Editor's Note: If anyone is unclear on the risks involved in the legalized marijuana business, this Marijuana.com spotlight on MMJ dispensary owner Christopher Williams should clear things up. A vote earlier this year, however, by the U.S. House of Representatives "to eliminate funding of DEA medical-marijuana raids in states where marijuana use has been legalized …will go a long way in taking down risk barriers for businesses and investors, opening up the market for more significant growth," according to Cannabis Business Times' report, "Entering the Marijuana Market: Your Essential Guide." Still, those in the industry know that risks remain until the Federal government declassifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug–a move which needs to be made sooner than later, especially with the abundant medical uses now on the public record–to avoid unnecessary and unjust arrests, like those of Christopher Williams and his partners.
“I have decided to fight the federal government because, for me, not defending the things that I know are right is dishonorable.
“It is the power of the people to control this government that is supposed to protect us. If we shun this struggle, this government will control us instead of protecting us. Every citizen has a responsibility to fight for what is right, even if it seems like the struggle will be lost.”
Former United States Marine, Christopher Williams wrote those words to explain why he went to trial rather than take a plea bargain or other deal, like everyone else involved in his marijuana case did.
Williams and partners operated one of Montana’s largest medical marijuana dispensaries in strict compliance with Montana state medical marijuana laws.
Nonetheless, federal authorities launched an all-out assault on the state’s medical marijuana program in 2011.
