PETER MCWILLIAMS, R.I.P.

Peter McWilliams is dead. Age? Fifty. Profession? Author, poet,
publisher.

Particular focus of interest? The federal judge in California (George
King) would decide in a few weeks how long a sentence to hand down,
and whether to send McWilliams to prison or let him serve his sentence
at home.

What was his offense? He collaborated in growing marijuana
plants.

What was his defense? Well, the judge wouldn't allow him to plead his
defense to the jury. If given a chance, the defense would have argued
that under Proposition 215, passed into California constitutional law
in 1996, infirm Californians who got medical relief from marijuana
were permitted to use it. The judge also forbade any mention that
McWilliams suffered from AIDS and cancer, and got relief from the marijuana.

What was he doing when he died? Vomiting. The vomiting hit him while
in his bathtub, and he choked to death.

Was there nothing he might have done to still the impulse to vomit?
Yes, he could have taken marijuana; but the judge's bail terms forbade
him to do so, and he submitted to weekly urine tests to confirm that
he was living up to the terms of his bail.

Did anybody take note of the risk he was undergoing? He took Marinol
- -- a proffered, legal substitute, but reported after using it that it
worked for him only about one-third of the time. When it didn't work,
he vomited.

Was there no public protest against the judge's ruling? Yes. On June
9, the television program "20/20" devoted a segment to the McWilliams
plight. Commentator John Stossel summarized:

"McWilliams is out of prison on the condition that he not smoke
marijuana, but it was the marijuana that kept him from vomiting up his
medication. I can understand that the federal drug police don't agree
with what some states have decided to do about medical marijuana, but
does that give them the right to just end-run those laws and lock people up?"

Shortly after the trial last year, Charles Levendosky, writing in the
Ventura County (Calif.) Star, summarized: "The cancer treatment
resulted in complete remission." But only the marijuana gave him
sustained relief from the vomiting that proved mortal.

Is it being said, in plain language, that the judge's obstinacy
resulted in killing McWilliams? Yes. The Libertarian Party press
release has made exactly that charge. "McWilliams was prohibited from
using medical marijuna -- and being denied access to the drug's
anti-nausea properties almost certainly caused his death."

Reflecting on the judge's refusal to let the jury know that there was
understandable reason for McWilliams to believe he was acting legally,
I ended a column in this space in November by writing, "So, the fate
of Peter McWilliams is in the hands of Judge King. Perhaps the cool
thing for him to do is delay a ruling for a few months, and just let
Peter McWilliams die." Well, that happened last week, on June 14.

The struggle against a fanatical imposition of federal laws on
marijuana will continue, as also on the question whether federal laws
can stifle state initiatives. Those who believe the marijuana laws are
insanely misdirected have a martyr.

Peter was a wry, mythogenic guy, humorous, affectionate, articulate,
shrewd, sassy. He courted anarchy at the moral level. His most recent
book (his final book) was called "Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do."
We were old friends, and I owe my early conversion to word processing
to his guidebook on how to do it. Over the years we corresponded, and
he would amiably twit my conservative opinions. When I judged him to
have gone rampant on his own individualistic views in his book, I
wrote him to that effect. I cherish his reply -- nice acerbic
deference, the supreme put-down.

"Please remember the Law of Relativity as applied to politics: In
order for you to be right, at least someone else must be wrong. Your
rightness is only shown in relation to the other's wrongness.
Conversely, your rightness is necessary for people like me to look
truly wrong. Before Bach, people said of bad organ music, 'That's not
quite right.' After Bach, people said flatly, 'That's wrong.' This
allowed dedicated composers to grow, and cast the neophytes back to
writing how-to-be-happy music. So, thank me for my wrongness, as so
many reviews of my book will doubtless say, 'People should read more
of a truly great political commentator: William F. Buckley Jr.'"

Imagine such a spirit ending its life at 50, just because they
wouldn't let him have a toke. We have to console ourselves with the
comment of the two prosecutors. They said they were "saddened" by
Peter McWilliams' death. Many of us are -- by his death and the causes
of it.