How a state pot fee continues to affect Katree Saunders’ outlook

Typically those most affected are a number of people who have been convicted or who are serving long or life sentences. The story of Katree Darriel Saunders is different, but still challenging.

Saunders, mother of four, cannabis attorney, and former Nevada medical worker, served four months in federal prison on parole violation after choosing cannabis over opioids to treat her traumatic brain and physical injuries. That choice weighed on Saunders for over a decade and, despite years of experience, success, and otherwise pristine record, largely prevented her from working in the industry.

Courtesy Katree Saunders

Hardest hit: Pain leads to cannabis treatment for Katree Darriel Saunders

Serious injuries plagued Saunders since she was a teenager. At 16, the then McDonald’s employee slipped, resulting in a head injury. “That led me on to doctors and physiotherapy,” she recalls.

Part of her treatment included opioid drugs and muscle relaxants. She immediately didn’t like the effect they had on her. “It doesn’t get you in a very good mental position,” she said of medication that made her feel like she was in a fog. Saunders added that opioids often made her itch like she was having an allergic reaction that was irritating to her stomach as well.

A friend introduced her to cannabis as an alternative that she preferred to prescribed drugs.

Saunders’ condition worsened at the age of 19. Now living in Las Vegas, Nevada, she was in a car accident and again injured her brain. The injuries got worse over the years with additional car accidents and ongoing problems. Today, Saunders diseases include herniated back discs and spondylosis, a degenerative disc disease. She also reports nerve damage and fibromyalgia, and occasionally migraines.

Saunders looked for cannabis to treat their growing list of aches and pains. The first source of cannabis was the illegal market. However in In 2008, Saunders was sexually assaulted when she tried to buy her medicine. The experience led her to the legal market and her first medical cannabis card after learning about certification in the phone book.

“I wanted to get my medication somewhere and not have to deal with situations that weren’t safe,” Saunders said.

Courtesy Katree Saunders

A lawyer arrested and detained

By 2009, Saunders had gone from being patient to participating in the state’s burgeoning cannabis market. As the assistant manager of Nevada Compassionate Care, she took on a variety of roles including patient support, office support, and organizing community events such as local barbecues.

The efforts of several medical cannabis operations in Nevada were dashed in January 2011 when the DEA’s Operation Chronic Problem targeted 15 people for serving in various clinics. Saunders, then 30, was arrested for a conspiracy to distribute marijuana and hashish and distribute marijuana. Saunders was billed for two sales to the Feds that totaled 3.5 grams of cannabis and 10 grams of hashish.

After previously told that she would be safe from then-President Barack Obama’s prosecution, she said her arrest was “kind of a blind page because so many of us in town opened up and we helped the people.” . At the time, Nevada had banned the sale of medical cannabis and only allowed patients or caregivers to grow their own cannabis.

Saunders was not immediately sentenced to prison. Instead, the first-time offender was fined $ 100 and given a suspended sentence that ran from 2011 to 2014. While avoiding prison, she received another severe sentence in the process. Saunders had previously taken Marinol, a federally approved, manufactured, THC-derived drug. While she was in prison, she could no longer be prescribed the drug of her choice.

During her release from prison, Saunders was involved in another car accident that resulted in significant neck, brain and back trauma. Instead of being able to take Marinol, she was prescribed opiates.

Saunders didn’t have it. She said she had seen several friends in Tennessee and Nevada die from opioid addiction. The mother of four children, including two young sons, did not want to succumb to a similar fate. In 2014, despite the order, she took Marinol and occasionally smoked cannabis. In time, she knew she would fail a test and go to jail for her decision. By the time she received her four-month sentence in 2014, Saunders had begun to wean herself off the drug in preparation. The federal sentence would end her probation.

The prison presented its own series of tests: While she was incarcerated, her husband provided her with divorce papers when he took a new job in several states. To make matters worse, she hardly saw her children.

Meanwhile, the non-violent perpetrator found herself in a cell block with murderers, which made her feel constantly on guard. She would join a prayer group, a group that she said prayed for her while she was inside. While serving four months in federal prison, Saunders remained relatively calm using spirituality as a guide. She was released on July 14, 2014.

A federal record lowers the hopes of the cannabis industry

Getting used to life after prison is often a strenuous ordeal. For Saunders, the experience included a year-long period during which their children stayed with their fathers in several states looking for work. Although she was able to reestablish relationships with her children, her past has not been so successful in finding work.

By 2016 she was ready to return to the industry and open two pharmacies in the booming medical market. Still, her file continued to cause problems in obtaining her nationally recognized license to work in the medical field. Over time, concerns subsided as Saunders found work in the area and continued to advocate reform of the market and criminal records.

Three years after she was fired, Saunders was feeling good about her place in the industry. She worked for a grocery brand. However, a conflict with a colleague led to a background check that revealed that her license had expired. When she tried to innovate, she found that state laws for adult use prevented former felons from working in the market.

Saunders noted that file reform is often an issue that is discussed during legalization. However, their exclusion from the program makes it clear that there are no reforms regarding federal offenders. “There’s still a gray area when it comes to people with cannabis convictions, and they don’t really discuss state convictions when it comes to deletions,” she said.

Despite the setbacks, she continues to push for record reforms and revisions to government regulations so that people like her can get permits. She praises groups like The Last Prisoner Project for their continuous support. Saunders also refines her business knowledge while waiting. Last year she earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Management and Small Business from Columbia University. She hopes to one day use her education and cannabis experience to run her own vertically integrated business.

Optimism remains high but Saunders’ balance sheet continues to track its current prospects. She was recently unemployed between her stints at Uber, DoorDash, and Postmates. She also worked for Lyft but was fired after a while when her record surfaced.

However, her outlook could improve soon after she received an internship with retired NFL star Marshawn Lynch’s cannabis brand Dodi. She has yet to clarify her approval situation, but is confident that she will receive government approval. In May 2021, she received the Patient Advocate of the Year Award from Americans for Safe Access.

At the same time, Saunders continues to apply for jobs, including her old role as a patient advocate. “People in the industry still want to work with me,” she said.