Peter McWilliams - Medical Marijuana

Medical Marijuana

In 1996, California Proposition 215 was approved by the voters that allowed terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana. The same year, McWilliams was diagnosed with both cancer and AIDS and was among the roughly forty percent of terminally ill patients who experience extreme nausea as a side effect of medications used to treat such diseases. Advocates of medical marijuana (and many medical researchers) believe that the drug is an antiemetic, which eliminates the nausea associated with cancer and AIDS medications, thus allowing the medications to work effectively and enabling the patient to maintain their appetite and diet.

McWilliams became a strong supporter of medical marijuana and published Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do as a critic of victimless crime or consensual crime laws (to wit, as the premise of the book states, "any act which is a crime, which does not physically harm the person or property of another"; a stance shared by historical political philosopher John Stuart Mill), including the laws against marijuana. The book made him a hero among civil libertarians and critics of American drug prohibition. (The book's title is taken from the blues standard "Ain't Nobody's Business".)

McWilliams spoke before the Libertarian Party National Convention in 1998 where he came out as a gay man who was diagnosed with both cancer and AIDS and thus had a personal stake in the California law legalizing marijuana for medical reasons.

Along with the book Ain't, McWilliams was a vocal activist for medical marijuana and was helping Todd McCormick (who suffered from cancer since childhood) write a book titled How To Grow Medical Marijuana. Both men became the subject of a Federal Drug Enforcement Administration investigation; their homes were searched and research was seized to gather evidence towards charging both men with violating federal drug laws.

McWilliams claimed he was specifically targeted for arrest and prosecution because he was such an articulate and effective opponent of drug prohibition, as both Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputies and DEA agents told him they frequently found copies of Ain't Nobody's Business... in the homes of those they arrested for marijuana possession.

McWilliams and McCormick were arrested and charged with violating federal drug laws concerning marijuana. The financial support that McWilliams gave to McCormick was used as evidence that he was a drug kingpin. At his trial, the judge ruled that McWilliams was not allowed to mention in court that he was terminally ill, that using medical marijuana was (in his opinion) keeping him alive, or that his usage of medical marijuana was legal under California state law. Even as he vomited repeatedly during court proceedings, McWilliams was, under such legal conditions, not allowed to explain his condition or its connection to the charges against him.

As a creative outlet and way to reach supporters during his trial, McWilliam's began to blog the current events of his life on his website petertrial.com. In his humorous, informative style, he shared his thoughts with the world, about his trial, medical condition and medical marijuana's effect on his life.

Due to the gag restrictions, he was forced to plead guilty and hope that the judge would show leniency. Through his website, McWilliams asked supporters to send e-mails and letters to the presiding judge in an effort to allow McWilliams to serve his sentence under house arrest, where he could continue writing and have access to medical care. During this time, McWilliams continued writing articles highly critical of the laws against marijuana, including an open letter (published in Liberty magazine) to Microsoft founder and CEO Bill Gates which called on him to join the Libertarian Party.

ABC News reporter John Stossel had been a supporter of McWilliams' plight and had produced a Give Me A Break segment on McWilliams a few days before McWilliams died in 2000.