The Faces of Medical Marijuana

Thousands of seriously ill Americans live in fear that they will be arrested for using a relatively safe and
effective medicine marijuana to treat their illnesses. Sadly, some of their fears have materialized: Many
patients who use marijuana for medical purposes have been prosecuted and imprisoned under state law for
simply trying to stay alive or functional.
But thousands of other patients have been able to safely use their medicine after voters or legislatures crafted
exceptions to statewide criminal penalties on marijuana, allowing for its medical use by the seriously ill with
doctors recommendations.
Here are a few tragic examples of what has happened to patients whose state laws didnt permit the medical
use of marijuana, as well as some stories of patients whose state laws do.

Casualties of Medical Marijuana Prohibition

Jonathan Magbie
In 2004, Jonathan Magbie died from medical neglect in a Washington,
D.C., jail five days into a 10-day sentence for possessing a small amount of
marijuana to relieve pain caused by his quadriplegia. He had been sentenced
to jail despite his need for nearly constant nursing care and a ventilator.

Larry Rathbun
Rancher and Vietnam veteran Larry Rathbun was arrested in 1999 for
cultivating medical marijuana to relieve his degenerative multiple sclerosis.
When he was arrested, he was still able to walk, which he attributes to the
medical use of marijuana. In 2002, after serving 19 months, Larry came out of
Montana State Prison confined to a wheelchair. Since Larrys release, Montana
voters passed a medical marijuana initiative protecting people like him.

Byron Stamate and Shirley Dorsey

Byron Stamate spent three months in a California jail and lost nearly
all of his property including his home for growing medical marijuana
for his disabled girlfriend, Shirley Dorsey. He was 73 at the time of his 1991
arrest. Shirley killed herself so that she would not have to testify against
Byron. Five years after Shirleys suicide, California voters voted to protect
seriously ill medical marijuana patients from arrest.

Minimize the harm associated with marijuana.

P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC 20013
Phone: 202-462-5747 Fax: 202-232-0442 www.mpp.org info@mpp.org

Will Foster
In Oklahoma in 1995, Will Foster was sentenced to more than 90 years
in prison for growing marijuana for chronic pain caused by rheumatoid
arthritis. His sentence was eventually reduced, and he was paroled in 2001
to California.

State Medical Marijuana Laws Are Protecting Patients

Angel Raich, California
Were it not for Californias medical marijuana law, Angel Raich
would probably be dead. She suffers from an inoperable brain tumor,
life-threatening wasting syndrome, and nausea, in addition to severe chronic
pain and seizures. Angel is allergic to virtually all legally available prescription medicines. She began using medical marijuana in 1997, after it became
legal under California state law in 1996. Marijuana helped Angel regain
mobility and get out of the wheelchair she had been in for four years. It also provides pain relief, allowing her
to undergo life-saving operations, and staves off her wasting. Because 99% of all marijuana arrests are at the
state and local level, Californias medical marijuana law provides near complete protection to Angel.

Rhonda ODonnell, Rhode Island

A registered nurse from Rhode Island, Rhonda was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis in 1994. By 1998, the disease had progressed to the point
that she could no longer perform her job, and she was forced into early
retirement at age 35. Although her neurologist supported the medical use of
marijuana to alleviate her symptoms, Rhonda feared arrest, imprisonment,
and home forfeiture. In January 2006, Rhode Island became the 11th state to
protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and imprisonment. Rhonda
is now able to follow her physicians advice and has found that marijuana almost immediately cools the
searing pain in her legs.

Eric B., Montana

In 1994, Eric was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Doctors tried everything
they could to keep him from losing weight, but his weight plunged to 88
pounds. His doctor prescribed antiemetics including Marinol, which is
made of synthetic THC but his weight didnt increase. A doctor recommended marijuana to him in 1996. Eric quickly returned to a healthy weight,
but spent more than eight years in fear of being arrested for preventing
himself from dying of starvation. In early 2005, he became a legal medical
marijuana patient under Montanas new law. He no longer lives in fear of arrest.