ANOTHER GROTESQUE EXAMPLE OF A 20 YEAR DRACONIAN MARIJUANA SENTENCE RECENTLY AFFIRMED ON APPEAL BY THE 9TH CIRCUIT
The said case of Modesto Dispensary operators Ricardo Ruiz Montes and Luke Scarmazzo is discussed here.
In May 2008, a federal jury found Scarmazzo and Montes guilty on cultivation and possession charges, as well as a count of continuing criminal enterprise. These convictions were all related to a medical marijuana dispensary, the California Healthcare Collective, which Scarmazzo and Montes ran for nearly two years in the city of Modesto.
The CHC distributed marijuana exclusively to patients who provided valid recommendations from qualified physicians, in accordance with California’s medical marijuana act. But because the U.S. government refuses to recognize California’s law