Boje (reefer refugee) decision

Dean Becker has interview her today, as follows:

Interview done with Renee Boje, Thursday, 3:30 Central on her facing
deportation for Marijuana:

http://www.drugtruth.net/MP3/reneeboje061605.mp3 (6:52)

There are many news clippings about Renee at
http://www.mapinc.org/renee.htm Perhaps the best known in depth article is
from Glamour Magazine which is at
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1226/a03.html

For all of us who have been following Renee's story over the years, and
especially for those of us who have met Renee as I have, this is sad news,
indeed.

We pray that Renee will be granted bail and will be allowed to appeal the
decision.

Richard

----- the announcement is below -----

In a heartless decision, and unlike 2 preceding Justice Ministers, Irwin
Cotler released a negative decision yesterday in the Boje Extradition case.
Renee Boje, who is married to a Canadian citizen and is the mother of a
Canadian son, is being sent back to US authorities to serve a ten year
mandatory minimum to life sentence for her involvement in a medical
marijuana growing operation in California, shortly after the state of
California legalized marijuana for medical purposes.

Mr. Cotler, a purported champion of human rights, ignored evidence that Ms.
Boje would be subject to cruel and unusual punishment and treatment at the
hands of US federal authorities. Mr. Cotler also ignored the fact that Ms.
Boje will be prevented from arguing that her actions were legal under
California law and that the marijuana being grown was for medical purposes.
Finally, the decision fails to even mention the recent US Supreme Court
decision allowing federal prosecutions against persons who were legally
entitled to grow marijuana under state law and the US government rhetoric
in the wake of that decision expressly claiming that marijuana had no
medical value.

Renee Boje's trials and tribulations began after California medical
marijuana activist and cancer patient Todd McCormick was arrested growing
thousands of cannabis plants in a rented Bel Air home in the summer of
1997. Inspired by the recent passage of Proposition 215 that effectively
legalized medical marijuana in the state, McCormick began growing the
plants as part of his research for a book he was working on, "How to Grow
Medical Marijuana."

Renee was initially arrested along with a number of other people on the
premises, but her charges were later dropped. In 1998, Renee's lawyer
advised her that the charges against her were about to be reinstated and
recommended that she leave the US. Renee relocated to the Sunshine Coast of
British Columbia and eventually filed for refugee status. Renee offered to
return to the US and stand trial if the former US Attorney General Janet
Reno would drop the charges against co-defendant Peter McWilliams, who was
dying of AIDS. Tragically, the US Federal authorities denied Peter his
legal right to use medical marijuana, a proven powerful anti-nauseant, and
Peter died alone in his apartment from choking on his own vomit.

The other defendant, cancer survivor Todd McCormick, was convicted and
spent 5 years in Federal Prison without access to the only medicine which
eased his pain from his medical condition. McCormick was forced to plead
guilty in order to avoid a possible life sentence and so that he might
pursue an appeal of the court decision that refused to allow him to
introduce evidence of his medical need for marijuana(the appeal was
unsuccessful and US defendants are not even entitled to bring evidence of
medical need or use when defending federal charges).

Ignoring the glaring differences between Canadian and US law, Irwin Cotler
has rendered a decision that has devastated Mrs. Boje and her Canadian
family. With the current ban on all things marijuana related from the US,
Boje's Canadian husband, who has no criminal record, cannot even travel
into America purely based on his association with cannabis activism and his
wife's high profile case. If Renee is extradited, she will be effectively
cut off from her family, based solely on their political and religious beliefs.

Mrs Boje, her husband Chris Bennett and son Shiva will be appearing at the
BC Supreme Court House, 800 West Smithe St at 8:30 am to surrender herself
to the authorities, the decision will be read in court at 9:30 am and the
Boje family and their lawyer hope to see bail granted while they challenge
this unjust and devastating decision.

Contact: Chris Bennett
work (604)682-0039
home (604)929-7966

Attorney Sarah Roach (assisting Her attorney John Conroy while he is out of
town)
1-604-852-5110 (in Abbottsford)

Decision available at: http://americanmarijuana.org/boje/Boje.Decision.pdf