Subject: McWilliams Denied Bail - Vomits on Court (8/2/98)
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 1998 22:39:25 -0600 (MDT)
From: "Colo. Hemp Init. Project" 
To: "Colo. Hemp Init. Project" 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 31, 1998
From Todd McCormick 

Federal Prosecutor, Fernando Aenile-Rocha, LIES To Judge
About AIDS Patient, Peter McWilliams', In-Prison Medical Treatment...

Judge Denies Motion To Reduce Bail.
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JULY 31, 1998 / LOS ANGELES, CA:
At an emergency hearing to determine if AIDS-cancer patient Peter
McWilliams should be immediately released from federal custody on
medical marijuana charges, federal prosecutor Fernando Aenlle-Rocha told
the judge, "Mr. McWilliams has received his full complement of AIDS
medications since July 24, 1998, his second day in custody."

In fact, as the prescription bottle supplied by the federal government's
in-prison pharmacy clearly reveals, McWilliams was not given the 3rd
drug in the 3-drug combination AIDS therapy until July 26, 1998.

"Prosecutor Fernando Aenlle-Rocha looked the judge right in the eye and
in somber, precise, governmental tones lied to the judge," said
McWilliams after the hearing. "That the government failed to provide me
with AIDS medications for 4 days is appalling. That the government would
lie about that fact in order to keep me in custody is reprehensible."

The judge believed prosecutor Fernando Aenlle-Rocha over McWilliams and
remanded McWilliams back into federal custody. The earliest McWilliams
could possibly be released is Monday, August 3, 1998.

Prosecutor Fernando Aenlle-Rocha also misrepresented the prescription
medication Trazadone, a major antidepressant, as mearly, "A sleeping
pill," therefore not important to McWilliams' AIDS treatment.

"People with AIDS walk a tight rope over the abyss of depression," said
McWilliams. "Prosecutor Fernando Aenlle-Rocha is obviously too young to
have experienced life-threatening illness first-hand. Either that, or
someone slipped his compassion a sleeping pill."

McWilliams had praise and gratitude for the Los Angeles Chapter of the
ACLU rising in his defense. "Now that reason has failed, I hope that the
ACLU will move ahead on the legal front as soon as possible," said
McWilliams. "The shoddy medical treatment in federal lock-up is nothing
short of the murder by bureaucracy."

Although McWilliams now has his AIDS medications, he has not been given
an effective anti-nausea medication, so keeping the life-saving drugs
down is difficult.

McWilliams also has not been given his antidepressants at the prescribed
dosages since his incarceration, a situation that continues to this day.

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Contact Numbers:
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· Bruce Margolin............310-652-0991
· Todd McCorrmick........213-650-4906
· Prelude Press.....213-650-9571 x125
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Sun., Aug. 2, 1998
Associated Press

JUDGE SAYS JAILED MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE MUST RECEIVE MEDICATION
LOS ANGELES (AP) --  A federal judge ruled Friday that a medical marijuana
advocate jailed on drug charges must have access to medications to treat
his AIDS and cancer.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Wistrich said he will ensure Peter
McWilliams receives the appropriate medicine, but the judge also turned
down a request to lower his $250,000 bail.

McWilliams, a self-help publisher who allegedly financed an operation
that grew more than 6,000 marijuana plants, had complained he wasn't
regularly receiving his required medication. He also said he suffered
from cuts on his hands and feet that could expose him to infections.

McWilliams vomited repeatedly in court Friday, prompting guards to keep
a trash can nearby.

McWilliams pleaded innocent Monday to conspiracy to grow marijuana,
possessing the drug with the intent to distribute, and distributing it.
He was arrested with another man July 23 under a federal indictment that
alleged he and others grew thousands of marijuana plants.

Another medical marijuana advocate, Todd McCormick, was arrested in the
same case along with four others.

McCormick was arrested last year after authorities found more than 4,000
marijuana plants at a rented Bel-Air mansion. He remains free on bail.

The men claimed they grew the marijuana to supply clubs who sell the
drug to help ease the pain of people suffering chronic or terminal
illnesses.

The medical marijuana advocates have maintained they did nothing illegal
under Proposition 215, the state initiative that legalized the
cultivation, use and possession of marijuana for medicinal purposes on a
doctor's recommendation.

Federal courts have not recognized the state law.
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WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Send letters of outrage to the California media and your local papers.
Good media email lists for California and other states can be found on
Paul Wolf's Internet Democracy Web Page:
http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/maillist.htm

Other targets for your outrage can be found at:
http://www.levellers.org/toddact.htm

For background on the trials of Peter McWilliams and Todd McCormick, see:
http://www.marijuanamagazine.com
http://www.freecannabis.org
http://www.levellers.org/toddtoc.htm

Send copies of any letters you send to:
Peter McWilliams 
Todd McCormick 
COHIP 
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Donations to help Peter raise the $250,000 bail to get him out of federal
custody and to obtain legal counsel can be made to:

Peter McWilliams Legal Defense Fund
c/o Steve C. Markoff
100 Wilshire Blvd., 3rd Floor
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone: (310) 587-1470

Or you can support Peter by purchasing one of his many books online at:
http://www.mcwilliams.com
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ACT UP! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT AIDS!
ACT UP! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT AIDS!
ACT UP! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT AIDS!
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Re-distributed by:
Colorado Citizens for Compassionate Cannabis
P.O. Box 729
Nederland, CO 80466
Phone: (303) 784-5632
Email: cohip@levellers.org
Web: http://www.levellers.org/cannabis.html