Lynching Charlie Lynch, a Medical Marijuana Martyr: Q&A with Documentarian Rick Ray

In 2006, Charlie Lynch opened a medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay, California. He was such a stickler about following California state law that he called all the legal authorities he could. The ribbon-cutting for his shop was attended by local pols and chamber of commerce types and his shop flourished due to his outgoing personality, dedication to customer service, and strict enforcement of all laws related to medical marijuana.

In 2007, his dispensary was raided by the Drug Enforcement Administration and local sheriffs. Thus began a legal nightmare from which Lynch - and the country - has yet to awake. Placed under house arrest, threatened with an effective life sentence, and stripped of his income, Lynch became one more casuality in the war against medical marijuana.

Eventually, Lynch was tried in federal court, where the Kafkaesque proceedings meant his defense was not allowed to tell jurors that medical marijuana was legal under California law. Eventually, Lynch was sentenced to a year and a day, and was allowed to be free pending an appeal that seems unlikely to ever be fully resolved.

Lynch's ordeal - and the country's - is the subject of Lynching Charlie Lynch, a new documentary made by Rick Ray, who helped produce Reason.tv's original coverage of the Lynch case as it unfolded.

Alex Manning and Zach Weissmueller talked to Ray about his movie, which opens today at iTunes, Amazon, and other online and on-demand venues via Brainstorm Media.

About 7 minutes long. Go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions of our videos and subscribe to this channel for automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Watch ReasonTV's coverage of Charlie Lynch here.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes live. 

Comments

[Fat Man & Little Boy]

Fucked!

[rts]

Annual April 20 marijuana rallies anger parents

Some parents of Vancouver high school students are particularly concerned because the city's school board has scheduled a...

[rts]

...professional development day for many teachers, meaning several classes are cancelled and students are potentially free to attend the annual pot-smoking event in the downtown core.

Teachers schedule a pro-D day for April 20. Coincidence? I think not.

(Comment split apart to appease the squirrels.)

[A Serious Man]

But if the school won't parent their special snowflakes, who will? You can't possibly expect parents to parent, that's madness!

[rts]

Whom will they blame next year when April 20 falls on a weekend?

[rts]

A look at pot numbers in Canada

While polls support decriminalization/legalization, even the ultra-left NDP party leader still stands firm against, spouting pseudo-scientific claptrap.

[R C Dean]

even the ultra-left NDP party leader

Why would an ultra-left (read: authoritarian/totalitarian wannabe) party leader support a reduction in the power of the State?

[rts]

In these parts they also like to portray themselves as "socially left", which usually includes at least decriminalization for marijuana.

I'm sure the new leader's stance will come as a bit of a surprise to many of their supporters. The previous leader (much beloved to the party faithful, as he led their revival in the last election and then died from cancer) was for out-and-out legalization.

[ReformRealist]

I'm not the biggest fan of Zach Braff, but this was a funny tweet: "Anyone who's tried both tequila and marijuana, must be perplexed about which one is legal..."

[daveInAustin]

Did he show the film in a theater first to be eligible for Oscars?