More Messages: Pot Shots
Unfortunately, the circumstances that led to Gorman's death weren't funny at all -- and they may have had a media connection.
On February 11, Channel 4 ran an investigative piece by correspondent Rick Sallinger that essentially accused Gorman of using a loophole in Colorado's medical-marijuana law to "legally" obtain weed for anyone who wanted it. By the standards of sweeps-month packages, Sallinger's effort was far from shocking. Sure, Gorman denied having made the sort of statements that he's seen offering to an undercover Channel 4 operative. But he also sat down with Sallinger and a handful of people who insisted they were truly using cheeba for medical reasons, and happily showed off an array of healthy ganja plants growing in his house.
Did the botanical display in the Channel 4 report spur Gorman's killers to target him? That's one way to read a comment by Mason Tvert, executive director of the pro-pot organization SAFER, that appeared in a Rocky Mountain News article: "The thing that Ken spent his entire life fighting ended up killing him, and that's marijuana prohibition, and not marijuana." Right now, though, there isn't nearly enough evidence to establish that the criminals chose their victim after watching TV -- and even if there were, Gorman wasn't responsibility-free. He willingly showed off his garden to Sallinger, and didn't keep his proclivities a secret from neighbors or the pro-marijuana crowd in general.
Whatever the case, Channel 4's tiny scoop was hardly worth dying for, and it's a shame Gorman isn't still around to laugh it off. -- Michael Roberts
8 comment(s) / Post a Comment
"Gorman wasn't responsibility-free. He willingly showed off his garden to Sallinger, and didn't keep his proclivities a secret from neighbors or the pro-marijuana crowd in general"
This is one of the dumbest statments i have ever heard.
That is like saying that if someone broke in my house and shot me for my big screen TV, I was partly at fault for showing it off to everyone.
Or if a store owner got shot it was part his fault for having money in the store.
The only reason you say that is because it was marijuana. if it was tomato plants would it have been partly his fault?
The fault lays with those that shot him and the goverment and the laws they they passed, that makes a weed in can grow in my backyard worth more than its weight in gold
Posted On: Monday, Feb. 26 2007 @ 11:41PMno kidding. how dare you say that Ken Gorman was even partially responsible for his own murder. The ironic thing is that ken would have given the murderers what they wanted had they asked. People constantly asked ken for medical marijuana or money. He never refused.
Ken gave willingly whenever asked. Ken helped his relatives and patients pay their mortgages, car payments, provided loans with no expectation of repayment. He bought people groceries. I personally witnessed all of this.
Ken sold a LARGE amount of medical marijuana. Yet he lived with complete frugality. his house was small in one of the most inexpensive areas of denver. his car was cheap and unassuming. ken believed in what he did and he applied all his energies to achieving it.
I get a little sick to my stomach when I read that ken was somehow responsible for his own death. Ken was and his a hero for his cause. Ken was fearless too. each time his house was broken into he fought with the invaders while screaming "what are you doing?". ken was no coward. ken never backed down from what he thought was right. never
Posted On: Wednesday, Mar. 7 2007 @ 8:53PMDon't get me wrong, Colin and Herb. I'm not suggesting that Ken Gorman should be blamed for his own murder. Clearly, the person or persons who committed the act bears that responsibility. But Colin, in your note, you point out that Gorman's home was invaded numerous times prior to his slaying -- something that was documented in a Denver Post article headlined "Danger Grew Along With Pot" that ran on the front page of the March 4 edition. Clearly, lots of people -- some benign, some apparently not -- knew that he had a treasure trove of marijuana in his home, thanks in part to growing lights so bright that they prompted complaints from neighbors, according to the Post. By letting so many folks know that a huge cache of this valuable commodity could be found inside his home, it seems to me that he was taking a risk. Am I wrong?
Posted On: Thursday, Mar. 8 2007 @ 9:15AMTalk to people that know him and not secondary sources.
Posted On: Monday, Mar. 12 2007 @ 3:20PMhttp://www.highway60.com/mark/kengorman/ This site has some of my photos of Ken Gorman when I was a hemp activist in Colorado. There should probably be a Federal civil rights investigation into his murder. It is doubtful that the Denver Police are taking this case serioiusly. Miss you Ken.
Posted On: Sunday, Mar. 25 2007 @ 7:17PMThank You Michael Roberts i am a dear freind of Ken have not read comments but i thank you for your peice on ken I think you are right.Ken is his own meshiah and did what he meant to do with ricks peice of air time don't think for one second that that was ricks idea ken let him in number one his house his life his world you could not steal robb or cheat ken he would give it to you before you could fuck him ken had me read two books sometime ago
i think that one of them preeet y much explains it illluisions by richard bach read it then please tell me what you think or see oh yeah "keep smokin them joints" ----- KG1
read richard bach illuisions \
blue feather
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Posted On: Saturday, Aug. 29 2009 @ 10:54PM
