MarijuanaNews.com : Steve Tuck Was Held In Whatcom County Jail WITHOUT MORPHINE! He Is In Agony! Case to Be Federalized, But We Won’t Know Until Tuesday. His Life Is In Danger.

MarijuanaNews Daily Briefing

with Richard Cowan

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Updated By Richard Cowan October 11, 2005 7:45PM

Thanks to the great work of attorney Douglas Hiatt, things are looking much
better for Steve.

Doug went with Steve to his first federal hearing today,
and will accompany him again when Steve will have to appear another federal
hearing to determine how he will return to California to face charges for
growing medical marijuana.

It will also be determined how the federal charges for
Interstate Flight to Avoid Prosecution will be handled.

He has been moved to the federal detention center at
Seatac, where he should be getting at least minimal health care tonight.
Nonetheless, the brutal way in which Steve has been treated since he was taken
from the ER in Vancouver by cowardly little thugs has demonstrated all too
clearly the real reason that Steve fled.

Steve fled to NOT to avoid
prosecution but rather to avoid being treated precisely the way he really was
treated! He wanted to avoid being deprived of the pain relievers to which he is
entitled by law!

This morning, Doug Hiatt wrote, “I am ashamed. I have
met a very small man with a very large heart. Thirteen back surgeries. He is a
sixteen year chronic pain morphine user…

He is a medical cannabis user. He has an enlarged
prostate and a partially blocked bowel. He is sitting in jail.

As of this writing he has
received no pain medication. He kicked hard in the drunk tank in Whatcom
county. When I saw him last night he was in tears from the pain. I have
contacted the chief jail doctor, Ben Sanders, and notified him of all the above
and other relevant medical information. I hope something is done.

Needless to say, this makes me sick…

More later,

Douglas”

I cannot begin to say enough good
things about Doug Hiatt.

Steve’s story has begun to resonate with the American
people and when it is finally told, there will be outrage on both sides of the
US/Canadian border.

I was interviewed

about Steve by Dean Becker on the 4:20 Drug War NEWS (MP3 audio)
See

www.endprohibition.org

Posted by Richard Cowan October 8, 2005
See

Steve Tuck Taken from Vancouver ER In Handcuffs to US Border. Will the Feds Kill
Him?

Updated October 10, 2005 8:30 Pacific time

I spoke to Steve at 3PM this
afternoon. He was finally able to call me after two days in the Seattle
Correctional Facility, the King County Jail. During this time he has not been
able to make any phone calls. I immediately arranged to have attorneys call and
visit the jail.

I have just talked to Doug Hiatt
from Jeff Steinborn’s law firm, one of the
great NORML lawyers who is trying to help. He visited with Steve and is pressing
for the jail to provide him with proper medical care. Although your calls and
emails certainly got their attention in Whatcom County, Doug thinks it would be
best to wait on a new round of protests. The Feds will probably pick Steve up in
the morning to move him to California. At that time we will have to be
especially vigilant about his medical care. He is in a very weak condition but
Doug says that he gained strength when he heard how many people he has looking
out for him.

The Feds had dumped him there
apparently until they can move him to California. They easily could have taken
him to the federal detention center at SEATAC, but apparently chose to try to
hide him in the Seattle jail. When the lawyers called the Feds they would
neither confirm or deny that they even had him and professed not to know where
he was. (Sort of like Osama??)

I had hoped that if he were in
Federal custody he would at least be given some medical care, but they did this
to punish him for his many friends having called the Whatcom County jail.

The facility in Seattle is much
better than in Whatcom. Nonetheless, he has still not been given any morphine or
pain relievers of any kind, despite being in such serious condition that he was
in the ER in Vancouver.

He is a severely disabled veteran
who has has thirteen back surgeries. He even has a metal plate in his lower
back. He is in constant pain and needs very large quantities of morphine,
especially when he is denied cannabis. As noted, he was taken from the ER in
Vancouver where they had given him a permanent catheter. It is now infected.
Because his prostate is so enlarged, the attending ER physician wrote on his
chart that he needs to see a urologist, ASAP. He is also suffering from blocked
bowels.

Many thanks to NORML and everyone
else who have been helping.

Please stand by so that we can be
ready once again to demand justice and basic human decency for Steve.

Shortly before two AM, I received the phone call that I
have been dreading for years. Steve, who was taken away from his Vancouver ER
bed in handcuffs almost exactly twelve hours earlier, called me from the Whatcom
County Jail in Bellingham, WA.

He said that he is being denied the use of morphine and
being given only a minor pain reliever, so he is in agony from the pain,
full-blown morphine withdrawal and terrified.

He said that he had been taken to the hospital, and they
said that there was “nothing wrong” with him, and he did not need more pain
medication. The Canadian Border Service officers who took him from the ER were
given copies of letters from his American doctors, one three page letter
described his history of back surgeries, and others emphasized his need for
proper pain medication. One also described his need for cannabis.

Of course, we have no way of knowing whether he was
allowed to give them to authorities. In any case, his condition should be
obvious to any competent physician. I am frankly astonished by this medical
neglect because it is not in the interest of Whatcom County to be sued.

He was also told that he is to be turned over to the
Federal authorities… but not until Tuesday. We have no idea what the federal
indictment may be, but Federal involvement was indicated by the behavior of the
Canadian officials and their long-term collaboration with the DEA to violate
Steve’s rights while he was in Canada.

Update: Steve has already been
taken by the Feds. He may get better medical care and we are trying to find out
what is going to happen to him. There is no further need to contact Whatcom
County.

Unfortunately, this also means that he will never be
allowed to use cannabis.

His life is in great danger!

Steve asked me, “Why are they doing this to me?”

I could only tell him that they crucified Jesus. They
still are.

He cried, “Please help me!”

Pray for Steve, and God help us all!