MS Patient Gets 5 Years For Medical Marijuana

OUTRAGE: MS Patient Gets 5 Years For Medical Marijuana

​A New Jersey man with multiple sclerosis was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for growing marijuana -- which he said was for medicinal purposes -- in his back yard.


Wilson, 37, was growing 17 marijuana plants.


Tragically, the sentence handed down to John Wilson is the minimum prison term he could have received under New Jersey law, reports Michael Deak at MyCentralJersey.com.


Wilson's attorney, James Wronko, said he plans to file a motion to stay the sentence pending an appeal.





According to Superior Court Judge Robert Reed, who handed down the sentence, Wilson could be eligible in six months for the New Jersey Intensive Supervision Program in which some state prison inmates have an opportunity to work their way back into the community.


Because this is Wilson's first conviction, Reed did not sentence Wilson to a period of parole ineligibility. Wilson could be eligible parole in just over a year.


"It's the least period of imprisonment I could impose," said Reed.


The state attorney general's office, which prosecuted the case, was heartlessly asking Judge Reed to impose a seven-year sentence.


Wronko said Wilson began using marijuana to treat the symptoms of MS, with which he was diagnosed in 2002, because he did not have insurance and could not afford prescriptions.


Before Reed handed down the sentence, Wilson admitted he had broken the law.


"I am not a bad person," he told the judge. "I just made a horrible mistake. I'm truly sorry what what I've done."

Show how fucked up our justice system is. You have catholic priest that molest kids and don't get no prison time, you also have child molester in the states and get less time then that. It's sad you get more time for a victimless crime then you would if you actually did commit a real crime. I'm also an MJ patient and now my job is threatening me if I dont quit smoking I will be fired! What kind of world are we living in?

Cali is great but we still have to worry about work and it's drug free environment.

N.J. Lawmakers Urge Governor To Pardon Medical Pot Patient

​Two New Jersey lawmakers called on Gov. Chris Christie Wednesday to pardon a man sentenced to five years in prison for growing marijuana to treat his multiple sclerosis.


Senators Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) and Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) asked the governor to commute John Ray Wilson's sentence to probation, reports James Queally at The Star-Ledger.


The senators called the prison term facing Wilson as "cruel, unusual and unnecessary" in a letter written to the governor March 24. Wilson, 37, of Franklin Township, N.J., was sentenced to prison after he was found guilty of second-degree "marijuana manufacturing" and third-degree drug possession by a jury in December.


"The decision to bring drug manufacturing charges against Mr. Wilson demonstrates a clear case of absence of prosecutorial discretion," the senators wrote. "That is cruel, unusual and unnecessary."


Wilson, who says he grew the 17 marijuana plants and psilocybin mushrooms found in his back yard to treat his multiple sclerosis, was acquitted of the most serious charge against him, first degree operation of a drug-manufacturing facility.


Judge Robert Reed tried to defend the sentence last week in front of a Somerville, N.J., courtroom filled by outraged supporters of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. The heartless judge cited Wilson's criminal record and the fact that he was smoking marijuana for years before he was diagnosed with MS.


Wilson became something of a poster child for passage of New Jersey's medical marijuana law, which ironically still doesn't allow the cultivation of plants by patients. The law will allow state residents to obtain doctor's recommendations to use marijuana to treat chronic and debilitating diseases, starting in July.


Michael Drewniak, spokesman for Gov. Christie, wouldn't comment on the letter from senators Lesnia and Scutari.


"We appreciate their support," said Wilson's attorney, James Wronko. "But if Gov. Corzine didn't grant him a pardon, I don't have a lot of hope that a brand new governor in the midst of a financial crisis is going to divert his attention to pardon Mr. Wilson."

That is why you vote those fuckers out of office.

F%#& A JURY!!

dont see a patient wen its right in front of their eyes. SHAMEFUL!