Spokane7
65°
April 12, 2011 in News, City
Medical marijuana dispenser avoids prison
Medical marijuana dealer Scott Q. Shupe will avoid prison on drug-trafficking charges, at least for now.
“In this case it was clear you didn’t intend to break the law, which is in a state of flux as we speak,” Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen said during this afternoon’s sentencing hearing. “But the jury found you guilty. That’s what I’m stuck with.”
Eitzen imposed the least-possible jail term under the state’s standard sentencing guidelines, which is six months given Shupe’s criminal history, but then delayed the punishment if Shupe appeals, and comes up with a $5,000 bond. He also was ordered to avoid selling drugs to anyone.
“I think it’s funny that he may be the only person convicted for a dispensary, which may be legal in a week,” said defense attorney Frank Cikutovich, referring to efforts in Olympia to clarify the state’s voter-approved medical marijuana law. “I think it was a complete waste of resources as far as the county is concerned.”
Shupe had argued during last month’s trial that the state’s medical marijuana law enables dispensaries to supply doctor-approved marijuana patients, provided they serve just one patient at a time.
Prosecutors disputed that interpretation, arguing that the medical marijuana law, approved overwhelmingly by voters in 1998, makes no provisions for commercial dispensaries. Jurors agreed with the prosecution.
The case was watched closely by authorities and dispensary operators alike, with both sides hoping that the jury would provide guidance for what many argue is a confusing state law.
Outside the courthouse, about two dozen marijuana advocates spent the afternoon protesting Spokane’s crackdown on medical pot dispensaries. Shupe — who has a doctor-issued medical marijuana card — joined them and smoked some marijuana before heading to court.
Shupe, who has a previous felony conviction for growing marijuana at his home in 2006, said he hopes to avoid prison time. He still faces felony drug charges in Oregon related to a 2009 arrest.
Shupe credits what he calls the “military industrial complex” for keeping marijuana illegal, saying military officials are afraid no one will fight wars if marijuana is legal.
Protester Dennis Whited planned to attend Shupe’s sentencing. Whited owns the dispensary Medical Herb Providers. He began using medical marijuana after losing his leg in a motorcycle accident nearly two years ago.
He said he has no plans to close his dispensary but has been ordered out of his rental property on Freya Street after his landlord was warned by federal authorities about possible prosecution.
He said he’ll find a new building or will become a mobile dispensary.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Whited said.
Meanwhile, in Olympia, state lawmakers are attempting to provide greater clarity in the voter-approved medical marijuana law. A proposal to regulate pot farms and medical marijuana dispensaries has cleared each legislative chamber but backers are still trying to iron out minor differences in each version.
Without the legislative guidance, communities have taken different approaches to enforcement. Seattle-area police and prosecutors, for example, have made enforcement of medical marijuana their lowest priority and have let dispensaries operate openly without interference.
Shupe’s defense attorney, Frank Cikutovich, said his client sold marijuana only to doctor-approved medicinal users. Cikutovich said Shupe routinely kicked out patrons who tried to buy pot without proper authorization.
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eagleproducer on April 12 at 5:17 p.m.
Prison/industrial, military/industrial… what’s the difference?
I like Shupe’s rationale, it reminds me of that Oysterhead song “The Army’s on Ecstasy.” Here’s a little bit for all of you…
The army’s on ecstasy
So they say
I read all about it
In USA Today
They stepped up urine testing
To make it go away
Cause it’s hard to kill the enemy
On ol’ MDMA
Byrdie714 on April 12 at 6:46 p.m.
He smoked pot and then went to court?
DAMN Dude! That’s gutsy! I wonder if the judge got a contact high off of him? HAHAHA!
Kivaari on April 12 at 7:02 p.m.
No one would fight wars if pot were legal? He should go to jail just for saying such a stupid thing. Come on use better logic then that. What is he doing still fighting the 60’s revolution?
force_vector on April 12 at 7:21 p.m.
“no one will fight wars if marijuana is legal”
Exactly the type of stupidity that stems from frying your brain smoking this crap. Wake up morons.
Byrdie714 on April 12 at 7:55 p.m.
It will definitely put a dent into solving the state’s budget problems with the forecasted revenue.
Loudin on April 12 at 8:21 p.m.
Once the federal government gets on board w/the state laws allowing for medical use and dispensation, Walgreens, Walmart, Rite-Aid & Costco will make these scuzzy dispensaries disappear. That’s my only beef w/any of this: The scummy nature of the dispensaries and their ownership as it exists now. I mean seriously: How many pharmacies in this country exist which only sell one product? It’s a scam…and though I’m glad Shupe won’t be in prison (thus, wasting my tax dollars), I wish he and the other marginal types would get real jobs like the rest of us.
Enjoy this while it lasts, Ladies…you dispensary owners are on borrowed time! Big Pharma is going to put you out of business just as soon as possible. And if you don’t think so, you’re probably too naive to be in business in the first place.
Loudin
PlanB on April 12 at 8:39 p.m.
I heard a rumor long ago that Philip Morris owns the trademark name of “Marleys”. Funny even if it isn’t true.
lewis8457 on April 12 at 9:26 p.m.
our tax dollars at work
Ed Byrnes on April 12 at 9:58 p.m.
The Washington House passed SB 5073 yesterday, the Senate will likely accept the reconciliation, and the Governor will probably sign it.
It’s about time! Medical cannabis patients are protected from arrests. Dispensaries will be licensed by the state. No more $30,000 extortion scams against dispensary owners by local prosecutors and police under the cover of seizure and forfeiture laws. No more…
A good time for liberty in Washington…
For those of you who think cannabis has no medical use consult the American Medical Association…
Before anyone accuses me of being a liberal Obamaphile I am going on the public record as saying the the recent federal raids on dispensaries in Montana and California by an administration that claimed “The War on Drugs is over” unequivocally demonstrates that Obama is just another duplicitous politician.
Ed
D Statler on April 12 at 10:23 p.m.
Once again, Judge Eitzen has spread her words of wisdom.She seems to want to do the right thing sometimes.I wish she would have deferred the prosecutors actions trying to coerce her in our case.Instead she talks of the “perfect storm of procedural misconduct”, ” I suppose those thirteen prosecutors in my courtroom were sharks circling the scent of blood in the water”, then lets three innocent young men go to prison.She had the power to do the right thing and dismiss then too.Instead she has let Spokane’s prosecutors destroy three young lifes.
I can only hope that the laws change fast.The drug and gang task force will do anything for confiscated money and property.This is truly what is behind the dispensary busts.Our gangsters in special forces fatigues going after the geen icing on the cake.Then misapropriating the funds confiscated.What a waist of our tax dollars! What a corrupt drug and gang task force :^(
Ed Byrnes on April 12 at 10:36 p.m.
This whole marijuana policy is absolutely about greed and money…far reaching money: The seizure and forfeiture money that law enforcement gets; The correctional-industrial complex and all of the money to be made through incarcerating people; The coerced “treatment” industry and all the money that programs, which are often untested, get…The big bummer is that people go to jail for cannabis which disrupts families and communities for what is a benign private behavior.
In closing I quote Peter Coyote: “Jailing people for the mild alteration of their consciousness will appear to future generations as cruel and draconian as the tortures of the Inquisition appear to us today. May the reputations of today’s jailers suffer the same fate as Torquemada’s reputation today.”
Ed
pixelmation on April 14 at 1:49 p.m.
(QUOTE: No one would fight wars if pot were legal? He should go to jail just for saying such a stupid thing. Come on use better logic then that. What is he doing still fighting the 60’s revolution?) YOU ARE WRONG, EDUCATE YOURSELF…
Before WWII the government was going to make marijuana legal again. But Harry J. Anslinger, who was quoted before saying “Marijuana is the most violence enducing drug known to man” stated “Marijuana will make soldiers so passive they will not want to fight and you will lose the war” so they kept it illegal for the opposite reason they made it illegal to begin with. The only reason the U.S. was instructing farmer’s to grow it was because they didn’t have enough trees and cotton to make fabrics and ropes.
You should also know that the “Partnership for a Drug Free America” which runs smear add campaigns against marijuana is funded by the alcohol companies. Because research has conclusively shown that marijuana reduces the urge to drink in alcoholics.
pixelmation on April 14 at 1:53 p.m.
(QUOTE: No one would fight wars if pot were legal? He should go to jail just for saying such a stupid thing. Come on use better logic then that. What is he doing still fighting the 60’s revolution?) YOU ARE WRONG, EDUCATE YOURSELF…
Before WWII the government was going to make marijuana legal again. But Harry J. Anslinger, who was quoted before saying “Marijuana is the most violence enducing drug known to man” stated “Marijuana will make soldiers so passive they will not want to fight and you will lose the war” so they kept it illegal for the opposite reason they made it illegal to begin with. The only reason the U.S. was instructing farmer’s to grow it was because they didn’t have enough trees and cotton to make fabrics and ropes.
You should also know that the “Partnership for a Drug Free America” which runs smear add campaigns against marijuana is funded by the alcohol companies. Because research has conclusively shown that marijuana reduces the urge to drink in alcoholics.
Scott should NOT be in jail for saying something that is true, get your facts straight, please, before accusing. You don’t even have a clue of why he uses MMJ nor do you know why it was so important that he stay out of jail. I can and will elaborate if you want to know the whole truth of the matter. Actually, I have posted all of that on here under a different article about Scott, look it up if you are curious.
pixelmation on April 14 at 1:54 p.m.
(QUOTE: No one would fight wars if pot were legal? He should go to jail just for saying such a stupid thing. Come on use better logic then that. What is he doing still fighting the 60’s revolution?) YOU ARE WRONG, EDUCATE YOURSELF…
Before WWII the government was going to make marijuana legal again. But Harry J. Anslinger, who was quoted before saying “Marijuana is the most violence enducing drug known to man” stated “Marijuana will make soldiers so passive they will not want to fight and you will lose the war” so they kept it illegal for the opposite reason they made it illegal to begin with. The only reason the U.S. was instructing farmer’s to grow it was because they didn’t have enough trees and cotton to make fabrics and ropes.
You should also know that the “Partnership for a Drug Free America” which runs smear add campaigns against marijuana is funded by the alcohol companies. Because research has conclusively shown that marijuana reduces the urge to drink in alcoholics.
Scott should NOT be in jail for saying something that is true, get your facts straight, please, before accusing. You don’t even have a clue of why he uses MMJ nor do you know why it was so important that he stay out of jail. I can and will elaborate if you want to know the whole truth of the matter. Actually, I have posted all of that on here under a different article about Scott, look it up if you are curious.
pixelmation on April 14 at 2:07 p.m.
Ok, that is weird, must have needed to be posted 3 times to get it through think skulls or something as each time I tried to post it, it took me to an error page, so sorry for the repeat over n over again…
Scott and his wife and family are wonderful people. His wife suffers from RSD and her mother from Lupus so if Scott wasn’t there for them, they would fall apart from all the stress and not be able to do the things that he does for them as head of his house.
I suffer from an illness, too, and if it weren’t for the people in my life ie husband, son and friends, I too wouldn’t be able to keep up with everything. Not all of us qualifies or can afford to hire a caregiver in times of need.
It is such a shame that the media misconstrues stuff to make people look worse than they are, therefore you all judge him based on hearsay and not on the truth…shame on you!
Shame, shame on you that profess to be Christians as it states very clearly, “Judge not lest ye be judged” and only God knows these peoples hearts and they are God fearing people to boot!
His mother in law was praising the Lord as soon as I saw her after court as was his wife!
brentandrews on April 15 at 9:07 a.m.
People have been praying for Scott all over the country. We are bringing a wave of prayer war against the drug warriors who would oppress and jail the sick and the weak. May the lord help us like he helped old Jeremiah, and destroy our enemies. May they swallow their tongues in their sleep.
This new bill will allow dispensaries and spare MMJ patients from arrest, a nice jack-slap in the face for prudish prosecutors and drug warriors everywhere, but it is a far cry from ‘liberty’ as it restricts the speech of newspaper publishers - most of whom have been asleep at the wheel during this debate. The new law subtracts millions of dollars in future revenues from newspapers’ bottom lines, for no public benefit. Sometimes I think present news publishers are so bored with the old print product, that they are purposefully destroying it, allowing Facebook to take over. But this is bad for the people. Facebook doesn’t care about liberty, in my view. Newspapers used to care about it and defend it, but they won’t be around for long, the current generation of loss-leader publishers will be sure of that.
pixelmation on April 15 at 5:50 p.m.
Thank you Brent for that! Thanks to ALL of you across the country for your prayers for him and his family and they all say a BIG thank you back! I read this post to Scott, Sara & his mother in law today and it really touch them all!! They are so very thankful for all of your support on this!
pixelmation on April 17 at 1:45 p.m.
Here is just one of the many letters that went to the Judge before sentencing that she had read.
I am posting this also for those who may want to know who Scott Shupe is and about his family and responsibilities. I pray it sheds some light on those in the dark that only listen to the media:
Dear Judge,
Since Scott is not a violent offender I am requesting that you consider allowing him to stay out of jail while he appeals this case. He not only is the head of his household but he also is a caregiver (non-paid) for his wife, Sara, and her mother, Sharon. Sara has RSD and suffers with a lot of pain. If it weren’t for Scott doing stuff for her that she should not be doing, she risks herself serious injuries.
For example, they have hanging plants in their home that have to be watered using a ladder. Sara has fallen off this ladder while trying to water these plants and has been injured in the process, luckily she didn’t break anything but with the RSD pain, she might as well have broken a bone as the pain is so severely intense, even if she were to just stub her toe. This disease also causes severe pain due to emotional states, I can only imagine how bad she will hurt if her husband is put in jail while appealing this case.
In RSD, these emotional aspects are especially important since the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for maintaining the pain of RSD, also regulates emotions. This is why many RSD patients find symptoms worsen with emotional upset - psychological stress aggravates an already-stressed sympathetic system, and may be one reason RSD is so misunderstood. If a person has more physical symptoms when stressed, people may think that the root of the problem is “really” psychological. Since living in chronic pain is itself highly stressful, many RSD patients find themselves in a vicious cycle - the stress of RSD makes the symptoms worse which, in turn, increases the stress! For this reason, emotional support from family, support groups and others is particularly important while treating RSD.
Scott’s mother-in-law, Sharon who is 70 years old, has Lupus and lives with Scott and Sara so that her needs can be provided for.
Lupus Flare-Ups Brought On By Stress:
It is known that women who have Lupus can experience flare ups due to stress. Lupus symptoms normally include fatigue, stiffness, joint pain, fevers, or a general lack of well being. When stress is experienced, these symptoms can become worse, or flare up. You may be feeling perfectly fine and then one stressful episode will throw you into the throws of several lupus symptoms. Doctors are learning that stress has a significant impact on the disease.
Currently they also have 10 lovely Dachshunds that are great but also need tending to, a fairly decent size home with mostly wood floors and a huge yard. They are also taking care of another house as well due to unforeseen circumstances, that is out of town. With all this stress it has wreaked havoc on both women to the point they are unable to clean as they would like, run errands, take care of the situation with the other house that is 45 minutes from where they currently live that she and her mom are unable to care for all of these things without her husband, Scott.