Tennessee man lights joint in court while there on drug possession charges
Yesterday from NBC News;In response to:
Tennessee man lights joint in court to plead for marijuana legalization
Jan. 28, 2020, 1:47 PM EST
By Minyvonne Burke
A Tennessee man in court for drug possession is accused of lighting up marijuana in front of the judge to plead his case that the drug should be legalized.
The stunt landed Spencer Alan Boston, 20, in jail on charges of disorderly conduct and simple drug possession, online records show.
Boston was in court Monday to discuss his case when he began talking about how marijuana should be legalized, according to NBC affiliate WSMV in Nashville.
Boston then reached into his pocket and pulled out what is believed to be a joint, lit it with a match and began to smoke it.
The courtroom then erupted in laughter, WSMV reports.
The marijuana gave off a strong odor, Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan told the Tennessean. He said Boston attempted to address those sitting in the courtroom but officers took him into custody.
Boston is being held on a $3,000 bond.
Tennessee man lights joint in court to plead for marijuana legalization
Jan. 28, 2020, 1:47 PM EST
By Minyvonne Burke
A Tennessee man in court for drug possession is accused of lighting up marijuana in front of the judge to plead his case that the drug should be legalized.
The stunt landed Spencer Alan Boston, 20, in jail on charges of disorderly conduct and simple drug possession, online records show.
Boston was in court Monday to discuss his case when he began talking about how marijuana should be legalized, according to NBC affiliate WSMV in Nashville.
Boston then reached into his pocket and pulled out what is believed to be a joint, lit it with a match and began to smoke it.
The courtroom then erupted in laughter, WSMV reports.
The marijuana gave off a strong odor, Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan told the Tennessean. He said Boston attempted to address those sitting in the courtroom but officers took him into custody.
Boston is being held on a $3,000 bond.
...where he will light up in jail ?
Comments (4)
This is a story about Julian Heicklen, the stoner chemistry professor who had a large role in saving the ozone layer, and hence life on Earth as we know it. In the late 60’s it was Heicklen who discovered that the hydroxyl radical was the “atmospheric vacuum cleaner”. Daytime atmospheric chemistry is governed by the hydroxyl radical, which is not abundant in the air yet it still has a very large effect. The problem was that CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons, the stuff that puts holes in the ozone layer) is not susceptible to attack by this hydroxyl radical. So in the 80’s, CFC’s were replaced with HCFC’s because HCFC’s are susceptible to attack by the hydroxyl radical, all thanks to Heicklen's work. Prof. Heicklen did his research at Penn State, my alma mater where I learned about him in my environmental chemistry class, and is one of my personal heroes but not just for the fact that he helped to save the ozone layer.
He is also an active marijuana law reform advocate. He felt so strongly about this issue, that when he was a professor (he has been retired for many years now) he would go out into public, in front of the main gate to the main campus once a week, and smoke a joint in public. He did this as a protest but he also wanted to be arrested so that he could openly challenge the laws in court in an attempt to get them changed, by appeals if necessary. Eventually he was arrested, but he was given a gag order so that he could not even speak at his own trial. He was given a slap on the wrist fine and sent on his way. It’s a good thing he was not imprisoned for pot smoking in the 60’s, or who knows how many more people would be dying of skin cancer today, a grim reminder that incarcerating pot smokers has far reaching consequences.
From Wikipedia;
Julian Heicklen has been arrested multiple times by U.S. Department of Homeland Security federal police officers while distributing FIJA literature at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
On May 25, 2010, Julian Heicklen was arrested after refusing to stop handing out pamphlets at a U.S. District Courthouse in New York City, and was indicted for jury tampering. Because of previous failures to appear in court, he was remanded to Riker's Island until his June 8 arraignment. His arrest gained national attention over the following year due to the First Amendment implications of arresting a citizen for handing out educational pamphlets about jury nullification to prospective jurors outside of a courthouse.
Heicklen has been arrested or fined multiple times related to distributing pamphlets on nullificiation. Heicken wrote that during one arrest he chose to fall to the ground limp and silent; an ambulance was called and he signed his hospital release form as "John Galt".
Another activist was arrested for filming on federal property without permission while recording Heicklen's November 9, 2009 arrest. Fellow nullification activists held a protest in his defense.
On April 19, 2012, District Court Judge Kimba Wood granted Mr. Heicklen's Motion to Dismiss the Indictment as legally deficient.
Heicklen claimed the State College police officer performed an "illegal seizure" of his cigarette yesterday. Heicklen had filed a complaint with the district attorney claiming that the confiscation of his "joint" two weeks ago by University police was a theft.