





Photo: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Meet the latest marijuana martyr. ​A 30-year-old Nevada man on Wednesday chose a month in jail instead of probation which would have meant he couldn’t use medical marijuana for one year.

The Record-Courier. Charles Ray Balzer of Gardnerville, Nev., told East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl he was unwilling to give up pot for a year, and he would do 30 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to harassment, reports

Balzer has a legal medical marijuana card from the Nevada State Health Division. He told EnEarl he smokes cannabis and takes a prescription painkiller for a back injury.

If Balzer had accepted probation, he could have avoided the jail term, but one condition would have been that he not use “drugs or alcohol” for one year.

In an unaccountable quirk of the law, use of doctor-recommended medical marijuana is considered violation of probation, despite the fact that it is legal in Nevada.





​After serving 30 days in jail, hemp hero Balzer won’t have any probation restrictions.

Judge EnEarl seemed to be totally oblivious to the fact that Balzer’s marijuana use is legal; beyond that, the judge seemed completely unsympathetic to the patient’s medical plight.

“You’d rather do 30 days in jail than have me tell you you can’t smoke dope?” the ignorant judge fumed. “Doesn’t that sound a little sick?” the judge asked, seemingly too dumb to get the irony of his dumbassery.

“No, sir,” Balzer said. “It’s what the marijuana does for me.”

“I think if I sat around smoking dope all day, it would probably help me out, too,” the proudly ignorant judge replied.

Balzer said he only smoked marijuana at night, to ease his pain.

Balzer’s lawyer, Richard Davies, reasonably pointed out that his client was legally entitled to have the medical marijuana card.

“It’s the will of the people and the Legislature recognizes that,” Davies said.

“Some people marijuana probably does help,” Judge EnEarl said, not bothering to mention how he suddenly became a medical expert. “I am not necessarily convinced Mr. Balzer is one of them.”

Balzer agreed to turn himself in at 8 a.m. on June 11. EnEarl advised him he could have no alcohol or drugs in his system when he checks in. (Or what — they’ll put him in jail? Sheesh.)

When Balzer was arrested for harassing an acquaintance, officers discovered a marijuana grow system in his home, but he produced his Nevada medical marijuana card.

How much longer must seriously ill and suffering medical marijuana patients suffer indignities and insults from dim-witted, self-righteous judges like EnEarl who make medical decisions for which they are completely unqualified? Stay tuned.