B J Patel has been living in the US legally for 26 years.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: A Gujarati-origin man, B J Patel, who is a British citizen, but living in the US legally for 26 years in Arizona, may be sent to prison for 10 years and then deported after he was arrested in Oklahoma for possession of marijuana, which he claims was for medical purposes and was carrying with him on a long trip, helping his uncle move from California to Ohio.
The story of Patel’s predicament, reported by Bloomberg, highlights the growing debate over marijuana, how half of America allows its use, or at least considers possession of it only as a minor infringement of the law, and the other half considers it to be a serious crime, with hefty fines and long jail time.
The report said Patel, 34, may face a decade in prison and deportation following an arrest in 2012. On a trip in a rented U-Haul to move his uncle from California to Ohio, he brought along some marijuana, which is legal for medicinal use in his home state. Headed eastbound on I-44 through Oklahoma, Patel was stopped for failing to signal by Rogers County Deputy Quint Tucker, just outside Tulsa. He was about to get off with a warning when Tucker spotted a medical marijuana card in his open wallet.
“’I see you have this card. Where’s the marijuana?’” Patel recalled Tucker asking him. “I very politely and truthfully told him, ’I’ll show you where it is.’”
That’s where things started to go bad for Patel, said the Bloomberg report. He now faces trial next month, on a felony charge.
Possessing pot for recreational use is legal in Washington and Colorado, and allowed for medicinal purposes in 23 states. The other half of the country, which includes Oklahoma, largely prohibits any amount for any purpose.
The report said while challenges emanating from cases like Patel’s may land the issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, what exists now is a legal checkerboard where unwitting motorists can change from law-abiding citizens to criminals as fast as they pass a state welcome sign. The difference is especially clear in states like Idaho. Surrounded on three sides by pot-friendly Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Montana, Idaho State Police seized three times as much marijuana this year as in all of 2011.
In Oklahoma, where Patel ran into trouble, petitions have been filed seeking a referendum this year on the medicinal use of marijuana. A second initiative seeking broader legalization has also been proposed there. Neither measure will help Patel, who is set for trial September 15 in state court in Claremore.
Patel, who was listed when he was stopped in April 2012 as 5-foot-7 and weighing only 110 pounds, said cannabis was recommended by an Arizona doctor to help combat appetite and weight-loss stemming from hernia surgery, said Bloomberg.
Because he was prosecuted for marijuana possession in Arizona in 2004 and 2010, his Oklahoma charge was automatically raised to a felony. Both Arizona cases resulted in probation.
“I was just dumbfounded,” Patel said. “I had already done the time for the crime. Now they want to punish me again.”
Patel, a British citizen who said he’s lived legally in the United States for 26 years, said he helps his mother run an assisted living facility and pays his taxes. He said he doesn’t understand why Oklahoma considers him a criminal for the misdemeanor amount of pot he had, described in the police report as several “rolled cigarettes” and two bags of the drug.
1 Comment
described in the police report as several “rolled cigarettes” and two bags of the drug.
edit should say “described in the police report as several “rolled cigarettes” and two bags of Gods medicinal gift to mankind.