POT ADVOCATE GETS JAIL TERM

Man cliams he did it for his kids

A man who has fought for years to get marijuana legalized broke down and
cried in court Tuesday before being sentenced to five years' probation for
possessing and selling pot.

"I did it for my kids, so they could grow up in a world without gangs and
guns," a tearful Peter Wilson told Superior Court Judge Dave Cole.

Wilson also said he needed to stay out of jail so he can support his two
minor children and continue to make his house payments.

The Sunnyslope man vowed to give up smoking pot and consuming "coffee and
chocolate" on a daily basis if the judge showed mercy.

Cole asked sternly if Wilson continued to smoke marijuana in violation of
the conditions of his release while awaiting sentencing.

"Yes," Wilson replied.

That might be why Cole gave Wilson four months in jail instead of the 30
days recommended by Deputy County Attorney Teresa Sanders.

But Wilson, former chairman of AZ4NORML, Arizonans for the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, will be allowed to leave his
jail cell to work, Cole ruled.

If he violates the conditions of his probation and uses drugs, Cole said,
he will have to serve an extra eight months in jail.

Before being led from the courtroom in handcuffs, Wilson said his attorney
will appeal the conviction.

"I'm a little disappointed," he said of his sentence. "I felt my trial was
completely unfair."

Wilson, 40, was arrested in 1995, a day after The Arizona Republic
published his letter to the editor in which he admitted to smoking
marijuana almost daily for 25 years.

The case sparked controversy because Wilson was licensed as a marijuana
dealer under provisions of a 1983 state law, which was repealed in 1997.

A justice of the peace dismissed charges against him based on the state
licensing law. But a Superior Court judge overruled that ruling.

Another judge, Superior Court Judge Alan Kamin, refused to let Wilson use
the license as a defense in his trial, saying it was an issue of law, not
fact. Kamin also threw out Wilson's arguments that he uses drugs for
religious and medicinal purposes.

During the trial, Wilson denied a charge that he used his son to sell the
drugs, even though a magazine on cultivating cannabis was found in his
son's bedroom. A jury found him guilty of nine counts including growing
psychedelic mushrooms in his home. He was acquitted of the charge involving
his son.

During the hearing, prosecutor Sanders said she sympathized with Wilson's
statements that he suffered a nervous breakdown after his arrest. But she
admonished him for exposing his kids to his drug use.

"It's really obvious that the defendant is really tormented," she said.
"But he has put himself in this place. He has let his political quest ruin
his life."

Victoria Harker can be reached at 444-8058 or at victoria.harker@pni.com
via e-mail.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski