D'Anne Weise

I was born in 1959 in Las Vegas, NV. My father worked pumping gas at a local Chevron station but was soon hired as the station manager. We moved to Barstow, CA, then to Scottsdale, AZ, where we stayed for four years. As my father moved up the ranks at Chevron, he was selected as part of a team to open the oil field negotiations in England. We were supposed to be in England for about one year, but it turned into eight years. Chevron paid for one month of travel yearly, and my parents took full advantage. As a result, I traveled throughout many parts of the world, saw amazing sights, and met beautiful people everywhere.

When I finished high school at 17, I decided to attend college despite my parents refusing to support me financially. My father told me that I lacked his support because I was female. Even so, I went all the way, completing a BS in business, an MBA, an MS in Economics, and a Ph.D. in Finance. I spent my 33-year career at the University of Missouri in St. Louis as a research professor of finance.

In 2019 my comfortable life changed drastically when my 29-year-old son, Scott, was arrested by the DEA for the overdose death of a friend that he shared fentanyl with. My son was/is an opioid addict who had been in and out of rehab and was close to death himself when he was arrested. He was charged under the 1980’s Drug-Induced Homicide (DIH) laws which require the accused to be a drug dealer. With no evidence that Scott was a dealer, no previous criminal activity, no weapons, no gang associations, and no drugs on his person or in his home, he was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison with no parole. How did this even happen? Prosecutorial misconduct.

I am now working to obtain as many signatures as possible for the Drug Reform Act of 2021.