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April 11, 2008
A Day in Court 2 (Personal)
During the (typically prolonged) lunch break between sessions, my wife prevailed on me to stop trying to argue with the prosecutor (nicknamed “Lumpy” by other lawyers present) and just answer his questions. A child of the Fifties, she also explained the nickname. It had gone completely over my head because I’d been a little too old when the cast of “Leave it to Beaver” were Baby Boom icons.
When the questioning resumed, I soon adjusted my pace to Lumpy’s and was able to exploit his ignorance of cannabinoid pharmacology and clinical medicine, a tactic the judge warmed up to because I was now following his instructions. With the focus shifted, I soon scored a series of small victories with the net effect of demonstrating the inadequacy of his DEA scenario; also how systematically questioning pot smokers had both educated me and uncovered findings hidden by treating them as criminals.
The day still ended on a note of uncertainty. Because the matter of the new (and newly injured) prosecution expert still has to be resolved, I may have to return before a verdict is rendered, but I would at least have a further opportunity to educate the judge— my original goal after I had been forced to accept the power of his subpoena.
All of which leads me to a new insight: the brain trust of reform, by (blindly) limiting their concept of “valid” medical use to the “sick and dying,” has been doing even more damage to its cause than I’d realized. Instead of focusing on areas where they have little chance of winning, they should have been spending more of their limited resources educating juries and the public in California
Unfortunately, before one can educate, one must know the truth; more on that later...
Doctor Tom
Posted by tjeffo at April 11, 2008 04:19 PM