Dale Schafer and Mollie Fry
There will be a national day of action on May 2, to shine a light on two medical marijuana patients who have lost nearly everything and are now faced with a federal prison sentence from charges dating back to the Bush administration.
Americans for Safe Access filed a clemency petition in the federal Eastern District Court of Sacramento and sent it to President Obama in an effort to avoid or shorten the imprisonment of Dr. Mollie Fry, a physician, breast cancer survivor and medical marijuana patient sentenced to 5 years along with her husband Dale Schafer, also a patient and an attorney.Fry and Schafer were arrested and convicted without a defense under President Bush, but they appealed their sentence which was vigorously fought by the Obama administration in the Ninth Circuit.Fry and Schafer’s sentences were upheld in November and in March they were ordered to surrender to federal authorities on May 2nd.
“On behalf of Dr. Fry and her five children,” read the clemency petition filed by Fry’s attorney Laurence Lichter. “I beseech you to release Judge Damrell and others from participating in this tragic result not by pardoning her behavior but by commuting her sentence to one that does not involve the brutality of incarceration.”
2012 Presidential candidate Gary Johnson
Under the Obama administration, very little has changed and DEA raids continue to exist, which is one of areas of interest Gary Johnson, 2012 presidential Republican candidate, wants to bring up during his campaign.
“The Fry-Schafer case is a perfect exhibit in the argument for legalizing marijuana. With the challenges facing the nation today, it is absurd that the federal government is spending its time and our dollars raiding, arresting and prosecuting individuals for activities deemed legal under state law. Do they not have better things to do? Prohibition is creating victims needlessly, and not protecting anyone from anything.” ~ Gary Johnson, 2012 Presidential Candidate
Mollie and Dale feel very moved by the sea of support they have received from various groups around the country sent an email to Medical Marijuana 411 expressing their gratitude:
“We feel sick and heartbroken that we have to go through this injustice and spend precious time away from our family. We feel that we have not done anything but help people who are sick and dying in the State of California. We greatly appreciate the support of the medical cannabis community as well as the support of Gary Johnson and Marcy Winograd. We ask that you continue to follow our story and if at all possible make donations so that our children can continue to pay our mortgage and outstanding bills while we are incarcerated. Additionally, we ask that you help us to spread the word and stand up to the spiteful, ignorant and vindictive Federal Government who show a lack of compassion and mercy for those who are sick and suffering.” ~ Dr. Mollie Fry and Dale Schafer, Esq.
There has been a fundraiser set up to help alleviate the costs of their long battle and encourage donations of all amounts, hoping that thousands of people around the country will be moved by their story and want to pitch in.
We, the five children of Dr. Mollie Fry and Attorney Dale Schafer, will continue to work to shine a light on the lack of compassion that the Federal Government is showing for the sick, dying and disabled in our country. We will not stop until our parents, and others like them, are no longer imprisoned for using a plant which offers such a quality of life to the sick and suffering. We ask that you please make donations so that we can continue our fight on behalf of our parents.” ~ Heather Schafer, eldest daughter
