| Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander |
| All charges against medical marijuana provider Adam Assenberg were dismissed on Friday |
All charges against medical marijuana patient and provider Adam Assenberg have been dropped in Washington state’s Whitman County Superior Court. Assenberg was facing multiple charges for operating a medical marijuana dispensary in Colfax, Washington.
“I totally kicked ass,” Assenberg told Toke of the Town on Friday. “I told everyone from the beginning that I was going to.”
According to Assenberg, the case was dismissed due to the Scott Shupe ruling. In that huge victory for medical cannabis, the “drug trafficking” convictions of Scott Q. Shupe, a man who operated Spokane, Washington’s first medical marijuana dispensary, were reversed on December 11 in a state Appeals Court ruling.
The Shupe ruling appears to clear the way for medical marijuana access points to operate legally in Eastern Washington. The eastern part of the state has, until now, been largely unfriendly to dispensaries.
Adam Assenberg uses cannabis to prevent seizures; many years ago he broke his back in nine places and nearly died as a result. Without marijuana, he is in severe pain, suffering multiple seizures daily.
| Adam Assenberg |
| Adam Assenberg: “Now the civil suit starts” |
“I suffer from intractable pain,” Adam said. “Every pain medication that can be used for me has been tried. During a 24-hour period, there is not a moment that I don’t suffer.”
Because of a vendetta by Whitman County Sheriff Brett Meyers, Assenberg endured arrest, a raid on his home that resulted in rifles being pointed at his son, and being thrown in jail where he suffered a head injury due to being denied cannabis to control his seizures.
Adam believed so strongly that all suffering patients should have safe access to cannabis, he started working with other patients to help them get marijuana, regardless of their ability to pay. This brought him onto a collision course with Sheriff Meyers, who also ran an “anti-drug” DARE program at local schools.
Assenberg’s 12-year-old daughter had witnessed firsthand how cannabis could control her father’s seizures; she knew that he could function and be present for his family if he had marijuana. She confronted Sheriff Meyers during one of his attempts to perpetuate “Reefer Madness” myths at the school.
Sheriff Meyers appears to have used the power of his office to pursue a personal vendetta against the severely disabled Assenberg, including pulling him over on numerous occasions and conducting an armed raid on his house. The sheriff insisted on filing charges, even when the district attorney was reluctant to do so, according to Adam.
Even the chief of police in Colfax, where Adam lives, supports him. Assenberg said he has an open door policy with his local police department, allowing them into his home in an attempt to show the real benefits of medicinal cannabis use.
“Now the civil suit starts,” Assenberg told Toke of the Town. Adam said he’s filing a $3.5 million lawsuit against Whitman County.