WHO IS JOE GRUMBINE AND WHY YOU SHOULD GET TO KNOW THE HUMAN SOLUTION

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WHO IS JOE GRUMBINE AND WHY YOU SHOULD GET TO KNOW THE HUMAN SOLUTION

Medical Marijuana Activist Joe Grumbine trial is getting ready to begin. On Tuesday, August 16 he will appear at his pretrial hearing in the Long Beach Superior Court. This is located at 415 West Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802, in department K. Joe will appear in front of Judge Sheldon 8:30am to 11:00am. His trial is currently scheduled to start the following week, but this tentative date of August 22 will be confirmed or changed at the pretrial hearing. YOUR ATTENDANCE IS REQUESTED.

Court Support benefits the entire movement to end the harassment of medical cannabis patients

What makes this case stand out above the rest is the outpouring of community support from the dozens of people who regularly attend his court hearings. Joe Grumbine is the founder of the Human Solution, a medical cannabis organization that provides court support for others facing trial for medical marijuana. Joe and his wife Liz are well known throughout Southern California as being kind and generous people who regularly open up their 5 acre Willow Spring nursery gardens to many medical cannabis events. Prior to being charged for operating a collective Joe conducted fundraisers for Ronny Naulls, another accused medical marijuana patient.

Joe created a green ribbon with a red cross in the center to symbolize the solidarity and unification of a growing movement of people who stand together in demanding that our rights as medical cannabis users be respected.

This solidarity ribbon has caught on, with cannabis activists and supporters across the country placing orders for the ribbons. Judges and prosecutors have taken notice of the ribbons, with a judge recently denying a prosecutor’s request to have the ribbons banned from the courtroom. The prosecutor was afraid that the jury might realize that the medical cannabis community stands united in support of medical cannabis patients, providers and growers. The judge refused to ban the solidarity ribbons from the courtroom. The defendant in that case was acquitted, proving that community support at court hearings can make a dramatic difference in the outcome of a trial.

Solidarity Ribbon is a show of unity for the medical cannabis movement

Joe and his wife Liz have been married for 20 years and have raised two beautiful daughters. They are grandparents now and take pride in their family. Liz has made a variety of organic products for years with the herbs from their gardens. Her creams, lip balms, pomegranate jam and lavender syrups are some of the best around. The Grumbines live on a 5 acre garden oasis in Perris, California. Located on an aquifer, this garden nursery is like walking through a magical wonderland described in children’s books with pathways and bridges and secret locations. Those lucky enough to attend his fundraisers and parties have found a healing ground where medical cannabis patients can unite for a common cause.

Liz Grumbine is a warm and compassionate person, well known for her fresh homemade jams, syrups, lotions and balms

Joe has turned this land into a training ground for holistic healing herbs of all sorts. He has taught classes on herbal gardening for many years.

Joe first helped his aunt who had cancer with her cannabis needs. Joe had known of the medical benefits of cannabis for many years as he had witnessed firsthand the relief it gave to his aunt as she battled cancer.

Years later his good friend Shannon was diagnosed with brain cancer. Joe and Shannon had been friends for many years. Shannon was a strong man 6″2″ tall. Cancer destroys even the best of people, with the side effects of treatments being nausea, pain and sleeplessness, among other things. Joe and his wife Liz helped him through his illness. They grew cannabis together, but Shannon grew weaker and came to a point where he could no longer smoke cannabis to alleviate his symptoms. Joe helped Shannon through his final days. He saw how effective the tinctures were at relieving the agony that Shannon was going through. Joe had made tinctures himself, but he set off on a journey to find the best he could for his friend. He toured many collective storefronts. It was then that Joe saw the need for compassionate knowledgeable people to help with sick and dying patients. With Joe’s 20 years or so tending to his nursery, “Willow Springs” he had the ability and experience to work with patients to cultivate and supply each other with the needed medical cannabis.

Willow Springs is a magical Oasis in Perris, California

After Shannon’s death, Joe decided to put his 20 plus years as a holistic herbologist and teacher to use helping people with cannabis. Joe decided to open a collective so that all who needed medical cannabis would be able to work in a safe, clean and non-profit environment. Joe studied the law and felt that he was in compliance with both the wording and intent of prop 215 and sb420, and when the new attorney general guidelines came out in 2008 he made sure he was in compliance with those as well. Joe and his partner set up their collective in a pristine environment, even wearing lab coats in an effort to keep a strictly medical and professional appearance. His collective was based on a group cultivation effort, as described in sb420. It was no surprise to me later to find out that this cultivation effort was left off his charges. In the court hearings I have attended a collective is often denied a medical defense if they cannot show that they were growing at least some of the cannabis themselves.

In 1996 when prop. 215 was passed, the people of the state of California asked the government to set up a method for the distribution of medical marijuana. Because the state government neglected to do so, local municipalities have taken it upon themselves to zone storefront collectives in a haphazard fashion that has resulted in raids, arrests and prosecutions of many well intentioned medical cannabis patients, growers and providers.

The collective was located in Garden Grove California. Garden Grove followed Anaheim in enacting a ban on storefronts as a way to prevent the will of the people from creating a distribution system for medical marijuana. Joe had already been there for some time and he contacted and he attempted to work with his local government in order to continue helping patients there. The city attorney in Garden Grove did acknowledge that Joe’s collective was there and even told Joe’s landlord that they were not breaking the law. Joe never received a “cease and desist” letter from Garden Grove. A serious problem in the state of California is that a statewide zoning program has not been enacted, resulting in storefronts being allowed in some cities and harassed and closed down in others. This of course raises constitutional issues as to people being prosecuted in some jurisdictions for activities that are considered to be legal in much of the state.

A series of violent raids ended that dream. Joe’s collective cultivation and storefront were raided, as well as a violent and inappropriate raid on his family home. His wife Liz was rough handled and degraded by the officers that stormed her home with rifles one morning. Liz and her daughter were handcuffed and verbally and physically abused. People involved with the collective were arrested and terrorized.

This family has been through hell, but they have stood tall. In what appears to be an effort to pressure Joe into taking a plea bargain, his home was raided a second time for aluminum cans. It turns out that the police somehow got wind that a friend who Joe let stay at his home had some aluminum cans from Arizona, which is technically a crime. Using another $75,000 or so of wasted taxpayer money, the local narcotics task force used a full on swat style raid complete with helicopters and rifles to storm his home once again.

This time they kept Joe in jail for several weeks, and set his bail at an unrealistically high amount, over $100,000. This was even in light of the fact that Joe had lived in the same home for 20 years and had never missed a court appearance. It was a clear and common effort to harass Joe Grumbine into accepting a plea bargain. Joe refused to break, and stands tall in his efforts to end the prosecutions of medical cannabis collectives.

People in the community heard about this travesty of justice and one woman even donated part of her retirement fund to help release Joe from jail. Joe has not quit his activism in the midst of this extreme stress on his life, his home and his family. He holds regular working meetings at his home to plan community activities that will further the public awareness of the need to have our medical marijuana laws respected in California.

Good people are who you will meet at Willow Springs

Joe is a hero to many. To those that know him, he is a good hearted strong man who welcomes all those who are willing to put in some effort. Joe is requesting community support as he fights his court case. Please take the time out of your day to show up at his court hearings and his trial. If you are the type who cannot sit for long periods, we can have a group rally outside. You can make the difference in ending the arrests, prosecutions and harassment of medical cannabis patients and collectives by showing up for this important trial. Try to make it to the court hearing Tuesday, and make sure to look for news as to the starting date of this trial. Your attendance will show those in government who try to ride roughshod over the will of the people that we will no longer stand for our medical cannabis rights to be denied.

Join the Human Solution. You will be glad you did.

PLEASE NOTE: THANKS TO THE STORY PROVIDED BY DONNA LAMBERT, THE INTENT OF THIS POST IS TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR JOE GRUMBINE AND JOE BYRON FACING TRIAL FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA. IF YOU HAVE AN ONLINE BLOG OR A WAY TO SPREAD THIS MESSAGE FEEL FREE TO REPOST THIS BLOG AT WILL. YOU DO NOT NEED TO GET PERMISSION. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE AS THE JURY INSTRUCTION ARGUMENTS ARE TUESDAY, WITH TRIAL CURRENTLY SCHEDULED TO START AUGUST 22nd. THE AUGUST 22 DATE MAY CHANGE, THIS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT TUESDAY'S HEARING. CONSIDER THIS A REQUEST TO GET INVOLVED IN RAISING AWARENESS AND ATTENDING COURT SUPPORT FOR THESE WORTHY INDIVIDUALS. PLEASE SHARE THIS BLOG. GET UP-TO-THE-MINUTE TWEET UPDATES ON COURT SUPPORT AT TWITTER.COM/420RIBBON