuse payment because, says Steve Beck, "He was just a compassionate kind of a guy."

But one day, Owen's life took another abrupt turn. Federal agents and local sheriff deputies raided Charlie Lynch's dispensary, and seized nearly everything inside, including Owen's medicine. "He had a prescription from a doctor at Stanford, and they took his stuff!" says Debbie Beck. Federal agents cuffed Lynch, and put him behind bars. Even though state and local laws allow for it, medical marijuana is still illegal under federal law. And because he had clients like Owen who were under age 21, Charlie Lynch faces heightened penalties. In California the average first-degree murder serves 20 years behind bars; Charlie Lynch could face a sentence as long as 100 years in prison.

The trial of Charlie Lynch begins this July.

KEEP stanHOPE ALIII...

ted.balaker@reason.tv (Ted Balaker) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:32:00 EDT

Ahh never mind.

Stick with the likes of Ron Paul or Chris Dodd if you're looking for a presidential candidate who wants to liberalize drug policy. Doug Stanhope has pulled out.

But you can still check out the comic's rant on medical marijuana; his rant on freedom is here.

Silly Olbermann, Pot is for Kids!

paul.feine@reason.tv (Paul Feine) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:00:00 EDT

Claudia Jensen, who lost her battle with cancer recently, was a pediatrician and USC instructor who advocated medical marijuana for children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann interviewed Dr. Jensen during the summer of 2006.

Medical Marijuana

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

“I think it’s clear by now that the federal government needs to reclassify marijuana. People who need it should be able to get it – safely and easily,” says The Price Is Right and Power of 10 host Drew Carey in a new Reason.tv video examining medical marijuana and the war on drugs.

One of the most outrageous consequences of the war on drugs is the federal crackdown on medical marijuana, which is used by patients to help treat the effects of cancer, glaucoma, HIV-AIDS, chronic pain and nausea, and other severe symptoms associated with serious illnesses. Medical marijuana prescribed by a physician is legal in 12 states, yet federal agents are raiding state-approved dispensaries and preventing patients from having safe access to this drug.

In Episode 2 of Reason.tv's Drew Carey Project, Drew takes a look at patients who need and use medical marijuana in California, and how the federal government is making their lives even worse.

Episode 1 of Reason.tv's Drew Carey Project, Gridlock, is here.

Magic Weed

ted.balaker@reason.tv (Ted Balaker) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:06:00 EDT

The story of cannabis, Part 1.

Find subsequent parts under the "related videos" column here.