After New Jersey legalized medical marijuana in January, patients who suffer from chronic illnesses like AIDS, Lou Gehrig's disease, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis are getting ready to acquire the drug without fear of imprisonment. But change came too late for multiple sclerosis-sufferer John Wilson, 37, who was sentenced to five years in prison last week for growing 17 marijuana plants and psilocybin mushrooms in his backyard.
In a letter to Governor Chris Christie, New Jersey State Senators Raymond Lesniak and Nicholas Scutari described the prison term facing Wilson as "cruel, unusual and unnecessary... The state used poor judgment in charging Mr. Wilson with drug manufacturing," the Senators wrote. There was no evidence provided by the prosecution during his trial that anyone else used the marijuana he grew in his backyard in order to find a small measure of relief from his chronic illness." The two Democrats are imploring Christie to commute Wilson’s sentence to a term of supervised probation.
During the trial, Judge Robert Reed barred Wilson from using his illness as a defense, and during sentencing said, "Many people who suffer from MS and other chronic diseases do not use it as justification to break the law... For me to decide that Mr. Wilson is ‘morally blameless’ and therefore should not be subject to criminal sanctions, is to decide that I am the arbiter of justice, guided by no more than my own view of what is morally right and wrong."
Wilson's attorney isn't optimistic and tells the Star-Ledger that while "we appreciate their support... if Gov. Corzine didn’t grant him a pardon, I don’t have a lot of hope that a brand new governor in the middle of a financial crisis is going to divert his attention to pardon Mr. Wilson." Gov. Christie declined to comment on the letter from Lesniak and Scutari.
