Reply #68: Thanks kindly, you Austin-tacious sweetheart. Here's a letter from the widow of someone I helped [View All]

[Fly by night]

CO
3___ W_____ Road
Santa Fe, TN 38482
931/XXX-XXXX
February 10, 2011

President Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, DC


Dear President Barack Obama,

My name is CO. I have been a friend of Bernie Ellis for almost thirty years now. I am writing to ask that you grant him a Presidential pardon for growing marijuana and providing it to terminally ill neighbors, including my late husband.

I was married to Arthur O for 24 years. Arthur worked hard all of his life. Then, in the prime of his life, he was struck down with kidney disease. He also had high blood pressure, which was unknown to both him and me. Seemingly overnight, Arthur lost function in both of his kidneys. His doctors hospitalized him immediately, put shunts in his chest and started dialysis the next day.

The dialysis pulled Arthur down to the point that he couldn't work, where he lost his appetite and where he lost interest in life itself. He couldn't eat and keep his food down as a result of all the medicines he was on. Arthur's health just continued to go down and his blood pressure stayed too high, no matter what medications he took.

At that time, I spoke to Bernie about helping Arthur with medical marijuana. We spoke with Arthur's doctors at Centennial about whether Arthur should use it. The doctors said that Arthur should do whatever was necessary to get him to eat and grow stronger. I asked them whether Arthur would stay on the transplant list if he used marijuana. They said that they would keep him on the transplant list if Arthur started using medical marijuana. As it was, they said that he was too weak to survive the surgery, so if the marijuana helped him improve, he should use it.

Arthur started smoking the marijuana that Bernie gave him then and his appetite came back. His blood pressure went down and he began to feel more like a man. Using the marijuana made Arthur feel like doing some things he couldn't do before. It gave him back his pride and a quality of life that he had not had for two years.

I am thankful for Bernie's help. He was a blessing in our life, coming at its lowest point. The comfort that Bernie's marijuana gave Arthur, and his renewed pride in life, was something I could not do. I loved my husband dearly but having pride in himself wasn't something I could give him.

My love, support and prayers were answered when the Lord put Bernie Ellis in our path. He was a blessing in our life. I feel I owe Bernie a debt of gratitude I cannot repay, because he gave my husband quality of life. Bernie couldn't help with quantity but quality is so important when your days are numbered. Arthur finally got a transplant but we got a bad kidney that poisoned his blood and made him sicker than before. But Bernie Ellis was there for us, through it all.

Please consider this in your decision to grant Bernie a Presidential pardon. Bernie Ellis has been a blessing to a lot of people and we need more people like him, rather than continuing to prosecute them. I would be happy to come to answer any questions about what Bernie did for my husband. I own and operate my own business – the Santa Fe Diner – but I will gladly speak with you or anyone else if we can help Bernie obtain a pardon and be able to get on with his life.

In closing, I want you to know that, on the wall of my diner, I have a framed copy of the Nashville Scene cover that showed Bernie as a "Marijuana Martyr". It has been there for the past four years, and now shares space with a picture of Governor Bredesen signing the Voter Confidence Act, with Bernie standing behind him. Those pictures will stay on my wall for as long as I own this diner. Many of my customers who did not know Bernie before now say "hi" to him and offer him support because of those pictures on my wall. That is how it should be.

I feel that Bernie has paid his "debt" to society. Even though he did no wrong, Bernie has paid dearly. He should be granted a Presidential pardon for something that should not be a crime.

Sincerely,


CO