Joseph Stephen Zoretic
December 25, 1968 to August 27, 2007
The Ohio Patient Network was quite saddened to learn of the untimely death
of one of our founding members, Joe Zoretic. On Monday, August 27, 2007,
Joe suffered a massive heart attack that resulted from an undiagnosed heart
condition. Residing with his family in Lakewood, Ohio, he was 38 years old.
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 inaccuracy and injustice behind the popular “Just Say No”
programs of the 1980s that resulted in the arrest of 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 quickly disabled 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, 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 only $100, a groundbreaking 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 resumé 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 posed a poignant
question to the candidates about medical marijuana.
· Pitched the venerable and wide-ranging Cleveland WMMS Morning
Radio 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.
