Parks prods Trump on medical cannabis
By William R. Toler
In a cellphone video Parks provided to the Daily Journal, the Vietnam veteran — in full uniform — shakes Trump’s hand and introduces himself, telling him how and why he uses cannabis.
He also showed The Donald a copy of American Legion Magazine with a cover story on cannabis being used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, which the politician signed.
TRUMP: “Are you OK? You look great, though. Are you OK?”
Courtesy of Perry Parks Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump
speaks with Perry Parks about medical PARKS: “I have PTSD. I do fine with the cannabis.”
TRUMP: “How do you get it?”
PARKS: “I get it illegally, from another state.”
TRUMP: “So has that helped you?
PARKS: “A good bit.”
TRUMP: “Is it the marijuana that helps?”
PARKS: “It’s the marijuana that helps.”
Parks’ cousin Darrell Davis, who was recording the encounter, spoke up and added, “It helps me, Donald. It helps me, too — 43 years.”
Trump looked up from signing an autograph.
TRUMP: “It works, huh? Do people know this?”
“I took it to mean, if it really helped me, there should be a way to get it,” Parks said Friday about the conversation. “He recognizes the problem.”
Although he was non-committal during the exchange with Parks, Trump’s views on the issue have changed during the campaign season, according to the Washington Post.
At an October political rally in Nevada, Trump said he supports making medical marijuana available for those who are sick and that legalization should be left up to the states, the Post reported, although earlier in the year he opposed legalization.
Parks, executive director of the North Carolina Cannabis Patients Network, has been approaching politicians who are both in office and those on the campaign trail for several years to convince them to support state and nationwide use of medical cannabis.
During the current election cycle, he had the chance to speak with two other Republican candidates — Carly Fiorina and libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul, both of whom have suspended their campaigns.
Parks said when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced that, if elected, he would enforce federal marijuana laws in Colorado and Washington, “He kissed his campaign goodbye, right then.”
‘WRECKING LIVES’
The one candidate whose views on the issue match Parks’ the closest is Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who made news in late October for suggesting that marijuana be taken off the federal controlled substances schedule.
The federal Controlled Substances Act lists marijuana as a Schedule I drug — alongside heroin, LSD and peyote — which are defined as “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse…(and) are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.”
“If we are serious about criminal justice reform and preventing many thousands of lives from being impacted because of criminal convictions for marijuana possession, we must remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act and allow states the right to go forward, if they choose, to legalize marijuana without federal legal impediments,” Sanders said in a Nov. 7 statement.
Parks mentioned someone he knows who has been unable to get a high-paying job in his field because of a marijuana conviction while in college.
“It’s immoral to continue to arrest people and wreck lives,” he said. “We’ve already done it too much.”
That’s an experience Kerry Trammel knows all to well.
She is the “wife” of Todd Stimson, who was convicted last March on five felony drug charges for growing marijuana for people to use medicinally. Although not legally married, Stimson and Trammel have been together for 20 years and have two teenage daughters.
Their Fletcher home was raided in July of 2013, resulting in the seizure of 75 plants.
“I was at work when raid happened,” she recalled on Thursday. “I got a call from my oldest daughter screaming hysterically on the phone. I was never questioned or charged as they stated when I got home would happen.”
Stimson was initially charged with four felonies — manufacturing a Schedule VI controlled substance, possession of marijuana, possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana and maintaining a vehicle, dwelling or place for a controlled substance — and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
During his first court appearance the following month, prosecutors tacked on two felony counts of trafficking because of the weight.
Stimson ran the Blue Ridge Medical Cannabis Research Corp. and had purchased thousands of dollars in tax stamps from the N.C. Department of Revenue, in addition to filing with the Secretary of State’s office and obtaining a privilege license from the state for Art of Healing several years in a row.
Trammel said the words “medical,” “unjust,” and “fair” were not allowed to be brought up at trial.
Since his conviction, Trammel said Stimson has been moved four times and is currently incarcerated at Foothills Correctional Institution in Morganton. Trammel and their youngest daughter, Ariel, visit him every Sunday.
“The state has tore my family apart and there is no way to put it back to what it was before the raid,” she said. “They tear families apart to receive funding for their own hidden agendas.”
SUPPORT FOR APPEAL
On Wednesday, Stimson’s case came before a three-judge panel — Judges Donna Stroud, Rick Elmore and Rick Dietz — of the N.C. Court of Appeals in Raleigh.
Parks had planned to attend but had to cancel because of a last-minute personal issue.
Nonetheless, the hearing drew supporters from Asheville, Salisbury, Charlotte and the Triangle.
One of those was Brian Irving, vice chair of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina and a candidate for N.C. House District 36, who made the short drive up from Cary.
“Although I’m a child of the ’60s, I never used marijuana,” Irving said. “I was too conservative in my youth, and then spent 25 years in the Air Force. But like all libertarians, I support anyone’s right to use whatever substances they want, so long as they do not harm others.”
Also making the drive and bringing her own sign was Dana Hall from Rowan County.
“Todd made a huge impact,” she said. “I started watching him the second day of the March Against Fear and I’ve been following him ever since.”
her supporters walked from Asheville to Raleigh in support of Rep. Kelly Alexander’s medical cannabis study bill in 2014.
Trammel had planned to hold a rally on the legislative mall, but was turned away for failure to obtain a permit.
“I didn’t know we needed a permit to be on state property to peacefully gather to show support,” she said.
“I was told to go to the Capitol building. We were there 20 to 30 minutes until we were asked to leave.”
The small crowd eventually made its way to the Court of Appeals building, the former home of the N.C. Supreme Court.
One of the central issues outlined in the brief from appellant attorney Ed Eldred was the trial judge’s quashing of a subpoena for a Department of Revenue employee.
Although state law prohibits such an employee from testifying on behalf of the prosecution in a criminal trial, Eldred argued that it doesn’t specifically hinder the employee from being called as a witness for the defense.
However, there was a change made to the law a month following Stimson’s arrest.
Assistant Attorney General Perry Pelaez said that even if the witness had been called to testify, the information would be incriminating against Stimson.
He also chided the defense for using an “unusual strategy” including medicinal claims and promoting jury nullification and said the tax stamp argument was “trying to legitimize what he was doing.”
The court has 90 days to issue its ruling, though it could come sooner. If the court rules in Stimson’s favor, the state could appeal to the N.C. Supreme Court and he will remain in prison.
Stimson’s projected release date is April 23, 2017, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction.
“I think it is absolutely ludicrous, and an example of our dysfunctional, broken legal system, that Todd could be charged with a crime for selling something he paid taxes to the state on,” Irving said. “But of course, the state gets away with selling liquor and then fining people and putting them in jail for DWI. Sadly, I don’t expect Todd to win the appeal.”
“He’s unfortunately our martyr in North Carolina,” said Ignacio Almazan, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws’ state chapter, who also attended the oral arguments on Wednesday.
In the meantime, Trammel waits for the day when her family can be reunited.
“I wish we could all be free of unjust laws,” she said. “Sadly, we live in a world where that does not exist. “
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