MEDICAL POT PROSECUTION IS A CASE OF OVERREACTION

The Federal Government's Attempt To Lock Up A Colorado Man Who Bragged
About His Grow Operation Is Unfair Punishment.

That Christopher Bartkowicz is sitting in jail, waiting to see if a
federal judge will accept a deal that imprisons him for five years,
says more about government overreaction to a ridiculously flawed
system than it does about justice.

The government line on prosecuting Bartkowicz is that he broke both
federal and state laws this spring by operating a medical-marijuana
grow operation improperly.

The sad truth is that had Bartkowicz not openly discussed his grow
operation with a television reporter, he likely wouldn't be in the
situation he now faces. He has pleaded guilty in exchange for a
five-year sentence rather than go to trial to fight the feds and risk
a sentence of 60 years to life - for growing pot.

Yes, Bartkowicz, 37, appears to have broken the law. His grow
operation held more plants than allowed under Colorado's Amendment 20,
given the 12 patient certificates he held.

That amendment, which legalized medical marijuana in the state, has
proven difficult to define on many levels, including how many plants
per patient is appropriate.

He also was operating within 1,000 feet of a school, and he had two
prior convictions for, respectively, possessing marijuana and
distributing it.

Bartkowicz claims he thought he was following state law. But because
federal prosecutors won in their effort to prevent discussion in court
of Colorado's medical-marijuana laws, his defense was basically gutted.

On Jan. 28, federal Judge Philip A. Brimmer will decide whether to
accept his plea deal and sentence, or reject it. Should the judge
reject the deal, Bartkowicz would be free to drop his plea and go to
court.

The Justice Department generally tolerated Colorado's medical
marijuana law since it was approved in 2000. Further, the department
added to the state's explosion of users and dispensaries when it made
it clear in 2009 that it would respect state laws that protected
medical marijuana users.

Granted, the Justice Department is free to target wrongdoers, and
rightly so. But we suspect there are likely other growers, workers and
users within the state's thriving new industry who also are breaking
the rules.

The question, given the complexities of new laws meant to make sense
of Amendment 20, is whether locking up a single scofflaw for years is
a worthy effort.

In the case of Christopher Bartkowicz, we think a long prison term is
completely unnecessary.