The Compassionate Coalition

Patrick McCartney Reveals "The Law Enforcement Conspiracy"

Pouring through government files, court transcripts and public documents from record requests, Northern California journalist Patrick McCartney is working to reveal "The Law Enforcement Conspiracy" against medical marijuana in California. McCartney's research reveals that the conspiracy to subvert Proposition 215 began only days after voters approved the ballot measure. Much of the secret cooperation between state and federal officials occurred in the sprawling Eastern District, the largest of California's four federal court districts. Its 34 largely rural counties include such battleground locations as Solano, Fresno, Merced, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Kern, Shasta, Tehama, Placer, El Dorado and many more.

While serving as city editor of the Auburn Journal in 2001, Patrick McCartney was silenced from writing about the medical-marijuana issue in Placer County. Instead of backing off, McCartney decided to research and tell the story of why qualified medical patients were still being arrested and prosecuted four years after voters made their medicine legal.

Since that time, McCartney has gathered thousands of pages of documents that spell out California law-enforcement's continuing opposition to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.

He and co-author Martin Lee of Sonoma County are negotiating with a publisher for a book that will expose the conspiracy, and help to end harassment and intimidation of medical marijuana patients. McCartney and Lee will summarize their finding about law-enforcement's role since 1996 for an article they are on assignment to write for The Nation magazine on the tenth anniversary of Proposition 215 this fall.

After five years work on the project, however, McCartney is also running short on funding, and would appreciate any support that you can provide at this critical time.

Please help support Patrick McCartney's continuing work by sending your donation to: Patrick McCartney, 12116 Persimmon Terrace, Auburn, CA 95603. McCartney can also be reached at ElPatricio@aol.com or (530) 823-3040.

McCartney also welcomes copies of any government document, court transcript, arrest report or other material that would contribute to a deeper understanding of the medical-marijuana movement in California.

Thank you in advance for your support!