Marijuana Prosecution Concerns.pdf

Attorneys for the Harvey et al. case are expressing concern to Attorney General Eric Holder about the USAO's charging decisions in the Eastern District of Washington, specifically regarding medical cannabis patients who are obeying Washington's law. Despite DOJ policy and guidelines, the USAO has filed indictments against these patients, including the Harvey family, who had valid medical marijuana recommendations and were acting within state law. The attorneys argue that the indictment is unnecessary and contrary to DOJ directives, and that the case would be dismissed if the USAO applied the standards set forth in the Cole memo. The defendants are law-abiding citizens, including a 70-year-old retired truck driver and his family, who were growing a small amount of cannabis for medical purposes and had no intention of distributing it. The attorneys claim that the government's theory that the defendants were in possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime is flimsy and that the evidence seized is consistent with medical dosage under a doctor's supervision.