Unbelievable! Sick Single Mother Faces 30 Years In Prison For Medical Pot In Kansas

This is an update to a story I wrote in April titled “Possession Of Marijuana Causes Sick Mom To Lose Custody Of Her Son.” In this article I wrote about a single mother named Shona Banda who lives in Garden City, Kansas with her 11-year-old son.

Banda’s house was raided by?Garden City police and the Department for Children and Families after her son told school administrators and local police that his mom used medical marijuana during a drug prevention class.

Of the five charges Banda faces, three are felonies.

The felony charges she’s facing:

1. Possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of school property

2. Unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance

3. Possession of drug paraphernalia to cultivate less than five plants.

The tTwo misdemeanors are:

1. Endangering a child.

2. Possession of drug paraphernalia.

Banda’s bond was set at $50,000 in June. You may know of people who have been arrested for much more serious charges and received a much lower bond — I do.?The charges Banda faces could see her in prison for 30 years. This sentence seems unbelievable, but it’s a real possibility.

Banda uses the oil from the marijuana plants to treat her?Crohn’s disease, a debilitating illness that affects the bowel track, causing severe pain. Medical marijuana has been known to reduce the the symptoms of the disease and ease discomfort.

Crohn’s disease, like many other illnesses, can be treated with medical marijuana, but the federal government still classifies marijuana as a schedule I drug. This classification allows prosecutors to heap on excessive?jail?sentences for people in possession of marijuana. Here are some interesting statistics.

“Nearly half (48.3%) of drug arrests in 2012 were for marijuana — a total of 749,825. Of those, an estimated 658,231 arrests (42.4% of all drug arrests) were for marijuana possession alone. By contrast in 2000, a total of 734,497 Americans were arrested for marijuana offenses, of which 646,042 (40.9%) were for possession alone.”

Even if Banda doesn’t go to jail for 30 years, or even a single day, she can still lose custody of her son. It’s clear that the so called “war on drugs” has become a war on people just trying to live the best life they can, and this war is only making certain industries richer rather than keeping the public safer.

Here’s a video on her story.