Introduction Who Is Todd McCormick

"Todd McCormick had cancer nine times before he was ten." That's the journalistic shorthand for what happened to Todd McCormick.

The longhand truth is far worse.

Starting at the age of two, McCormick had a series of tumors known as Histiocytosis X. Now science knows this to be a benign tumor of childhood that usually goes away on its own. When Todd McCormick was two, unfortunately, medical science treated Histiocytosis X as a malignant cancer requiring aggressive treatment. This included chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery—all of which were inflicted on young Todd nine times between the ages of two and ten.

Research on the therapeutic use of marijuana should be treated with the same high standards for scientific research required of any other drug with a high potential for abuse. The existingFDA-NIH-DEA process ensures that decisions regarding Investigational New Drug applications are based on their scientific merits. Any departure from this established process is a breach of the public trust that all Americans rely upon to safeguard the quality of our world class medical system.

Office of National

Drug Control Policy

(McCaffrey's Lair.) Statement on Marijuana for Medical Purposes, six days after Todd's arrest, August 4, 1997

Thanks to improper medical treatment—not cancer—Todd has the top five vertebra of his spine surgically fused together and has one hip frozen by radiation the size of an eight-year-old boy. A specialist who had studied the adult Todd's X-rays but had never met Todd was shocked to find that Todd was not permanently confined to a wheelchair.

For over a decade the medical profession, through a mistake—an honest mistake, a govern-ment-approved mistake, but a mistake nonetheless—made Todd unnecessarily and permanently disabled. In addition, the treatment more than likely has shortened his life.

Now the government that sanctioned Todd's mutilation as "FDA-approved proper medical procedure" want to put him in jail for the rest of his life for attempting to treat his pain brought on by governmental incompetence. And, adding insult to injury, the government tells us it is doing this to "protect the children."

Where was the government when Todd was two and in need of some protection?

As you can see, the whole story is a little long for the lead in most newspapers, so it became shortened to, "Todd McCormick had cancer nine times before he was ten."

Todd and I met at the end of 1996 while I was researching a book on medical marijuana. AIDS and cancer in March 1996, and the nausea brought on by the treatment of same, convinced

Unusually in the plant kingdom, medical marijuana has both male (top) and female (bottom) plants.

me of marijuana's medicinal effectiveness. If I lived, I told myself, I would not rest until medical marijuana was available to every sick person in America who needed it. I lived, but I'm a long way from my goal. But back to late 1996.

What a treasure trove of information is Todd McCormick! Self-medicating with Todd is a university education in Cannabis sativa. Not only was he clearly an expert grower, he was also working on determining which strains of marijuana worked best for individual medical conditions.

Todd explained that medical marijuana is one of the most advanced and versatile plants in the entire Plant Kingdom. Marijuana has a male plant and a female plant—very rare in botany. Most plants have both sexes in the same plant.

Because there are two sexes, medical marijuana can be bred, the offspring taking on the characteristics of both mama and papa. In more than 5,000 years of human medical use, this breeding has led to an almost uncountable (more than 30,000, at least) variations in the medical marijuana plant.

Todd's goal was and is to identify which strains (variations) best treat which illnesses.

For example, some medical marijuana is known for deep bodily relaxation. These strains are good for people with muscle spasms, chronic bodily tension, and pain. Other medical marijuana, however, produces the purely mental responses of alertness, clarity, and creativity. These strains might be best for nausea, depression, and pain.

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This is the magazine Todd edited, and yet the federal government refuses to acknowledge him as a writer. The image on the cover is the shadow of a medical marijuana with a near-solar eclipse behind.

Yes, pain relief appears on both lists, as pain relief is one of the many medical benefits of marijuana that appear in just about every strain, except for certain hemp strains in which all medicinal value has been bred out.

Medical marijuana has the unique ability to filter out pain—either emotional or physical—but allow pleasure and the sense of touch to come through. This was scientifically confirmed in October 1997 by a report from the Society for Neu-roscience.

(Please see the Medical Marijuana Magazine Online, www.marijuanamagazine.com for more details on this report and other medical uses of marijuana.)

Todd had edited a magazine called HempLife in Holland. He had hoped to start a United States edition, but I persuaded him to write a book first.

I gave Todd an advance and he used it to rent the ugliest house in Bel Air, dubbed by the press Medical Marijuana Mansion, but known to Todd's friends as Liberty Castle. It was built to resemble a castle; a castle made of stucco. Nuveau mediaeval, I called it. It had as much charm as Janet Reno.

There, awash with Reno Rococo, Todd set up his research facility. He gathered dozens of strains of marijuana. The house became an ad hoc university of medical marijuana—cultivation being but one of many subjects discussed. Everyday all day there were new sick people or caregivers for sick people and Todd would enthusiastically

Todd in one of several completely unnecessary body casts he would wear throughout his childhood. Photographs by Ann McCormick.

answer all questions. Todd credits marijuana with his life, so he is highly sympathetic to those in medical need.

Todd's mother started giving him medical marijuana for the nausea of chemotherapy and radiation when Todd was nine. Todd feels he never would have survived that bout with chemotherapy—his eighth—without medical marijuana. Kids on his ward were dying of malnutrition and dehydration brought on by nausea, yet Todd retained a healthy appetite and—as importantly, he thinks—a healthy attitude.

His mother couldn't tell the other mothers in the ' cancer ward—if word got out she was giving a nine-year-old marijuana they would have taken Todd from her, as well as her other two children, one of whom has Down's syndrome.

On July 29, 1997—after an exhaustive five-day investigation and using a California search warrant obtained by intentionally concealing from a judge that Todd was an outspoken medical marijuana patient and, therefore, legal under Proposition 215—the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Narcotics Bureau raided Todd's home.

Fifty agents, armed and in flack jackets, stormed the house as though they were capturing San Juan Hill—or, more accurately, the compound in Waco, Texas.

They found no money, no evidence of drug sales, just Todd's research material—every plant carefully botanically labeled with white identifi-

My style of gardening.

cation tags the government claimed were used to indicate the intended buyer of the plant.

Completely ignoring Todd's plea to just seize the plants but not destroy them, DEA & company hacked to death genetic strains that may not exist anywhere else in the world. Todd had one plant that had been continuously alive since 1976.

Gone, all gone.

Todd was then charged with "manufacturing a controlled substance" and faces life in federal prison—mandatory-minimum ten-year sentence— and a $4 million fine. "They want to put my son in jail for gardening!" Todd's mother said on hearing the news.

Bail was set at an outrageous $500,000. (Murder suspects are released on $50,000 bonds all the time). Todd's friend, Woody Harrelson, rode to the rescue just like a movie hero and put up the money to bail Todd out. Way to go, Woody.

A year later, Todd has not gone to trial. The government, it seems, is not happy with a simple "manufacturing" count. The Federal Grand Jury refused to indite Todd on "distribution" or even "possession with intent to distribute." Rebuffed (something the government is not accustomed to before Federal Grand Juries, who have been referred to by many legal experts as "rubber stamps"), the government has spent the past year looking for a juicier "conspiracy" count.

If you and I are in a room alone and I say to you, "Let's grow medical marijuana and sell it,"

www.marijuanamagazine. com)"/>

On the way out, the DEA wished me a nice day. Hurricane Janet's wake, as reported by ABC News on John Stossel's Sex, Drugs & Consenting Adults. (Online at www.marijuanamagazine. com)

and you say "Sure," in that moment, without making a single move to do anything about our decision, both of us are guilty of conspiracy "Conspiracy to manufacturer a controlled substance," "conspiracy to possess a controlled substance," "conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance," and so on. Under current law, for our simple conversation, we could spend the rest of our lives in jail.

Because of my book advance, which Todd used to finance his project, the DEA and the IRS have been trying for more than a year to prove that I am the lead conspirator, a drug kingpin, the head of the Medical Marijuana Mafia, commander-in-chief of the Medical Marijuana Malitia, and mastermind behind the Mediciné Cartel. If found guilty of conspiracy, I'd be confined to a federal prison for life which, considering my AIDS and the medical treatment available in federal prison, would not be a long one.

On December 17, 1997, nine DEA/IRS agents came into my home, handcuffed me, and spent three hours going through every piece of paper in my house. They clearly weren't looking for drugs. They took away my computer containing two years worth of unpublished work, including several books on medical marijuana and a book critical of the DEA. (This has since turned into three books critical of the DEA.)

Meanwhile, in exchange for "information" and testimony, one of the largest marijuana growers in Southern California—who shall remain

Proposition 215 Compassionate Use Act of 1996

Section 1. Section 11362.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

11362.5. (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.

(b) (1) The people of the State of California hereby find and declare that the purposes of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 are as follows:

(A) To ensure that seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes where that medical use is deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician who has determined that the person's health would benefit from the use of marijuana in the treatment of cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine, or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.

(B) To ensure that patients and their primary caregivers who obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a physician are not subject to criminal prosecution or sanction.

(C) To encourage the federal and state governments to implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana.

(2) Nothing in this act shall be construed to supersede legislation prohibiting persons from engaging in conduct that endangers others, nor to condone the diversion of marijuana for nonmedical purposes.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no physician in this state shall be punished, or denied any right or privilege, for having recommended marijuana to a patient for medical purposes.

(d) Section 11357, relating to the possession of marijuana, and Section 11358, relating to the cultivation of marijuana, shall not apply to a patient, or to a patient's primary caregiver, who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician.

(e) For the purposes of this section, "primary caregiver " means the individual designated by the person exempted under this act who has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health, or safety of that person.

Sec. 2. If any provision of this measure or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the measure which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this measure are severable.

nameless, for now—continues to operate with the full knowledge of both the federal government and the California Attorney General, Dan Lungren. (Lungren, who also appointed himself state Drug Czar, has not stopped going after medical marijuana growers and distributors considerably smaller than this informant's.)

People ask, looking back on the endless attacks on California medical marijuana patients that have occurred since Todd's arrest, "Why did any of you do what you did? Were you all crazy?"

The answer is, yes, we were (and continue to be) crazy but, no, we were not insane. There were several practical reasons in March 1997, when Todd set up his research facility, to think medical marijuana patients growing their own medicine in California was perfectly legal.

First, there was Proposition 215, now the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996, passed by an overwhelming majority in November 1996. More Californians voted for Proposition 215 than voted for Bill Clinton in the same election. The Proposition permitted medical marijuana patients and their caregivers to "cultivate" medical marijuana.

Second, it was the duty of California's Attorney General, Dan Lungren, to challenge Proposition 215 in court if he felt it legally improper. Lungren did not do this. Indeed, California's Attorney General said it was all right to break federal law and grow " 1 to 2 plants". (You can grow one plant, you can grow two plants, but how on Earth

"I don't believe in banning books, except for books I don't like, or books that make fun of me. I...uh...what was I talking about? I had...um...a little too much to drink last night. You know...uh...how it is. The...um... old 'second bottle syndrome.' What was I saying? "

can you possibly grow " 1 to 2 plants"?) Besides, even if AG Lungren didn't like medical marijuana, the Constitution of California said "It shall be the duty of the Attorney General to see that the laws of the State are uniformly and adequately enforced." That, and other admonitions of the California Constitution, we thought, would keep the AG in line. That is, we were foolish enough to believe Dan Lungren would follow the Constitution of the State of California.

Third, our national Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey, had pulled back from his initial assault on California's medical marijuana users after a federal court in San Francisco told him in early 1997 to leave physicians alone. McCaffrey, having taken a beating in both the court and the press over medical marijuana, commissioned in February 1997 a $1 million study from the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (NAS/IOM) and distanced himself completely from, as he called it, "the medical marijuana issue." When asked a question about medical marijuana, he would turn it aside with, "It is in the hands of science, and scientists will decide." (We'll see what he has to say in December 1998 when the NAS/IOM report is published.)

Fourth, the press discussed the medical use, sale, and cultivation of marijuana as a commonplace event. The New York Times Magazine featured a cover story on how well law enforcement and medical marijuana suppliers were getting along—cooperating, even—to honor the will of

Hemp harvest, from an old photograph.

Sflftimy ut fti ISfli.

Sflftimy ut fti ISfli.

Drug War harvest, from an old photograph.

the people of California in getting medicine to the sick. The press portrayed an easy truce, growing into trust, between patients, caregivers, and law enforcement. Although arrests for marijuana continued unabated (one every 48 seconds in the United States), arrests for medical marijuana in California were, it seemed, a thing of the past.

Since Todd's July 1997 arrest, of course, New York Times headlines are more likely to read, Four California Mayors Ask Clinton to Stop Marijuana Club Suit, (March 22, 1998) about the civil—not criminal—lawsuits filed by the federal government against six California compassion clubs; or this headline from May 26, 1998, Defant Marijuana Club Closed in Sheriffs Raid, about California Attorney General Lungren's Holy Crusade to personally destroying the San Francisco Buyer's Club. (He succeeded, over the strong objections of San Francisco's chief health officer, District Attorney, and Mayor.)

Finally, there had not been a single medical marijuana arrest in California—on the federal or state level—for eight months following the November 1996 passage of Proposition 215. Todd's arrest in July 1997 was the first federal medical marijuana arrest since 215.

I was emboldened to put in a garden myself. I felt like Florence Nightingale and George Washington Carver combined. I had 300 plants. As you shall learn in detail in this book, each plant produces 7 to 10 grams of medical marijuana, or three plants to the ounce. As I used medical marijuana

This tray hold 98 "cuttings" or "clones." Each of these 98 cuttings the DEA considers a fully grown marijuana plant—and so does federal law.

Here's Todd, watering his plants. The visible portion of the top two rows in this picture contain almost 600 plants. Can you see why Todd having 4,000 plants is not as dramatic as the DEA likes to make it sound? (Both of these photographs will return later in the book with more grow-orientated captions.)

at the rate of two ounces per week, the 100 ounces from my garden would last me a year.

It's hard to imagine now, but for one brief shining moment, we were in Camelot.

It was brief, all right. The Liberty Castle lasted less than four months. It could have been a beacon of healing, comfort, and learning. Instead, a year later, it stands empty. The owner can neither sell it nor lease it. No one, it seems, has a use for the place but Todd.

Todd's life is his work, his work being the education about and propagation of an herb he personally knows to ease suffering and save lives.

Todd is a good person on an important mission. Todd has a compassionate heart. He also has a body broken by government incompetence—the same government that wants to put him in prison for treating the pain that the government inflicted on him in the first place; the same government that has prevented him from using his medicine of choice for a year now, and so he suffers daily.

And Todd is but one example of what the War on Drugs hath wrought.

In going through material about Todd to write this Introduction, I came across the transcript for Politically Incorrect the night Todd appeared as a guest. The host and creator of the show, the marvelous Bill Maher, dedicated the entire show to one topic, medical marijuana.

I thought there was no better way to introduce Todd than to print the verbatim transcript of

Planting Potatoes

Introduction: Who Is Todd McCormick? the show.

The other guests were Woody Harrelson, coming on the show to backup his buddy, Todd; Dr. Drew Pinsky, most often seen on MTV telling callers masturbation is okay as long as they wear a condom; and the leader of a band called Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines.

I am certain Ms. Maines is a fine musician and composer, and to name her band Dixie Chicks shows that she's just as gritty as heck, but Ms. Maines, unfortunately, is a perfect example of what the DARE program produces—young people with "facts" about drugs that are entirely wrong.

Dr. Pinsky's character you will discover for yourself. In the beginning, you'll see, he keeps returning to the fact that Histiocytosis X is not a cancer, therefore Todd is not really a cancer patient. Dr. Pensky keeps pressing this point as though he were revealing "the goods" about Todd.

Todd, as you shall see, handles himself very well during this medical Inquisition. In fact, Todd's passion, clarity, and wisdom got him invited to be on Dr. Pinsky's radio show, where for two hours Todd was treated by Dr. Pinsky with considerable respect—some might say admiration.

Todd's ability to work such medical miracles is why Todd is so hated by the government.

Todd tells the truth about medical marijuana; the government tells only lies. Todd can communicate about medical marijuana; the government is as eloquent as Barry McCaffrey. Todd knows

"You 're working in the prison garden because you grew your own medicine? You 're shittin' me? "

how to grow medical marijuana; the government knows, too, but it ain't writin' any books about it.

Todd has.

I am happy to risk life in prison for the honor of saying, "I was Todd McCormick's first publisher."

—Peter Mc Williams July 21, 1998

P.S. Two days after completing this Introduction, I was arrested by the federal government as the kingpin in a conspiracy, with Todd, to grow and sell marijuana. I spent one month in federal custody while my mother and brother put up their houses to raise the $250,000 bail. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, the way America treats her sick people, she doesn 't deserve to have any.

The informants were revealed by the federal government in its papers as Scott Imler and two of his employees, both named Jeff, at the Tos Angeles Cannabis Club, now the Tos Angeles Cannabis Resource Center. In exchange for government immunity, they testified against Todd and myself. Their operation is still open, the only cannabis club in California that has been completely free of government intervention.

Continue reading here: Cloning

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