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Orange County cannabis club founder
sentenced to six years Posted 2-8-99 Marvin Chavez, founder of the Orange County Cannabis Co-op, was sentenced to six years in jail Jan. 29 for selling and transporting marijuana. The closely watched case highlights the confusion surrounding Proposition 215, the law that allows patients with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, and other illnesses to possess and grow marijuana for medical use provided they have a physician’s recommendation. The case stems from an incident in which undercover officers with a physician’s letter approached Chavez for marijuana and he gave them the drug in exchange for a $20 donation. According to Carl Armbrust, the recently retired deputy district attorney who prosecuted Chavez, Proposition 215 allows people with a physician’s recommendation to use, possess, or cultivate marijuana or designate someone as a caregiver to do the same. "There is no law that says people can sell marijuana," Armbrust said. Critical to the case was the decision by the trial judge that Chavez did not "fit the definition of a ‘primary caregiver,’ " Armbrust said. "Sending Marvin Chavez to jail is a gross miscarriage of justice," said James Silva, one of Chavez’s attorneys. "He was entrapped by people whose political agenda was opposed to Prop. 215. I hope the case will send a signal to authorities that something needs to be changed so that patients don’t fear prosecution anymore." |
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