News (Media Awareness Project) - US CA: McWilliams Dies Medical Marijuana Advocate |
| Title: | US CA: McWilliams Dies Medical Marijuana Advocate |
| Published On: | 2000-06-17 |
| Source: | Contra Costa Times (CA) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-03 19:20:43 |
MCWILLIAMS DIES; MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE
LOS ANGELES -- Peter McWilliams, a best-selling author who advocated the
medicinal use of marijuana, died Wednesday at his Laurel Canyon home after
a long battle with AIDS and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
At his death, the 50-year-old McWilliams was awaiting sentencing in federal
court on a charge of conspiring to possess, manufacture and sell marijuana.
McWilliams and co-defendant Todd McCormick were arrested in 1997 after law
enforcement officers raided an estate where the two men allegedly were
growing more than 4,000 marijuana plants.
They pleaded guilty to the charge last year after U.S. District Judge
George H. King ruled they could not rely on California's medical marijuana
initiative as a defense.
Federal courts have refused to recognize the initiative that was approved
by California's voters in 1996.
Accused of bankrolling the operation, McWilliams contended he was growing
the marijuana for cooperatives that supply the drug to medical patients in
California. Government prosecutors argued that he wanted to make money.
"They're making me out to be some kind of drug kingpin, and I'm not," he
once told a reporter.
McWilliams, who was scheduled to be sentenced in August, remained free on
$250,000 bail on condition that he refrain from using marijuana.
He said that being denied marijuana left him nauseated most of the time and
sapped his strength. At his last court appearance, he sat slumped in his
wheelchair.
He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 1996. He hadn't smoked
marijuana for years but found it eased the side effects of chemotherapy.
McWilliams was the author of several popular books, including "Ain't
Nobody's Business If You Do," a wry treatise on the absurdity of consensual
crimes. He also wrote, "How to Survive the Loss of a Love" and "The
Personal Computer Book."
His death was reported Friday by Mark Hinkle, state chairman of the
California Libertarian Party. McWilliams was a party member.
McWilliams is survived by his mother, Mary, and a brother, Michael.
LOS ANGELES -- Peter McWilliams, a best-selling author who advocated the
medicinal use of marijuana, died Wednesday at his Laurel Canyon home after
a long battle with AIDS and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
At his death, the 50-year-old McWilliams was awaiting sentencing in federal
court on a charge of conspiring to possess, manufacture and sell marijuana.
McWilliams and co-defendant Todd McCormick were arrested in 1997 after law
enforcement officers raided an estate where the two men allegedly were
growing more than 4,000 marijuana plants.
They pleaded guilty to the charge last year after U.S. District Judge
George H. King ruled they could not rely on California's medical marijuana
initiative as a defense.
Federal courts have refused to recognize the initiative that was approved
by California's voters in 1996.
Accused of bankrolling the operation, McWilliams contended he was growing
the marijuana for cooperatives that supply the drug to medical patients in
California. Government prosecutors argued that he wanted to make money.
"They're making me out to be some kind of drug kingpin, and I'm not," he
once told a reporter.
McWilliams, who was scheduled to be sentenced in August, remained free on
$250,000 bail on condition that he refrain from using marijuana.
He said that being denied marijuana left him nauseated most of the time and
sapped his strength. At his last court appearance, he sat slumped in his
wheelchair.
He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 1996. He hadn't smoked
marijuana for years but found it eased the side effects of chemotherapy.
McWilliams was the author of several popular books, including "Ain't
Nobody's Business If You Do," a wry treatise on the absurdity of consensual
crimes. He also wrote, "How to Survive the Loss of a Love" and "The
Personal Computer Book."
His death was reported Friday by Mark Hinkle, state chairman of the
California Libertarian Party. McWilliams was a party member.
McWilliams is survived by his mother, Mary, and a brother, Michael.
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