CASE FILE: Johann Moore

by James Rutenberg


Johann Moore, busted for possessing an ounce of pot last August
in the media capital of the world, plans to use his upcoming court 
date to introduce New York City to the medical marijuana 
movement. His argument is that he was distributing medicine,
not street drugs, to people who live in constant pain.

The man buying from Moore was HIV positive and one of 40 
members, ranging from street people to businessmen, of Moore's
fledgling New York Buyers' Club.

Moore says his arrest isn't going to cramp the group's operations
in the long run. "In the drug war, I'm not asking for the other side 
to hoist a white flag of surrender," says the 33-year-old, who uses
pot to ease the nausea and gastrointestinal problems caused by
Chronic Fatigue/Immune Dysfunction. "I'm just asking for an 
evacuation of the wounded from the battlefield."

Moore came to New York to get more involved with ACT-UP, the 
activist group that presses for access to treatments for people 
with HIV and AIDS. It was through ACT-UP that he met Dana Beal, 
a longtime Greenwich Village pot activist, who helps him find 
suppliers. Members of the New York Buyers' Club are eligible to
purchase pot at wholesale prices: $2 per gram, as opposed to 
the average $10.



Additional Information: http://www.cures-not-wars.org/medmjcourt.html