This man, Peter McWilliams died on June 14th, 2000. He died of asphyxiation.

He was a brilliant writer, poet, and activist. His book, Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country is a worthy companion to works like John Stuart Mill's On Liberty. His death should be mourned by every person who believes in freedom. Indeed, his death should be mourned by every person alive.

Was he killed by a burglar, who stuffed his head under a pillow?
An organized-crime hitman, afraid that his radical ideas might take hold and cost some drug-runner some profits?
Failure of a ventilator?
Accidental drowning during aquatic therapy for his legs?

No, Peter McWilliams died choking on his own vomit. He vomited because he had been forbidden under conditions of a plea-bargain to use marijuana, the only thing that reliably controlled the nausea from chemotherapy for cancer.

I won't play games and say his death is due to some faceless "War On Drugs." The fact that this so-called "war" is not only being lost but is unwinnable is patently obvious to anyone who does not have a vested interest in its furtherance (DEA, Colombian drug cartels, police departments who make fortunes from the blatantly unconstitutional forfeiture laws, the provably useless DARE program, and plenty more. I'm sure five minutes honest thought would allow you to think of a dozen more). While the Federal Government's "Zero Tolerance" policy created the conditions under which this outstanding man could die in horrible fear and indignity, the man who is directly responsible for the death of Peter McWilliams is the Honorable George H. King, United States District Court Judge.

Judge King killed Peter McWilliams as surely as if His Honor had sentenced Mr. McWilliams to the gas chamber.

I urge you to read the full details of Mr. McWilliams' struggle with the laws that kept him from receiving the necessary treatment for his chemotherapy-related nausea. Judge King had the power to set the terms of Mr. McWilliams' bail and chose to include the prohibition on the use of marijuana as part of them. He clearly felt that the law required him to rule as he did, but judges have gone against precedent before. Ultimately it was Judge King's decision. His Honor must carry this responsibility for the rest of his life, and I hope he has a sleepless night or two from it.

Judge King also ruled that Mr. McWilliams and his attorneys could not present any evidence relevant to why he grew the marijuana, his medical record, nor the fact that California law specifically allows the growth, distribution and use of marijuana for medical purposes. This is clear evidence of bias on the part of the trial judge. Rather than risk something called "jury nullification," wherein a jury can set aside an unjust law (you owe it to yourself to know about this), the judge basically eliminated Mr. McWilliams' defense. As Mr. McWilliams himself put it, the Consitution guarantees certain things to a defendant, but the opportunity to present a defense is not one of them...

The judge was clearly more interested in the law than in the facts. Never let it be said that a law went unapplied simply because it was unjust! I'm not a big fan of conspiracy theories (except for amusement value), and I don't believe there is a gigantic project underway to bring all free citizens under the sway of some shadowy organization any more than I believe in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I'm not a frantic States' Rights paranoid, stressing every time the Federal government does something I don't like. But I do believe that this case indicates a clear situation of the Federal government overstepping its bounds, and as a result a fine man has died.

Peter McWilliams said "The Drug War doesn't need another martyr -- it has too many already." Now it has another one anyway, and one we can ill afford. How long before politicians acquire enough spine to stand up and admit "We were wrong"?

I will add more information to this site as it becomes available to me and/or I get permission to do so. For example, I will actually be writing to William F. Buckley, a man with whom I seldom agree but whom I nevertheless respect for his education and intelligence, for permission to place a link to an article of his on this page.

Please go to For A Hero to express your sentiments about Peter McWilliams and help create a memorial to him.

The Libertarian Party's article on Peter McWilliams' death is here. Whatever you may think of the Libertarian party, and I certainly disagree with them on a great many things, they've got this one right. I notice a remarkable similarity of pharsing between their remarks and mine, although they were written independently.

This is another commentary in tribute to Mr. McWilliams.

If you have information you think I should present here, please email me. I hope Geocities won't object to the content of this site. If they do, I hope they'll at least do me the courtesy of asking me to pull it rather than just shutting me down.

My thanks to "Sun Wu Kong," a regular visitor to MSNBC's Religion And Ethics Bulletin Board for notifying me of Mr. McWilliams' tragic, untimely, and--above all--unnecessary death.

DISCLAIMER: I don't use illegal drugs: I don't oppose drug laws because I want to get wrecked but because they are antithetical to the very values of freedom and individual responsibility on which this nation was founded. I do support stiff penalties for people who drive under the influence of any drug, illegal or otherwise. I do support the use of existing laws to punish people who commit crimes to support drug habits. I do support existing penalties for crimes committed incidental or consequential to drug use. I do support stiff penalties for people who addict children to drugs. But there is no doubt in my mind that there is no moral or reasonable justification for making the use of a drug by a competent adult a crime. I defy anyone to provide a rational refutation to this statement. How is it that a rapist can get off with probation, a murderer can walk free in a couple of years, but Peter McWilliams faced a mandatory ten years in a Federal penitentiary for growing something which has never been shown to be more harmful than tobacco or alcohol? As the saying goes: "What's wrong with this picture?"

This page isn't intended to be a tirade against the so-called "War On Drugs," but a tribute to Peter McWilliams and a cry of outrage at his death. However, since I can't actually indict Judge King for Mr. McWilliams' death, I am calling everyone who reads this to take a good long look at drug laws which are frighteningly reminiscent of Prohibition and the McCarthy era.

If you think this shameful incident should be the last of its kind, write your Congresscritters, the President, your city and state government, your local newspapers and anyone else you can think of. Urge them to change the laws, if only along the lines of New York City's new drug rehabilitation program (I'm trying to find a URL or other reference to this). Get angry and get active! Peter McWilliams was the most recent victim of the "War On Drugs." Wouldn't it be great tribute to a remarkable man if he were the last?

I strongly urge you to research this subject for yourself.