QUALITY OF LIFE

When the talk gets around to Rick Reimer, many people give a knowing
smirk and shake their head as if the lawyer is a "lost cause."

Well, Mr. Reimer has a cause he is fighting for and it's well worth
the battle. He is fighting for his life, or rather the quality of
life he can lead while afflicted with multiple sclerosis, a
degenerative and debilitating disease. One of the most effective ways
he can combat this disease is through the medicinal use of marijuana,
for which he has a medical exemption.

Of course, espousing the cause of marijuana use, no matter how
limited or for what purpose, is not received well in all quarters.
That is why Mr. Reimer has to contend with those smirks and looks
while he fights for a cause he fervently believes in. In fact, his
life depends on it.

Last weekend, he was arrested at the Atlantic Hemp Fest for being
intoxicated in a public place. The officers who put him in jail
didn't want to let him get his medical exemption form, and let him
suffer in jail for a few hours until he was released and formally charged.

If his story is true -- and we have no good reason to doubt him --
Mr. Reimer was subjected to an excessively forceful, and unfair,
abuse of the justice system. He intends to fight the charge, of
course, and will represent himself in court when the time comes.

If we have a law that allows the limited use of marijuana, and
especially with a medical exemption, it is the responsibility of
those enforcing the law to know it -- even if they find it personally
offensive.