20/20 With John Stossel – Charlie Lynch and the Conflict of State and Federal Marijuana Laws
Comments (30)
March 16, 2009
March 16, 2009
John Stossel discusses the conflict between state and federal laws regarding medical marijuana and its victims. Charlie Lynch, who operated a medical marijuana dispensary which was legal under California law, is interviewed regarding his conviction and impending sentencing on federal drug charges for operating his facility.
The opinions expressed below by our viewers and posters do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Marijuana Policy Project. These views are those of the individual authors alone. MPP does not condone or support the illegal use of marijuana. We do encourage open and frank discussion, but if a comment has been posted that is in some way significantly inappropriate, please e-mail us at socialnetwork@mpp.org to report it. Thank you, and we're looking forward to what you think!
30 Comments, Comment or Ping
Sean
I’m sorry, where was this kind of reporting like when it started happening? Why wait till now? Better late then never I guess.
Mar 16th, 2009
James irvin
yes i do agree with the women at the end. everytime we do smoke it puts money into the black market and funds the people who are selling it. but if the women would listen and think about our side then she would see that if the goverment was to tax marijuana and regulate it then there would be no need for some to have to go to a drug dealer and be around other drugs and illegal activities. they would go to a store that sold gas or soda and get it there. That involves checking I.D.’s. a study has already shown that kids can get their hads on marijuana alot easier than tobacco products or beer. So making limitations on it would be very useful to cut down on black market profits and childrens use of marijuana.
Mar 16th, 2009
James irvin
btw i was reffering to the video on the false drug test. sorry i had forgotten that i had changed videos.
Mar 16th, 2009
Nick
omg thats bs, hes gettin 100 yrs? for helping ppl ok now thats way over the limit.
Mar 16th, 2009
smiles
wow, 100 yrs….. What about the avg drunk driver, shoudn’t he get 100 yrs too.. The US is screwed folks, You can drive drunk, run over a family of 4 and kill them and not get 100yrs.
Mar 16th, 2009
Christie
Charles was a quiet man who operated fully under the law. Thank you MPP for giving him the media he deserves. Now is the time for action and, if necessary, support for a presidential pardon. Make his case be the end of Bush’s expensive war. Write or e-mail your support for Charles today to your local and state representatives. Write the governor and president. 100 years to the law abiding citizen while the young “thug” who went beyond the rules walks the streets and puts his videos up on “You Tube”……………
Mar 16th, 2009
Kaya
When my friend Jeremy was dying from Lymphoma (he’s gone now), Charles came to his fundraiser and, when many of our silent auction items weren’t moving, he went around and put his name down on many of them. He did it quietly and helped out immensely. This is the kind of thing Charlie did. He genuinely cared about people.
And he was a professional. I have never seen a dispensary in California that was run the way his was. It felt more like a professional office than a marijana dispensary.
Mar 16th, 2009
Scott
Yeah, cause you know that making profits legally in your state is against the law. Or did law makers add a no-profits clause to California’s medical marijuana bill and I not hear about it?
Mar 17th, 2009
Veronica Vance
PLEASE PARDON CHARLIE LYNCH!!!!!!!!!
Mar 17th, 2009
DAVID
When is the evil sheriff up for re-election? Get out there and vote him OUT!
Mar 17th, 2009
stephen
tyrants. its as simple as that. my prayers and thoughts go out to him and his family
Mar 17th, 2009
Eric
I think what he said at the very end encompasses the whole situation. People who have a problem with cannabis feel threatened by people like Charlie Lynch even though everything he’s doing is perfectly legeal, so they go to higher-ups in the DEA who were being encouraged to raid medical facilities by the Bush Administration to strong-arm local business people instead of respecting the legal procedures that are in place.
Mar 18th, 2009
gary owen
thanks so much john for bringing this tragedy to the american public. this policy is old, wore out and needs to be reformed. the american public is ready for a change in marijuana policy. criminalizing a large portion of our population reminds me of the salem witch trials and will be remembered that way when this policy finally fades away. Thanks again we need you,the media guys to continue to hammer away on this issue
Mar 18th, 2009
Jon B
I believe that a revolution is coming. If we don’t take responsibility for our freedoms and guard them with our very fiber of being we are all doomed to the same fate. Whether its being taxed 90% of our bonus Congress made (Dec. 2000 derivatives law) and deems wrong now or smoking a j. We cannot be legislated into submission.
Keep up the good fight, Gods fight, our fight for freedom and the pursuit of happiness.
Mar 21st, 2009
W
We must continue to fund organizations such as MPP and NORML as well as propagate local grass root movements. Make flyers to raise awareness and pass them out at flea markets, street fairs, etc. Join your local Norml chapter..get involved! Let’s make this a #1 issue in every small town and major city.
Mar 24th, 2009
teresa
if all the smokers got together in each state and we all marched to the state capitals then they would see how meny of us there are and how much money they could make off of us. how meny news stories do u hear about a person smoked o joint an got in his car and killed a family of 5? none. but u hear it everyday about people leaving bars. and how often do u hear about a person selling his kid to get weed? not! how in the hell can they even compare the two. the world we live in is changing and all u have to do is plant a few plants in the ground and not only are u helping people but the earth too.
Mar 25th, 2009
Blair Anderson
There is an imperative encumbent on all media (and thanks to 20/20 for cutting through the reluctance) to ‘balance’ the strong opinions and rhetoric surrounding drug issues.
In no other domain of public interest is so little done to x-check the validity or authority of the claims made by both prohibitors and anti-prohibitors and where they are found wanting to explore and critic especially where there is strong ‘evidence to the contrary’ position.
Merely trotting out the self serving claims of the likes of Walters or Costa, simply because they are who they are is not good enough. If it important enough to report it important enough to question.
It is the duty of the fouth estate to represent evidence, logic and reason.
If media had been doing this properly, the drug war as we know it would be over…. again, good on Stossel and the 20/20 team.
Mar 28th, 2009
Matt W.
For those who are familiar with John Stossel, he is a Libertarian (fiscally conservative, socially liberal).
Unfortunately it takes education (or RE-education in this case) for people to see the truth; and there are still a lot of people in this country that believe that legalizing Cannabis (or any other drug for that matter) is dangerous.
Here is a great example you can use the next time someone says that legalizing ALL drugs is wrong (or that it “sends the wrong message to our children”):
Imagine the “War on Alcohol”, also known as Prohibition (which failed miserably). In those days, ALL alcohol was considered “dangerous” by those that feared it. So basically BEER was just as dangerous as, say BOURBON.
Ok, so pour 12 oz. of beer into a glass and chug it. The effects: not much, probably a healthy burp and a very light buzz (if that).
Now pour 12 oz. of bourbon into the same glass and chug it. The effects: possible alcohol poisoning, coma or death!!
The moral of the story: to say that Cannabis is as dangerous as Heroin is to say that Beer is as dangerous as Bourbon.
The problem with keeping Cannabis (and other drugs such as heroin illegal) is that “the children” see that Cannabis is harmless, that their government, parents and other authority figures in their life have lied to them, and so they must also be lying about other drugs.
End the War on “We the People”. . .LEGALIZE FREEDOM!!
mdw
Mar 31st, 2009
Manwithabrain
Free lynch.
Apr 6th, 2009
TerryO.
I get so angry when I see and read about all these drug war attrocities committed by the DEA.They remind me so much of the Nazi’s because that’s what they are,,,Nazi,facist,bastard’s! But at the same time the reason why they are doing all these irrational act’s is because they simply do not want America to see that marijuana isn’t a dangerous drug and people who use it aren’t criminal’s either.Does anyone remember ”Brownie” Mary Rathburn?The DEA did the same thing to her years ago.I live in Texas and I know plenty of doctors who feel that marijuana is the best medicine in the world.I smoked pot for over 20 years and it didn’t kill me and when I quit it,I didn’t go through withdrawl from it but when I went cold turkey from cigarettes,I went nut’s.I quit drinking alcohol nearly 6 months ago and it was the hardest thing in the world to do.
Apr 30th, 2009
Michael
To be honest Sean, you have to go look for real information on these subjects. Whats sad is the judge in this case doesnt want subject him to prison but because the way the laws are written he simply has no choice. He’ll get 5 years at least. The judge wants to let him go as he should but it wont happen. If he tried that they would appeal and would win. You can thank Ronnie Reagan for that. What should happen is President Obama should send a loud message and pardon this guy..Try and find the story about the rainbow farm. the 2 guys that were involved in that were pretty much murdered. There was no coverage of it becasue 9/11 happened. I cant remeber where it was, wither Minnesota or Michigan. Those guys never got any news coverage that I am aware of. Check it out its an interesting story. Also, look for websites like. LEAP law enforcement against prohibition, canibus culture, 420.com, Marijuana Project Policy and of couse NORML for reforming marijuana laws. We must llegalize it and everybody needs to help….
Apr 30th, 2009
steve
If Obama does not pardon Lynch than we can pretty much hang it up on any real change during his term. Hypocrisy at it’s finest.
May 3rd, 2009
Logan
That makes me feel sick…
May 28th, 2009
Jared Allaway
Buying marijuana only supports the people who grow it. If they let good Americans grow it, then the sale of it can support good Americans.
May 29th, 2009
Anonymous
Obama is a hypocrite.
His drug czar will still keep the losing battle going. Tons of democrates get lobbied by government funded drug programs to keep in place. Ask Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) from Wisconsin.
Russ Feingold feels legalizing marijuana would send the wrong image to the younger generation. He also cheated on his wife and she divorced him.
What’s more wrong?!
Jun 7th, 2009
FredHood
Its all about greed folks. Check you senators record does he or she accept millions from the legal drug guys. The answer is yes they take what I call bribes to enslave Americans over a herb. The legal drug guys would stand to lose up to 544 billion a year if cannabis were legal. Per doctors in California where they say cannabis could replace 80 % of the foul chemical drugs they sell legally…
WHEN WILL AMERICANS WAKE UP AND QUIT BUYING THE PROPAGANDA OUR LAWMAKERS KEEP LYING ABOUT ITS ALL FOR GREED AND MONEY… AND THEY CONTINUE TO JAIL ONE MILLION OF OUR YOUTH EVERY YEAR AND SPEND 100 BILLION TO INSURE THE CORPORATIONS KEEP MAKING BILLIONS AND THEIR PAC CHECK CLEARS. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT US THE AMERICAN PEOPLE OTHER WISE THEY WOULD MAKE CANNABIS LEGAL…
Cherokee Fred Jesus
Jun 15th, 2009
bob
When I complained to the doc about the meds he had given me making me sick and depresed, the doc decided I needed to take prosac.
I was able to find a pain management docter who gave me a referal to try marijuana.
I am now able to handle my medicine and was ale to stop taking two medications that are hard on the body, That I expected to take for life.
I do not use alcohol or tabacco but – am so desperate for relief that I now use medical marijuana. I am trying very hard to do things right and legal with the understanding that I am breaking federal law. I have decided to grow for myself to avoid the seedy areas most dispencorys are forced to do business. Does this make me a criminal ?
Jun 23rd, 2009
Brandon C
For any state official, police officer, or attorney general to even minutely consider prosecuting someone that is clearly following state law is 100% against the peoples wishes. No police officer should assist federal agents in the investigation or prosecution of citizens following their own state laws. It is federal law that the local governments DON’T have to (and shouldn’t) assist federal agents (such as the DEA) with issues that aren’t against state law. This is clearly a war on marijuana users. A police officer’s job is to ENFORCE the law NOT make the law. This is an udder embarrassment to the American people, and completely immoral. It’s time to GROW UP! Seriously, give me a freakin’ break! There are much much more serious things we can be doing with our time and money.
Mar 2nd, 2010
Reply to “20/20 With John Stossel – Charlie Lynch and the Conflict of State and Federal Marijuana Laws”