As we reported earlier, 63-year-old Crouse has chronic lymphocytic leukemia that causes him pain throughout his body -- especially in his neck and shoulders. On top of that, Crouse suffers from anxiety and sleep disorder, in addition to debilitating stress.
According to Crouse, medical marijuana provides him with relief from these symptoms, but it doesn't eliminate them. As such, he did research into alternative treatments -- among them Phoenix Tears, a cannabis oil treatment.
In order to make his own Phoenix Tears, he needed to exceed the six-plants-per-patient limit enshrined in Amendment 20, the measure that legalized medical marijuana in Colorado. That's allowable if a doctor determines that going beyond that number is medically necessary. Crouse's physician agreed that it was, and wrote him a recommendation to grow up to 75 plants -- "enough weight to be able to manufacture the tincture," Crouse explains.
However, the application for upping the total was returned because, Crouse says, "there was an address on one piece of paper that was different from the address on another piece of paper. So they needed to have it done again and submitted back as soon as possible." But before this could happen, police raided his home and arrested him. On top of that, Crouse notes, "they took my meds, and they haven't allowed me access to them since -- and it's hurting me. I can feel in my own body what's going on, and slowly but surely, I continue to go downhill."
At 8:30 a.m. tomorrow (the original version of this post said today: we regret the error), Crouse will be arraigned in an El Paso County courtroom -- and Colorado Springs-based Coloradans 4 Cannabis Patient Rights and Boulder's Cannabis Therapy Institute are encouraging his backers to express their solidarity.
Look below to see a CTI release about the event:
Defend Bob CrouseProtect Cancer Patients' Right to Use Cannabis Medicine
Free Bob Crouse Protest Thurs., Aug. 18, 2011 Protest: 7:30am to 8:00am Court Hearing: 8:30am
El Paso County Courthouse 270 S. Tejon, Colorado Springs, CO Courtroom of The Honorable Judge Tim Schulz, Division 9, Courtroom S503 Courthouse phone: (719) 448-7700 (If you are coming from a distance, make sure you call the courthouse to make sure the hearing has not been rescheduled.)
Protest the prosecution of leukemia patient Bob Crouse. Bring signs for the protest outside the courthouse. Then, attend Bob's arraignment with him at 8:30am. Stand proudly behind Bob as he pleads "not guilty" to show the judge and District Attorney that the community will not stand for prosecution of patients.
BACKGROUND
Bob Crouse is a 63-year-old leukemia patient being prosecuted by El Paso County. He is charged with two felonies (cultivation and distribution), even though the amount of medicine and plants he possessed was well within the limits recommended by his physician and allowed by the Colorado Constitution, Article XVIII, Section 14 (Colorado's Medical Marijuana Law).
Bob was using cannabis medicine to treat the symptoms of his illness and also to attack the cancer directly. Numerous studies have shown that cannabis has anti-tumor effects. Bob was using a treatment called "Phoenix Tears", developed by a Canadian patient Rick Simpson (see www.phoenixtears.ca). This treatment requires several ounces of raw plant material to make one gram of medicine. Bob said that the Phoenix Tears treatment seemed to have a remarkable effect on his cancer. He said he could actually feel it attacking the cancer in his body like "scrubbing bubbles."
Please donate to the Bob Crouse Legal Defense Fund to help him hire a private attorney. Bob has not been able to work since he was diagnosed with leukemia 4 years ago. And he has also had to take care of his 90-year-old mother at the same time. The stress of his arrest and prosecution has drained his energy even further. Please help Bob stand up for all cancer patients in El Paso County and help him fight for his right to treat himself with cannabis, the safest therapeutically active substance known to man.
Donations to the Bob Crouse Legal Defense Fund should be made directly to Bob. Checks should be written to Bob Crouse and can be mailed to:
Bob Crouse P.O. Box 97 Green Mountain Falls, CO 80819
More from our Marijuana archive: "Marijuana: Surgery success for Larry Shurtleff, who credits Phoenix Tears with whipping cancer."