Bernie Ellis's seven-year nightmare with the law is over—but his advocacy of medical marijuana burns hotter than ever
by Jim Ridley
By the time you read this, Bernie Ellis will be home on the farm he's had for nearly four decades in the Fly community 12 miles south of Leipers Fork. There'll just be less of it. His farm will be 25 acres smaller, but Ellis is willing to live with that—considering the federal government almost took it all, and meant to throw him in prison to boot. Last month, Ellis, a respected public-health epidemiologist with a 35-year career, signed civil asset forfeiture papers handing 25 acres of farmland over to the U.S. government. The agreement ends a nightmare that began seven years ago when he was raided for growing marijuana—a small amount he used only for medicinal purposes, and to ease the suffering of the terminally ill.
The agreement wasn't made lightly, Ellis says. In recent weeks, the avuncular 60-year-old with the stocky outdoorsman's build has avoided walking the ridgetop he knew he would lose. He didn't want to see the pasture and surrounding woodland that would belong to Uncle Sam, or the artesian spring that feeds them.
"I'm not walking around it," Ellis says, "because if there's any vestige of pain or regret to this whole enterprise, it'll be affixed to that land."
But in prosecuting Ellis—or persecuting him, as his many supporters claim—the government may have given a face to what medical-marijuana and cannabis-reform activists argue is the fundamental injustice of the drug war. In 2002, drug agents in helicopters and on four-wheelers stormed Ellis' property looking for marijuana plants. To this day, he believes they were tipped off by a local dealer/informant fuming because Ellis wouldn't sell to him.
A tactical field report indicated finding 537 plants, though for reasons Ellis doesn't understand this was amended a month later to 300. (The actual number of usable adult plants, he maintains, was closer to a couple dozen.) Nor does he understand why some of his plants were left standing—plants he documented in photographs, with a neighbor as witness—only for them to disappear a few days later, after a visit by marauders who cut his fence.
Whatever the case, Ellis readily admitted that he was growing small amounts of cannabis to relieve his degenerative spine and hip condition. What's more, he said, he was sharing it free of charge with AIDS and cancer patients to offset their pain and nausea.
A classic dealer's dodge, right? Only Ellis received testimonials to back him up. There was the doctor whose patient, wasting away from metastatic renal cancer, took her only comfort from the marijuana Ellis supplied, free. "It was the only thing which relieved that unremitting nausea, the only thing that allowed her real respite," the doctor wrote. "[When] she died, she was so thin I could have carried her to the hearse alone."
There was the neighbor whose husband of 34 years began an agonizing death from lung cancer. On the advice of his nurses, who suggested he obtain marijuana, the dying man went to Ellis for help and got it—again, free. "The marijuana Bernie Ellis provided...made it possible for [him] to rest and to sleep," his widow wrote on Ellis' behalf, "and it helped keep his appetite up."
These and some 200 other testimonials fill a notebook four inches thick—and a bulging, well-worn manila folder, and another folder still. Peter Strianse, the criminal defense attorney who has represented Ellis pro bono for the past five years, believes that Ellis would not be in his current situation "if the raid were done now, in the fall of 2009, and the government were fully aware of the mitigating circumstances." His opinion carries some weight: Earlier in his career, Strianse himself was an assistant U.S. attorney and drug task force prosecutor.
Had Ellis been in California, Colorado or any of the 11 other states that have legalized medical marijuana, the outcome might have been different. Had his troubles occurred in one of those states after Oct. 19 of this year—when a widely publicized U.S. Department of Justice memorandum asked federal prosecutors to lay off state-sanctioned medical marijuana users—he might have escaped prosecution entirely.
But this was Tennessee, where marijuana remains both illegal and the state's No. 1 cash crop. Ellis faced a battery of charges. Although he still disputes the amount and weight of what the agents found, he pleaded guilty to manufacturing cannabis plants in late 2003 to pre-empt more severe action. By 2007, he'd lost his livelihood and gone $70,000 in debt. Worst of all, he faced losing the 187 acres of farmland he'd accumulated since 1973.
"If I were a rapist, the government couldn't take my farm," Ellis told the Scene in 2007. "I grew cannabis and provided it free of charge to sick people, so I run the risk of losing everything I own. That just doesn't compute to me."
It didn't compute to a lot of people. To the embarrassment of federal and state drug officials, Ellis became a cause celebre. A packed 2007 benefit at The Belcourt netted thousands of dollars in support. More than 100 testimonials—from doctors, neighbors, state representatives, public-health officials, even the Republican former governor of Delaware—begged the presiding judge in Ellis' case, U.S. District Judge William Haynes, for leniency.
Support came in more direct ways from the close-knit Fly community. While Ellis was confined to a halfway house for 18 months, limited to one visit each month to his farm for the last six months, his neighbors fed his dogs and paid his electric bills.
Haynes eventually sentenced Ellis to four years' probation, later reduced to two—a lenient sentence, considering he was facing 10 years in prison. During his halfway-house stay, Ellis says, he learned some valuable truths about the drug war from "my homies." The first thing they told him, he recalls, is that they didn't smoke pot—not because they didn't prefer its mellow buzz, but because it took too long to pass through the body to beat their mandatory drug tests. So they would find something faster. "Use meth on Friday, piss clean on Monday," ran a user's credo.
The second thing they told him, he says, was that "there's no negotiating with the feds."
Ellis completed his halfway-house stay, along the way using his personal and professional experience with recovery programs to start the house's first 12-step program. But for the past two years, the threat of losing his farm has remained a grave possibility. After an unsuccessful attempt to withdraw his guilty plea, he still had to satisfy the $250,000 settlement required by the government, lest he lose all his property.
On Nov. 19, Haynes signed off on Ellis' land forfeiture. Ellis would give up 25 acres of his farmland, thus settling the matter—at least in the government's eyes.
"I do not diminish or devalue what I am giving up," Ellis wrote in an email to his supporters. "In fact, the 25 acres they are getting represents almost the entirety of my investments from a three-decade-long successful public-health career....Now the feds will have it, and be here (for at least a while)." The fate of the land has not been determined, though a waggish friend of Ellis' suggested it become the Bernie Ellis Wildlife Sanctuary—"wildlife spelled as two words," Ellis says with a chuckle.
Ellis takes comfort (and sees no small amount of irony) in what he describes as "a tidal wave of shift in public policy toward cannabis." First came the Department of Justice's memo in October, read by many as a show of cautious sympathy toward medical marijuana by the Obama administration. Last month, in a perhaps more significant turn, the American Medical Association urged the federal government to end its classification of cannabis as a Category I controlled substance—on par with LSD or heroin—with no medical benefits.
Sadly, the issue has become not just personal for Ellis, but perhaps critical. Last month, as his sojourn in legal limbo was finally coming to an end, Bernie Ellis was diagnosed with cancer. How severe, he doesn't know. But the diagnosis only strengthens his conviction that for the seriously ill, marijuana is neither an indulgence nor a vice, but a quality-of-life necessity.
Back on the remaining 150-plus acres of his property, with its eight valleys, four creeks and a waterfall, Ellis says he wouldn't recommend that anyone else take the same risks he has. But he can't say he regrets them either.
"Seven years ago, I was making $100,000 a year doing socially meaningful work, and I was happy," Ellis says. "Today, I'm broke and doing socially meaningful work, and I'm happy. Every day, it feels like another block's been removed from my back. I can sit on my porch at sunset and not lose this place where my heart lives."
Email editor@nashvillescene.com.
Comments (9)
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It is important to note the original instances that created our current problem. A racist push for department finances and special interests were the original reasons for marijuana prohibition. Alcohol prohibition had ended. The head of what equaled the DEA 70 odd years ago, needed tax revenue.. This is the original mindset and process that criminalized marijuana... Harry J. Anslinger - most direct founder of marijuana prohibition: "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others." "...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races." "Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death." "Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men." "Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing" "You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother." "Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind." William Randolf Hearst - H.J.Anslinger's Yellow Journalism partner, San Francisco Examiner: "Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days - Hashish goads users to bloodlust." "By the tons it is coming into this country - the deadly, dreadful poison that racks and tears not only the body, but the very heart and soul of every human being who once becomes a slave to it in any of its cruel and devastating forms.... Marihuana is a short cut to the insane asylum. Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters. Hasheesh makes a murderer who kills for the love of killing out of the mildest mannered man who ever laughed at the idea that any habit could ever get him...." Other nationwide columns: "Users of marijuana become STIMULATED as they inhale the drug and are LIKELY TO DO ANYTHING. Most crimes of violence in this section, especially in country districts are laid to users of that drug." "Was it marijuana, the new Mexican drug, that nerved the murderous arm of Clara Phillips when she hammered out her victim's life in Los Angeles?... THREE-FOURTHS OF THE CRIMES of violence in this country today are committed by DOPE SLAVES - that is a matter of cold record." Furthermore: "Hearst and Anslinger were then supported by DuPont chemical company and various pharmaceutical companies in the effort to outlaw cannabis. DuPont had patented nylon, and wanted hemp removed as competition. The pharmaceutical companies could neither identify nor standardize cannabis dosages, and besides, with cannabis, folks could grow their own medicine and not have to purchase it from large companies. " After completing a two year plan to brainwash society using these sensationalist reports fostered by racist ideology and funded by special intrest, all these guys needed was evidence.. They of course did find their evidence - A two year campaign of manipulated media-opinion coverage was presented as documented evidence to a government committee.. The committee passed the legislation on. And on the floor of the house, the entire discussion was: Member from upstate New York: "Mr. Speaker, what is this bill about?" Speaker Rayburn: "I don't know. It has something to do with a thing called marihuana. I think it's a narcotic of some kind." "Mr. Speaker, does the American Medical Association support this bill?" Member on the committee jumps up and says: "Their Doctor Wentworth came down here. They support this bill 100 percent." And on the basis of that lie, on August 2, 1937, marijuana became illegal at the federal level. At this point the enforcement bodies are using similar tactics to maintain negative opinion on marijuana... Current public remarks, ads, and press releases do not contain the same racist sentiment - that is true.. usually... unless indirect... Although... the use of marijuana among users of all races here in the USA are proportionate, but for some strange reason arrests for possession is considerably varied when viewed by race... No, it is FEAR they still publicly use... Disjointed ads that depict someone neglecting a child or whatever horribly bad imagery they can muster to hold your moral fiber hostage.. Tools of fear, these things are not directly related with marijuana use. There are plenty of people that neglect children with no influence of marijuana. Those are the same people whether they excessively watch TV, play some mmorpg, drink alcohol, abuse steroids, coach a high school football team - what ever - eat pizza every weekend.. the correlation might as well be any of that... Fact is, you would not want intoxication and care of a child together... General opinion supporting this is twisted into acceptance that marijuana makes this happen... Irresponsibility is the fiend, and marijuana did not create the irresponsibility. Imagine the same message blaming beer for causing the child neglect... Excluding propaganda, a seemingly more plausible scenario anyhow, blame seems naturally assigned to the drinker and not the drink... The changing factor is the shroud of "Reefer Madness". Just as in the start.. same old "Earth will plunge into Hell" fear mongering arguments... Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Of course, there are entities that benefit from marijuana prohibition and are also sworn to uphold it as part of their very job description. To quote the DEA, the last time I was at their site: "The short term effects of marijuana use include: Memory loss, distorted perception, trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor skills, decrease in muscle strength, increased heart rate, and anxiety." Now lets look at short term effects with alcohol, only briefly though because the list just goes on and on: The short term effects of alcohol use include but not nearly limited to: Reduced Inhibitions,Loss of Muscle Control, Memory Loss and/or Blackouts, Trouble with Thinking and Problem Solving, Nausea, Vomiting ,Headaches, Hangovers, Stupor, Distorted Perception, Decrease in Heart Rate, decrease in Muscle Strength, Suicidal Tendencies, Anxiety, and Coma. To put it mildly ..I personally do not think marijuana is addictive. Sources supporting otherwise say marijuana is addictive on a psychological level and not a physical level... So, you think you need it, but your body, including the brain, is not truly addicted.. Negative effects of detoxing for marijuana are as bad as anxious behavior/less patience.. Negative effects of detoxing for alcohol are as bad as death... Rational individuals, who are agenda free, can not deny the dangers of alcohol. With further investigation, the prohibition on marijuana is much worse for society than that of its legalization. Suggest, if you will... Normal everyday citizen... They go to work, balance their check book, pay for things, raise children.. you know, live a normal life with one exception.. they ingest marijuana.. Barring any excessive usage/abuse, (which is clearly the same case as with many already legal substances), these people function fine... except respiratory issues when smoked... Do I need mention it is legal to "smoke"! Now lets look at when that same normal everyday citizen gets arrested for possession: Prohibition can cause in short: 1) job loss 2) criminal charges 3) loss of children 4) denial of federal aid 5) financial downfall 6) life endangerment 7) loss of freedom The cruel and unusual punishment list goes on... Point is, again, marijuana prohibition is worse for the individual/society than legalization... and not for a moment should we accept this "gateway drug" propaganda... Those whom do, think this plant is essentially the stepping stone to harder drugs.. This bothers me, the marijuana plant is really the first step of drug abuse, and punished as the worst class of drug? Seems to me, these already invalid arguments contradict themselves anyway... This is cruel and unusual punishment at its finest... You get caught with the first step, and you get punished as if you were on the last step.. Yes, the broad arm of enforcement claims it is favorable in the struggle to discourage usage of marijuana... so it wont draw you in, suck you up into a crazy world of drug culture, and expose you to other harder illegal drugs.. Even pretending this is real.. People still end up paying the exaggerated punishment while campaign results are grim. Prohibition is the fiend, and marijuana did not create the prohibition. Eliminate the black market distribution and good people will no longer need to be exposed to the black market.. Eradication and prohibition efforts have not accomplished this, and I dare say will not.. You have to give it up to the enforcement agencies though .. They are charged with upholding this law and to do anything they can that will accomplish that. It is our job to change the laws.. then enforcement will be sworn to uphold the new ones. In conclusion it appears to me there is big money at work - alcohol, textile, oil, enforcement agencies, drug cartels, etc, all benefit. The rest of us seem to be the pawns who pay... that is: Unless we speak up and let our voice be heard for change in the current law, and against any individual that would have you believe "A law is a law - it does not matter if it is wrong or right!". The latter happens to be against a founding principle of this great country. Stop wasting resources on this plant. Record eradication every year - as well as - record growth and availability. This is a money pit for something that is no worse than alcohol. To those whom are against marijuana - free your mind of arguments attached to fear mongering please.
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What a travisty. There is no accountability in our Government, yet we the people are held accountable for everything. When drug companies find a way to package and sell it, then it will be legal. The Government's hands are tied by the lobbiest from drug companies. When they give the green light, then it will be legal.
It was unfair, unwise and unjust that Americans continue the current 'War on Drugs' policy where Bernie had to live with the fear of losing his farm because he grew medical marijuana. We need to tell our state and national representatives that we no longer support the current War on Drugs. No human being should be kept in a cage like a dangerous animal because of what he put in his body.
It was unfair, unwise and unjust that Americans continue the current 'War on Drugs' policy where Bernie had to live with the fear of losing his farm because he grew medical marijuana. We need to tell our state and national representatives that we no longer support the current War on Drugs. No human being should be kept in a cage like a dangerous animal because of what he put in his body.
The decades long drug war has corrupted our criminal justice system. We have lost cherished legal traditions to the drug war.... lost so gradually that few people have noticed. The case of Bernie Ellis is but one of the results.
This goes to show how pathetically out dated our laws against marijuana, from growing to using. I am ready to stand up for people who use marijuana. This sickens me, they still steal this man's property and many years of his life.
This goes to show how pathetically out dated our laws against marijuana, from growing to using. I am ready to stand up for people who use marijuana. This sickens me, they still steal this man's property and many years of his life.
I read this article and simply couldn't believe how heartless our lawmakers. What harm has marijuana ever caused in a person's life that wasn't from the use of the substance but rather the war waged against it. Why does this substance continue to be demonized when tobacco and alcohol do far greater damage to your health, but is legal for recreational use. Our government can simply not see the forest for the trees in realizing just how damaging this war on drugs has become. It is not a war on drugs but rather a war on innocent citizens who would like to find relief in such hard times, whether you are jobless and selling it to makes some money to pay your bills or buying it because you are being overworked and stressed because of companies cutting salaries and shedding jobs. Bernie Ellis is a voice of countless others who suffer the pointless ramifications of an outdated law that puts individuals such as himself at risk. Please take action and write to your states representatives in voicing your disapproval of a continuing failed war on drugs.
thank you for this article. i am now a big bernie ellis fan. i, personally, have had enough ignorance in government over the last 12 years to last several lifetimes. add this issue to stem cell research and gay marriage as yet another idiotic white-knuckled attempt at legislating a particular brand of morality. the extent that our good old american government go to harass its citizens sometimes rivals a certain (former) evil empire in central asia.
