Cancer patient says pot conviction a 'death sentence'

ResinRubber · Aug 19, 2014

Was discussing this cat's fate the other day and realized it hadn't been posted in GK. Better late than never.

Infuriating.:BangHead: Read the follow up piece for a wonderful turn in his ordeal.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2014/07/09/dying-iowan-facing-prison-after-drug-conviction/12416687/

Cancer patient says pot conviction a 'death sentence'
Grant Rodgers, grodgers@dmreg.com 10:11 a.m. CDT July 10, 2014

DAVENPORT, Ia. — A dying Iowan who claims he grew marijuana to treat a painful cancer faces a possible prison sentence after a conviction on drug charges Wednesday — a prospect he views as a "death sentence."

Scott County jurors delivered a guilty verdict on four felony drug charges facing Benton Mackenzie, 48, whose wife and son were also convicted alongside him.

Mackenzie says he used the plants to extract cannabis oil to treat a painful grapefruit-sized tumor on his buttock caused by angiosarcoma, a rare, aggressive cancer.

Mackenzie's case has drawn national attention at a time of increased debate over whether to legalize marijuana for medical use.

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia allow use of marijuana to treat different diseases. This year, Iowa legislators passed a narrow medical marijuana bill allowing parents with epileptic children to use cannabis oil as treatment.

Because Iowa law does not allow use of marijuana to treat Mackenzie's condition, Judge Henry Latham barred defense attorneys from saying he used marijuana out of medical necessity. That ruling further infuriated many Iowans who have reached out to support Mackenzie since his arrest. A "Free Benton Mackenzie" Facebook page had 1,797 "likes" on Wednesday afternoon.

Mackenzie believes the judge's ruling sealed his fate with jurors who might have been more sympathetic had they learned about his condition.

"I'm still flabbergasted about how a judge can court-order me to not tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth," he said outside the courthouse after the verdict. "It's an abomination of justice."

Much about Mackenzie's future will now be decided at an Aug. 28 sentencing hearing. Because of two earlier felony drug convictions, in 2000 and 2011, Mackenzie can be labeled a "habitual offender."

That label would carry a three-year mandatory minimum sentence if Mackenzie is sentenced to prison, although probation could also be an option, said Scott County Attorney Mike Walton. Walton declined to talk about what sentence his office would recommend, but said prosecutors will take both Mackenzie's failing health and his past crimes into consideration.

Lawmaker: This is why change is needed

The guilty verdict against Mackenzie highlights ongoing tension between advocates of expanded medical marijuana use and law enforcement officers who say they're duty-bound to enforce current law.

Mackenzie's legal battles should be a sign to Iowans angered by the verdict that more work should be done to change laws, said state Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City. Bolkcom has previously introduced legislation to allow medical marijuana and called the prosecution of Mackenzie and his family a "waste of taxpayer money."

"This verdict really shows that we have work to do," he said in a phone interview Wednesday. "There are many Iowans I'm guessing that are illegally using cannabis to address their medical conditions who could find themselves in the same predicament as Mr. Mackenzie for simply trying to improve their quality of life and treat a debilitating condition."

Walton, however, said his office could not turn a blind eye to Mackenzie's actions, especially given Mackenzie's past drug-related convictions. Mackenzie and his wife, Loretta, 43, had previously been prosecuted for growing marijuana used for treatment. In 2011, they both pleaded guilty in Scott County to drug charges and were put on probation. Benton Mackenzie also had a drug conviction in 2000.

Though it's unfortunate that Mackenzie's health is deteriorating, Walton said Mackenzie knew he was breaking the law by growing marijuana. "The laws are not written in Scott County," he said. "I don't write the laws. I'm supposed to enforce them, and if people want the law to change, the law needs to change at the Statehouse for everybody, not at the courthouse on a case-by-case basis."

Doctor: Do research on his treatment

Mackenzie said he first noticed the tumor on his buttock approximately six years ago, but it wasn't until 2011 that he was diagnosed with angiosarcoma, his wife said. The cancer affects the lining of blood vessels. Mackenzie chose to treat himself with cannabis oil and by drinking fresh juice from marijuana plants instead of seeking chemotherapy.

Mackenzie said he worried that a traditional chemotherapy treatment would damage his heart. The tumor, which was the size of a golf ball, reduced to a "bump" within two months after he began treating it with cannabis, he said. Mackenzie has continued treatment using oil he gets in Oregon since his June 2013 arrest, but the oil is available only sporadically, and the tumor is now the size of a grapefruit.

Mackenzie and his family live with his parents on their property in Eldridge, just north of Davenport. Mackenzie admits he grew marijuana in a trailer and RV on the property. Law enforcement found 71 plants during a raid last year.

Mackenzie and his wife were charged with felony drug crimes. Their son, Cody, 22, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. Marijuana and pipes were found in Cody Mackenzie's bedroom, Walton said.

Benton Mackenzie's parents, Charles and Dorothy Mackenzie, both in their 70s, were charged with felonies for allowing marijuana to grow on their property. They await trial later this month.

On Wednesday, however, Mackenzie said his family was not involved in helping grow the marijuana he used for treatment.

"I'm deeply concerned my whole family is in this position just for not deserting me while I'm dying, and this is how they're repaid for their compassion."

In prison, Mackenzie would not be able to get the cannabis oil he believes held his cancer at bay for a time. Benton Mackenzie said he is receiving hospice care and has come to grips with dying, just not behind bars.

"Being held down to die like this, that's infuriating to me in a country where I supposedly have a right to my life," he said.

Dr. Charles Goldman, a surgical oncologist at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, laments that Mackenzie's self-treatment ended with prosecution instead of scientific research. Although Mackenzie's claims that cannabis successfully reduced his tumor have not been scientifically verified, other research indicates that it's reasonable the marijuana helped, he said.

"To me, it's a shame that we're not seeing his situation as a research opportunity to learn on an actual human being," he said. "The fact of the matter is he's alive four years after his diagnosis, and he was not treated with any chemotherapy."
Click to expand...

ResinRubber · Aug 19, 2014

the rest of the story

And the follow up piece.:goodjob: Side info on the status of MacKenzie's conviction. Sentencing begins Aug 28. Currently he and his family are out on cash bond. Charges against his 70+ year old parents have been dismissed.

http://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/index.ssf/2014/07/medical_marijuana_in_oregon_be.html

Medical marijuana in Oregon: Benton Mackenzie, Iowa man convicted of marijuana crimes, arrives to obtain medical pot
By Noelle Crombie | ncrombie@oregonian.com

Email the author | Follow on Twitter

on July 22, 2014 at 12:38 PM, updated July 22, 2014 at 12:39 PM

Benton Mackenzie is well known in Iowa. His recent trial and conviction for growing cannabis on his parents’ rural property made for page-one news, closely watched by marijuana activists nationwide.

On Tuesday, though, Mackenzie was just another Oregon medical marijuana patient, hoping to find the right strain and preparation of cannabis to ease the debilitating symptoms of his terminal cancer.

(Brian Wellner, staff writer at the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa, has covered the trial of Mackenzie and his wife and son. His complete coverage can be found here.)

Mackenzie, 48, arrived at Portland International Airport in the morning, accompanied by his wife, Loretta, 43, and their son, Cody, 22. The couple earlier this month was convicted in Iowa state court of felony manufacturing marijuana, conspiracy, violation of the drug tax stamp act and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Their son was convicted of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.

The family members will be sentenced next month. Benton Mackenzie, who has two prior drug-related convictions, including one for manufacturing marijuana, faces up to five years in prison.

The family left their legal problems this week to make one last trip to Oregon, the only state in the country that allows out-of-staters to enroll in its medical marijuana program. According to the Oregon Health Authority, which oversees the medical marijuana program, 1,342 people from other states are Oregon medical marijuana patients.

During his flight, Mackenzie used a morphine pump to control pain from what he said is stage-four angiosarcoma, a rare and especially deadly form of cancer that affects the blood vessel lining. He said he hopes to rely less on narcotics once he obtains cannabis oil from one of Oregon’s medical marijuana dispensaries.

His wife, who serves as Mackenzie’s designated caregiver in the medical marijuana program, said the family was relieved to land in Oregon.

“It feels great,” Loretta Mackenzie said, as a skycap wheeled her husband to the baggage carousel. “It always does.”

Benton Mackenzie said an Oregon medical marijuana advocate plans to meet him at his Portland hotel later Tuesday with cannabis products he thinks will help him: a juice made from raw marijuana and either butane hash oil or a cannabis concentrate known as Rick Simpson Oil.

Mackenzie struggles with severe pain and said he’s hoping to find a product high in cannabidiol, or CBD, and tetrahydrocannabinol, known as THC.

“The more I take,” he said, “the slower (the cancer) grows.”

-- Noelle Crombie
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ResinRubber · Aug 19, 2014

A friend sent me this vid blogger's piece on MacKenzie.

[YOUTUBE]mTQ4a3Ja6cs[/YOUTUBE]

bigbudztoo · Aug 20, 2014

A Jury nullification would have sent a good message.

BBT

Brandsy · Apr 30, 2015

Cannabis is beneficial for the people suffering from cancer diseases. As it has two active chemicals cannabidiol (CBD) - which impact the brain without a high- and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - has pain relieving properties.Cannabis use to cure various diseases like cancer, anorexia and cachexia in HIV/AIDS, chronic, especially neuropathic pain

Bigbud214 · Apr 30, 2015

Its a shame they still try to make examples of people like this. It saddens me that a proven treatment is still with held and and properly researched.

ResinRubber · Apr 30, 2015

The evil men do in the name of "following the law" knows no bounds. Final follow up.

http://qctimes.com/news/local/family-of-benton-mackenzie-mourns-his-death/article_16afb1c6-db98-5436-ab68-5edcd7a6b698.html

January 13, 2015 • By Brian Wellner, Quad-City Times
Even as he faced his final moments, Benton Mackenzie's first thoughts were of his wife and son and their future.

The 49-year-old terminal cancer patient who fought Scott County authorities over his efforts to grow marijuana for his own medicinal use died early Monday at home.

"I've got a big empty pit right in the middle of my chest right now," Loretta Mackenzie told the Quad-City Times hours after her husband's death.

She wants to have his remains cremated and his ashes spread in Arizona, where they met, as well as Oregon, where they made multiple trips last year seeking legal cannabis oil.

As news of his 2014 trial attracted national attention, Mackenzie became a lightning rod for medical cannabis rights in Iowa, where the drug still is illegal with one exception, for the treatment of intractable epilepsy.

"Here's an example of a state that will go after you relentlessly with no sympathy, no mercy," Iowa medical marijuana activist Carl Olsen said Monday.

As Mackenzie stood trial, his health deteriorated. The baggy sweatpants he wore masked huge cancerous tumors covering his rear and right leg, a symptom of the angiosarcoma he was diagnosed with in 2011. He was rushed to an emergency room in the middle of his trial for a blood transfusion.

Jurors were not allowed to hear any testimony about his health and convicted him along with Loretta for conspiring to grow marijuana. Their son, Cody, was convicted of drug possession. They all were sentenced to probation in September, and as his rare cancer progressed into the final stages, Benton Mackenzie spent the remaining months of 2014 mostly confined to a hospice bed at his parents' basement apartment in Long Grove.

Loretta Mackenzie said she watched her husband's health seriously decline since New Year's Day, adding that he stopped eating and taking his pain medication over the weekend. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he was near death, she said.

Sunday afternoon, she played songs by his favorite musician, Jack Johnson, and said she could see his foot slowly moving to the music under his bed sheets. She kissed him on the forehead, touched his arm and said, "I love you" as much as she could, even though he did not seem able to respond.

She and Cody stayed up Sunday night watching movies on the couch next to the hospice bed. Cody awoke his mother about 3 a.m. after finding that his father had passed away.

"We stayed up together and toasted him," Loretta Mackenzie said. "It's so surreal. It's hard to say goodbye. I know he's not in there anymore. He's in heaven with his favorite relatives. I have to keep that in mind in order to yank the sadness out."

Instead of a funeral, she wants to have a memorial service at home but hasn't yet decided on a day.

Benton and Loretta Mackenzie were married for 22 years. After his diagnosis, she became his caretaker. While he grew marijuana to create a medicinal oil that he could ingest and rub on his tumors, she was busy tending a vegetable garden, preparing meals, shopping and cleaning for her family as well as his elderly parents with whom they have lived since 2011.

She went to jail along with her husband after sheriff's deputies raided the home in 2013 and seized his plants. She faced the same charges as a co-conspirator even though he told deputies she had nothing to do with it.

She never left his side, and in the final months of his life, she devoted all of her energy to taking care of her husband.

"He was concerned about Loretta and what she was going to face," Dottie Mackenzie said, in recounting some of the final conversations she had with her son in the past week.

Benton Mackenzie's parents faced their own prosecution — misdemeanor counts for hosting a drug house that ultimately were dropped. Dottie Mackenzie said she hopes the same leniency will happen to Loretta and Cody Mackenzie, whose cases are wrapped up in appeals.

"Pardon or drop it," Dottie Mackenzie said. "I don't know what the justice system can do about it. Neither one of them are guilty of any of it."

Among the last things Benton Mackenzie said to his wife were words of encouragement. His comments echoed words he wrote to her in letters while they were in jail.

"He encouraged me a lot," she said. "He is just a remarkable man. I'm going to miss him a lot."

She'll miss how he used to don a traditional Scottish kilt and play bagpipes. Before cancer rendered him frail, he could pipe for hours from his once stocky, 6-foot-tall frame.

When he performed professionally, his wife acted as his "pipe steward" to collect tips. Most of the time, he piped to honor firefighters and veterans. For several years, he visited the Davenport Central Fire Station, which is across the street from the Scott County Courthouse, to pipe for the firefighters in memory of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Benton Mackenzie wasn't afraid to die, he revealed in multiple interviews with the Quad-City Times since he first shared his story in 2013.

"When the Lord takes me home, I'll be more than ready," he said after his release from jail in August 2013.

Dottie Mackenzie said her son's fight with cancer and prosecution were all part of God's plan, and he accepted that.

"He was at peace with it," she said.
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Bigbud214 · Apr 30, 2015

Even when I can source the oil a 60 day treatment runs about $1900.00. So out of my price range. And chemo is basically keeping the cancer at bay. I've had some reduction in tumor size. But not a measurableamount. Cannabis oil has shown to reduce tumors that are resistant to chemo. But alas its out of reach for me and many others.

ResinRubber · Apr 30, 2015

That's the point, we shouldn't have to pay a supplier. We should to be able to treat ourselves. It doesn't matter if you think peach pits are the answer, or, cannabis oil. If one can naturally produce it, and is hurting no one else, it should be our right to medically do what we think is in our best interest. Actually, it is our right and it's being infringed upon.

Bigbud214 · Apr 30, 2015

No doubt my friend we are being infringed upon. When haven't been in some way or another. But also the fact that research is being hindered. So its keeping the mainstream medical field uninformed. Substantial real scientific research is needed to show the actual benefits. Its still federally illegal to research cannabis. Only synthetic thc can be researched. As we all know that's a dead end. Oh well so be it

GrassNGlass · Sep 22, 2015

This post showed up toward the top of my feed and even though its several months old, I still find it remarkable how much has changed since then. My uncle actually has stage 4 cancer right now and my aunt's going to start giving him cannabidiol. I don't think they would have considered it had news about the research into cancer revealed that organizations like the National Cancer Institute were officially stating that cannabis cures cancer. It's a huge step forward to hear them admit this. We may still be a long way off before the people who need these treatments receive it, but at least this is a definitive start in the right direction.

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