Steve McWilliams was a

medical marijuana Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to Cannabis (drug), cannabis products and cannabinoid, cannabinoid molecules that are prescription drug, prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabi ...

activist from

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

who protested the treatment of people under anti-cannabis laws. He committed suicide in 2005.

Biography

Steven McWilliams was a "former cowboy" who attended

Western State Colorado University Western Colorado University (WCU or Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 3,000 undergraduate and 450 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state. Western offers more than 100 undergradua ...

and the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

. In 1992, McWilliams was in a motorcycle accident and sustained a head injury, and afterwards suffered from chronic pain and migraines, which he said he found relief from with

Medical marijuana activism

After California passed

Proposition 215 Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, is a California law permitting the use of medical cannabis despite marijuana's lack of the normal Food and Drug Administration testing for safety and efficacy. It was enacted, on November ...

in 1996, which allowed certain patients to be recommended cannabis by a doctor, McWilliams opened multiple medical marijuana collectives in San Diego to provide cannabis for patients, including Shelter from the Storm and Valley Center Cannabis Club. In January 1998, Valley Center Cannabis Club was raided and McWilliams was arrested for possession. That March he was arraigned for growing, selling, and transporting cannabis, which led to the first widely publicized case about the enforcement and limits of Proposition 215. The District Attorney declined to press charges due to lack of information. In 2002, McWilliams protested obstruction of Proposition 215 by standing in front of San Diego City Hall by smoking and handing out cannabis to patients. He also showed up weekly to Town Council meetings, sometimes carrying a live marijuana plant, to convince the local government to make clear local regulations regarding medical marijuana in San Diego. McWilliams was arrested in 2002 by federal law enforcement for growing about two dozen cannabis plants at his home in Normal Heights. In early 2003,

United States District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

James Fitzgerald sentenced him to six months in federal prison. He was not allowed to use cannabis as part of his bail terms. There was speculation McWilliams was targeted with a harsh sentence due to his activism. Not long after, the Supreme Court ruled that federal cannabis laws superseded local laws, which meant McWilliams' appeal would be denied and he would go to prison. On July 12, 2005 on his 51st birthday, McWilliams committed suicide by overdosing on

methadone Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid used medically to treat chronic pain and opioid use disorder. Prescribed for daily use, the medicine relieves cravings and opioid withdrawal sym ...

, an opioid he'd been prescribed for pain. In his suicide note, he said that he was in pain and hoped his death might convince the government to respect people's right to cannabis. He also called out Reuben Brooks, the federal judge who had ruled he could not use medical marijuana while out on bail. After his death, more than a dozen cities in the United States held memorial services in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McWilliams, Steve Activists from California Year of birth missing 2005 suicides 2005 deaths Drug-related suicides in California American cannabis activists American people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in United States federal government detention People who died by suicide in prison custody