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In Memory of
Joseph "Joe" Zoretic
1968-2007 |
Ohio Loses a Freedom Fighter
The Ohio Patient Network was quite saddened to learn of the untimely death
of one of its founding members, Joe Zoretic. On Monday, August 27, 2007, Joe
suffered a massive heart attack that resulted from an undiagnosed heart
condition. He was 38 years old and resided with his family in Lakewood,
Ohio.
Joseph Stephen Zoretic was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on December 25, 1968. He
spent his elementary years in nearby Maple Heights and high school years in
Parma. He worked for Sabre Enterprises of Cleveland for 13 years as a Cold
Header / Machinist.
Joe met the love of his life, wife Dee Dee, in fall of 1989, and the two
were married on November 27, 1992. They have one son Stephen who was born in
1993.
Joe became involved with the other 'love' of his life, drug policy, in 1992
via emerging online community bulletin board systems, now known as the Internet.
Like many young people of his time, he realized the inherent inaccuracies and
injustice of the popular "Just Say No" programs of the 1980s that
resulted in the arrest his friends and their coercion into unnecessary drug
treatment facilities.
Joe joined North Coast NORML in the early 1990s and participated in several
marijuana-focused activities. The urgency behind his growing obsession with
drug policy came into focus when Dee Dee fell at work, injuring her right
arm. A very painful and incurable condition called Reflex Sympathetic
Dystrophy set in quickly disabling her. The searing pain and onslaught of
atrophy in her arm rendered conventional pain relievers inadequate. It was
Joe who realized that cannabis could offer a solution, and he didn't
hesitate to make it available to her and to personally assume the
consequences of her medicinal use.
The couple were arrested and prosecuted twice by the Lakewood Police
Department, once in 2002 and once in 2005. As a result of the second bust on
five counts of felony possession and cultivation of marijuana, Joe spent
almost a month in jail. At the conclusion of both cases, however, they
received no jail time and small fine of $100, a groundbreaking small
sentence for its time.
These busts propelled the couple into becoming well known, high profile
medical marijuana activists. While Dee Dee became a skilled professional
speaker on the subject, she credits Joe for the ideas and strategies that
inspired her.
In early 2001, John Hartman of North Coast NORML introduced Joe and Dee Dee
to a new group that was forming for Ohio patients on the Internet. Hartman
asked the couple to check it out, and as a result, they became founding
members of the Ohio Patient Network (OPN) and its lobbying arm, the Ohio
Patient Action Network (OPAN).
Joe's resume of drug policy reform accomplishments is notable, although he
rarely took personal credit for them:
- By composing a letter to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, secured a spot in the
televised 2002 gubernatorial debate between sitting Governor Bob Taft and challenger
Tim Hagan in which Dee Dee asked a poignant question of the candidates about
medical marijuana.
- Pitched the venerable and wide-ranging Cleveland WMMS Morning Show about
medical marijuana and set up two hour-long interviews concerning their bust
and the consequent plight of medicinal cannabis patients.
- Stopped a Driving while Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) ordinance from
moving forward in Summit County by twice testifying before Summit County Council.
- Secured two prominent stories about medical marijuana and the Zoretic family
in Cuyahoga County's Scene Magazine, one of which featured a photograph of the
family on the cover.
- Spoke at the Hempfest in Columbus and two of the five Million Marijuana Marches
he attended in Cleveland.
- Served as a trustee of Ohio Cannabis Society and as its Director of Education.
- Was an active member of the Lakewood Democratic Club and a volunteer for
several local political campaigns. With Dee Dee at this side, attended a number
of high profile political events such as the annual Ohio Democratic Party dinners.
- From his jail cell after the 2005 bust, helped to form OPN's lobbying arm,
the Ohio Patient Action Network for which he served as its first Executive Director.
He then became President of the organization in 2005 and Vice President in 2006.
Joe loved heavy metal music and played lead guitar in several rock bands. He
was an avid amateur geologist, who scoured the local Metro Parks for rocks,
minerals, crystals, and fossils with his father-in-law and young son. He was
also an amateur herpetologist, collecting various snakes, reptiles, and
amphibians. He maintained a large collection of sports cards and memorabilia
from Cleveland teams like the Browns, Indians, and Cavaliers.
Joe is survived by wife Deirdre A. Zoretic; son Stephen Zoretic; parents
Patricia and James Uthe; mother-in-law Carol Jones; and many other loving
friends and family. He was preceded in death five months ago by his beloved
father-in-law Ted Jones.
A memorial service for Joe will be held at Brecksville Reservation, Chippewa
Road, Brecksville, OH, on Saturday, September 8, 2007, beginning at 4:20 pm.
The upcoming North Ohio NORML Harvest Fest Fundraiser on October 6-7, 2007,
will feature a concert and tribute to Joe. It will be held at the Chippewa
Valley Campground, 8809 Lake Road, Seville, OH, located near the
intersection of I-71 and Rt. 224. For more information, please call
330-948-9333.
Tax-deductible donations may be made to the family and in honor of Joe to the
501(c)(3) Ohio Patient Network, P.O. Box 26353, Columbus, OH 43226. Contributions
may also be made by credit card and Paypal at the organization's Website http://www.ohiopatient.net.
For more information about the Zoretics and medical marijuana, please contact
the Ohio Patient Network at the aforementioned address or by telephone at 1-888-647-2843
or e-mail at info@ohiopatient.net.
-----------------------
Dennis Kucinich
entered a speech into the Congressional Record memorializing Joe Zoretic
Rep. Skindell honors
Joe Zoretic
----------------------
From: Michael Miles
Date: 8/29/2007
My life and the Zoretic's lives came together as we united under the
same cause. Since that time, in the years that have passed, I came
to know the Zoretic family as co-workers and then as friends.
Whether working behind the scenes, or on center stage, Joe Zoretic
was always working to ease the suffering of those who needed it the
most. For the years I knew him, he spent his life working to make
medical cannabis legal, not only for the love of his life, but for
all of those in need.
Joe spent so much time, in what proved to be his final years, not
only fighting for medicinal cannabis, but also exhausting himself
trying to provide whatever he could for his family. His loss will be
felt beyond those who are his family and friends, his loss will also
be quietly felt by all those in pain for whom he spent so much time
fighting for.
Joe never lived to see the day where medicinal cannabis was made
legal, Joe never lived to see the day where the medicine the love of
his life depended on was made safe and available for her. Joe only
had 38 years of life on this planet, and the last ones were spent
fighting to ease the suffering of his wife because of inane laws that
didn't even allow her access to the only medicine that eased her
suffering. Joseph Zoretic is another victim of this failed War on
Drugs. I can only imagine how different his final years could have
been if he hadn't had to fight , how much more time he would have had
to spend with his son, with his wife, and with all those who loved him.
Joe will be missed more than any simple words can express, but his death will
not be the death of the cause he dedicated so much of his life. In the very
least, Joseph Zoretic's death will only make me fight and work harder to win
this fight. His death strengthens my resolve to do all that I can to make sure
not another single patient or care giver has to spend the final years of their
lives fighting for justice, relief from the pain they suffer from, or for the
medicine that gives them a chance to truly live.
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From: Sean Luse
Date: 8/27/2007
My condolences to the family. I was truly touched by Joe's activism in Ohio.
Joe's tenacity in the face of seemingly endless law enforcement harassment is
an inspiration to many activists. He'll be missed.
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