DUer "Fly by night" is the subject of award-winning documentary "The Blueberry Farmer"

[Tanuki]

He hasn't posted lately but many here will remember Bernie Ellis, a.k.a. DUer "Fly by night." He is the subject of a documentary that is making the rounds of film festivals and has picked up some awards along the way.

https://theblueberryfarmer.com/about-blueberry-farmer-film/

...."Nashville press once called him “Tennessee’s favorite felon.” He has endeared himself to hundreds of people in his community over the years that have come to know his story and love him. When he asked people he knew to step forward and write a letter on his behalf for his court case to restore citizenship rights, hundreds did so including the owner of the local town diner and the county sheriff.

Bernie was bush hogging a pasture in 2002 when he noticed a helicopter circling above him.
When it lowered to just over the treetops in a tight circle, he knew his life was about to change forever.

Trace View farm was raided by the police that day and over one hundred mostly small cannabis plants were confiscated as evidence by the police. For almost 15 years, Bernie had been growing medical marijuana. Besides using it himself for his own ailments, including a degenerative spine and fibromyalgia, he was providing it for free to terminal AIDS and Cancer patients that he knew or who were referred to him.

Turns out, Bernie knew a lot of them. He worked, before his arrest, for the Tennessee Department of Health and then the CDC, setting up Tennessee’s AIDS program during the height of the epidemic. He knew a lot of people that were dying and suffering and he also knew pot could help them.

After he admitted growing medical cannabis, Bernie went from earning over $100,000 per year in his field to living on food stamps unable to find work with an arrest record.

Through it all, Bernie stayed sober after battling his own addiction to alcohol and instead of giving up, he reinvented himself as an organic blueberry farmer. As you enjoy a meal at many of Nashville’s fine dining establishments this summer, Bernie’s blueberries will probably be on the dessert menu."....(more)

[hlthe2b]

1. I've been wondering about him. This is wonderful. I hope he might check in with us!

He's one of our best!

[Autumn]

2. I remember him well.

Thanks for posting about this.

[Kali]

3. thanks!

I knew he wasn't posting here much any more but knew he was doing better. I think I still have photos of him and playboy bunnies on my photobucket that I helped post for him. weird images compared to the rest, for sure.

[bahrbearian]

4. To Fly by Night

sparking up a big fat one for Fly by Night

[Duppers]

5. Just thought about him a couple of months ago.

And googled to see if I could find any news, so thank you so much for posting this.

Bernie!

Links found in my email...

http://thel-club.com/theL-Club.com/January_2018.html

https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/article/13019409/bernie-elliss-sevenyear-nightmare-with-the-law-is-overbut-his-advocacy-of-medical-marijuana-burns-hotter-than-ever

[handmade34]

6. thanks...

I wrote a letter to the President on his behalf

[MuseRider]

7. I remember him.

What an exceptional thing he was doing when they nailed him.

Off to read the story. Incredible. Fly By Night, if you ever come back around here please give us all a big HI so we can tell you how proud we are to know you for what you did and the incredible person you are.

[MagickMuffin]

8. I look forward to Fly by Night's true to life documentary

Sometimes when people do the right thing which turns into the wrong thing because of the wrong reasons then you know you are on the right side of karma.


to Bernie, glad you bounced back from the trauma you had to endure!!!

[malaise]

9. I remember him well

K & R

[sandensea]

10. Kudos!

[panader0]

11. K and R for Bernie.

[mountain grammy]

12. Excellent! Yay Bernie !

[yowzayowzayowza]

13. Good for FbN!!!

Haven't heard from him in a while.

[LuvNewcastle]

14. That's great!

A lot of people would have given up and been bitter, but he picked himself up and started over and became a success all over again. That's the mark of a great man.

[Hekate]

15. I have thought of him from time to time & hoped he's okay. Nice to hear this.

[FakeNoose]

16. Thanks for this update

I wish Bernie well, and hope this works out for him.

[Karadeniz]

17. Bernie, ya done good!❤

[democrank]

18. Kicking for Bernie.

Such determination...

[Initech]

19. Cool!!!

[SkyDaddy7]

20. WE SUCK!

I cannot wait to see this doc! The way we treat the good people risking it all to help others vs those who not only make a living but are paid MILLIONS, TENS OF MILLIONS, to divide people up & rain down as much hurt & suffering on certain groups as they possibly can is so incredibly sad, frustrating & down right EVIL!

...I don't want sympathy! I just want to say I too suffer from a form of neuropathic pain that honestly I had no idea existed until my spinal cord injury in 2003. I was lucky it being an "incomplete" SCI being that the damage did not go all the way through my spinal cord but it was extremely high at C-4/5(middle neck). So, I'm technically a quadriplegic that is my official diagnoses. After 3 spinal surgeries, a lot of hard work rehabbing 8 weeks inpatient many more out patient & at home, a surgically implanted medical pump that injects a specific medication into my spinal column to reduce severe neuro-spasticity in my legs & shoulders I'm able to walk with cane short distances...Within my home basically everything else I use my chair.

...I was feeling VERY LUCKY & I still do despite the fact I have a long list of other issues that come with a SCI that high AGAIN I had no idea...From thyroid issues, very low blood pressure bladder, etc., However, I had lost sensitivity in a large part of my left side I had little to no feeling from the chest down EXACTLY left of center EVERYWHERE! It was such a freaky freaky feeling & the degree of numbness got exponentially worse the lower on my left side it went...So, I could feel nothing from midway down my thigh to my toes.

...Then slowly feeling kinda began to come back in spots but it was not good feeling! It started as tingling then morphed into an intense stinging burning pain very similar to what an infected sore feels like or a severe burn! And of course this is now 2004-05 & I was going to one of the top spinal hospitals in the nation & even they gave my high dose RX of Oxycontin. To be honest, it was better than nothing as it did help me relax for a few years but everyone knows how opiates are.

Long story short, I was going to & still am, the Shepherd Spinal & Brain Injury Hospital & Rehabilitation Center where I have a team of doctors. They referred me to their Pain Institute in 2006 where I've been going ever since. Everyone on DU would not believe all the procedures, trials, pump medications, oral medications, etc I've tried over the last 13yrs with very little help. The stuff that helps only helps short term then right back where we started. I'm a very dedicated patient never miss an appointment, do not abuse medication & even asked my doctors to help titrate me off the Oxycontin which sucks. After being on it for years you feel like shit coming off it even at a slow rate tired & grumpy!

...Then one night a New Years Eve party a friend of my had returned from a business trip to California & had some Medical Cannabis everyone was smoking having a good time & I didn't think it would be a good idea at first. But later my pain was flaring so I tried it & I LITERALLY STARTED CRYING!!!! ...I had NEVER felt such a drastic relief in my pain level SO FAST ever! I could not believe it! Now, it didn't last long only 30min or so but it was unbelievable!

So, I know I get drug tested & I knew at that point I can't use it regularly until I had a conversation with a few of the nurses I know very well at the pain institute. They told me way back then the doctors are more concerned if youre taking other RX meds youre not suppose to be or any street drugs other than cannabis. So, I trusted them & sure enough nothing was said for 2yrs. Then one day I was tested & my doctor came in shut the door asked me if I was using, I didn't lie, asked if it helped, i told him the truth & he said he was very familiar with the benefits but the state of Georgia has recently started sending GBI Agents/Georgia DEA unannounced to look through our files to ensure we're complying with their laws. You have to stop NOW! I'm very sorry. If not I would no longer get the medication in my pump I need & they would probably be forced to stop treating me!!

I stopped. 5-6yrs ago. I know others have worse than I do. I've never wished harm on others but I would damn sure FORCE every idiot Bronze Age anti-Science FOOL into my body for 6 months & then give them some cannabis & watch them legalize it the next fucking day!