Montana's First Cargiver for Medical Marijuana Dies in Prison

Montana's First Caregiver for Medical Marijuana Dies in Prison
By Phillip Smith, Stop the Drug War - Thursday, August 30 2012
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The first person to register as a caregiver under Montana's now gutted medical marijuana program has died in federal prison. Richard Flor, 68, died at a Bureau of Prisons medical facility outside Las Vegas Wednesday just a few months into a five-year federal prison sentence.
Flor, his wife, Sherry, and his son, Justin, operated a caregiver business from their home and at a Billings dispensary. Flor was also the co-owner of Montana Cannabis, one of the state's largest medical marijuana providers until it was raided by the DEA as part of the massive raids in March 2011.
Although there were no allegations of Flor or his family violating state laws, they could not escape the wrath of the federal government. All three were found guilty of drug-related charges and were sentenced to prison terms. Sherry Flor got two years for keeping the books and tending plants, while Justin Flor got five years for running the Billings dispensary.
US District Court Judge Charles Lovell sentenced Flor to years in federal prison despite testimony that he was suffering from a variety of illnesses, including dementia, diabetes, hepatitis C, and osteoporosis. Lovell did recommend that Flor "be designated for incarceration at a federal medical center" where his "numerous physical and mental diseases and conditions can be evaluated and treated."
Flor died after a pair of massive heart attacks, according to his daughter.
Three other founding members of Montana Cannabis also face long prison sentences, including activist and political consultant Tom Daubert, who helped run the initiative campaign that brought medical marijuana to the state via the popular vote. At least a dozen other Montana medical marijuana providers have also been convicted on federal drug charges.
As the DEA was busily decimating the state's burgeoning medical marijuana industry in 2011, Republican lawmakers were also moving to destroy it, and largely succeeded, passing legislation that all but gutted it. But medical marijuana proponents are fighting back. They have qualified the Montana Medical Marijuana Initiative, I-124, for the November ballot. It would repeal the bill passed by the legislature last year.
- Article originally from Stop the Drug War.

Acts of a tyrannical government to intimidate the rest of the serfdom. A damned shame, it goes without saying. Too bad secession isn't really a viable option right now.

The people who did this to them are the real criminals, IMO. Honestly. Seriously? They have to go to their graves with what they've done. I don't envy them their last moments when they suddenly realize, truly, what they've done. There's no way to go back and correct it, no way whatsoever.

WOW!! is really all i can say.

We have rapists in this state, 50 yr old man drugs and rapes a minor and gets 2 years house arrest because of his medical issues. State doesn't want to deal with his medical issues. I said fuck him, let him die in jail then!!

But for a man that grows weed, they will let him die. How in the hell did MJ and MMJ on top of it, get harsher sentencing than a violent crime.

and I know differences between state and federal, its the principle. It saddens me to see what our country has come to.

Time for another rip, think itll be TrainWreck, maybe that will help!

Its to bad about him and his family,
But I will say The real unfortunate part it was the greedy dispensaries that brought the heat down here in "big sky country".I'm not saying richard was part of the greedy ones but alot of these places were selling pounds out the door to peeps with no cards and unfortunately some of these peeps were FED agents. Never mind the fact of dumping 10 of thousands in Bank accounts wich is also federal.
Most People out here wont even rent to a cardholder that wants to grow there own meds anymore cuz they are afraid they will lose there property.
Basically the greedy assholes are to blame For richard ending up in jail as well as the mmj reform.

sad day in amerika.
yes montana, we're still in amerika.

Love my country, fear it's goverment.FTF

this world is fucked up.

I can not tell you how angry things like this make me.. I think the real crime here is locking this man up till the day he died for an abolished law and just letting him rot!!! WHO GETS PAIDED FOR THIS? Is cannabis so dangerous that they can KILL US IN JAIL for it? WTF is that about.. It's bad enough we have to listen to their complete BULLSHIT every single day of our lives but when this shit happens it hits home how scummy they all are. I hope we get a chance to make them rot in the same jails they think everyone else belongs .THE PRICKS can go fuck themselves!!! headband 707

feds dont play. otherwise i would have a dispensary too.i have mad respect for folks who try and do it the right way and follow the state laws. but i live in reality and know what happens to people who attract federal attention. rest in peace brother.

SeaMaiden said:

The people who did this to them are the real criminals, IMO. Honestly. Seriously? They have to go to their graves with what they've done. I don't envy them their last moments when they suddenly realize, truly, what they've done. There's no way to go back and correct it, no way whatsoever.

Click to expand...

My guess is they won't "realize' anything.

Read about this last week.. absolutely shameful. I wonder how can a judge, and the other people who perpetuate the whole drug war mess, live with themselves? Do they really think they are doing society good by keeping non violent, gardeners in jail to live a tortuous mental and physical death? So much for hope and change, this is dark ages shit.

Every time I hear about the tyrannical approach our government takes to control people for things that really aren't crimes, I get frustrated and sickened. How long are we, as a people, going to stand for this? Why do we allow our officials to do the things they do? Honestly, if this was a couple of hundred years ago, all we would be talking about is tea party in the Boston Harbor. Conversely, society is so degraded and complicated that we succumb to fear. A damn shame. This octopus has many tentacles ...

My condolences to all who were directly effected by this loss. When first read all that comes up is rage, takes a little to remember what is left behind.

Honestly Jayforce, there are very few of "us" that realize this shit is wrong and see our rights as they have been taken away. and i would love to hear what the few us can do. shit most of us are in a situation where we dare not invite more attention.

Everyone in this thread knows this shit is wrong. but how do so few stop this big fucking out of control machine?

The only power i know we have left as citizens is jury nullification, judging the law as juror.

My condolences to all who were directly effected by this loss. When first read all that comes up is rage, takes a little to remember what is left behind.

Honestly Jayforce, there are very few of "us" that realize this shit is wrong and see our rights as they have been taken away. and i would love to hear what the few us can do. shit most of us are in a situation where we dare not invite more attention.

Everyone in this thread knows this shit is wrong. but how do so few stop this big fucking out of control machine?

The only power i know we have left as citizens is jury nullification, judging the law as juror.

Anyone who had a part in his incarceration is a murderer.

homebaked said:

My condolences to all who were directly effected by this loss. When first read all that comes up is rage, takes a little to remember what is left behind.

Honestly Jayforce, there are very few of "us" that realize this shit is wrong and see our rights as they have been taken away. and i would love to hear what the few us can do. shit most of us are in a situation where we dare not invite more attention.

Everyone in this thread knows this shit is wrong. but how do so few stop this big fucking out of control machine?

The only power i know we have left as citizens is jury nullification, judging the law as juror.

Click to expand...

We have another power, but it takes two things--cooperation and ACTION.

The real problem that We the People have here is that We the People continually, on a local level, vote incumbents back into office. That's number one. In order to change it, we need MORE voters, and more voters with their heads on who agree on one basic principle--GET INCUMBENTS OUT OF OFFICE.

Once We the People realize that we have that much power, we could effect a huge degree of change. If we kept politicians on their toes, so much so that "politician" can no longer be a job description, they'll start listening to the voters instead of the special interests.

But we have some problems. First, very few of us really vote, let alone on a regular basis. That means that it's those who can be arsed to vote who make the decisions for the vast majority, it's almost literally, if not literally, a minority of citizens who bother to vote in the first place. Second, those who *do* bother to vote tend to only go as far as television advertising and party lines.

If we could get people to simply vote *out* incumbents, huge change could be effected. I know that 'special interests' (read: corporate lobbies) would find ways around this, but it's gotta start somewhere, and that's always seemed the best place to me.

A Voter Revolt.

Voting them out of office is not enuff. The misguided drug laws still stands. I pray one day that these career automatons will be held accountable for the millions of lives they have ruined and be made to face these folks as well. Something akin to the Nuremberg trial. Every dog has his day.

It's a start and it's the kind of start that would shake the very foundations of what's wrong with our system. You've also got to remember, they believe in what they're doing, that's been part of the problem. We can break that by continually changing the guard. The solution to pollution is dilution.