cannabisnews.com: Court Reverses Marijuana Ruling Court Reverses Marijuana Ruling Posted by CN Staff on October 05, 2002 at 07:19:30 PT By The Associated Press Source: Associated Press Congress had the right to block District of Columbia residents from voting on whether to legalize marijuana for medical use, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. Reversing a lower court ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the Constitution gives Congress exclusive power to define the district's legislative authority. Also, a congressional act barring D.C. residents from putting the legalization of marijuana on the ballot does not violate their First Amendment right to free speech. Voters had passed a referendum legalizing marijuana in 1998, but Congress, which appropriates money for district elections, blocked the effort through legislation. The Marijuana Policy Project then challenged the constitutionality of the act by suing the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics. The Marijuana Policy Project is leading the effort to give district voters the opportunity to legalize marijuana for seriously ill patients to use if their physicians recommended it. A phone call to the group about the ruling reversal was not immediately returned. Source: Associated Press Published: October 4, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Associated Press Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/ Budget Passage Comes at a Cost http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14338.shtmlCourt Knocks Medicinal Marijuana Off Ballot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14187.shtmlCourt Blocks D.C. Vote on Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14185.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by i420 on October 06, 2002 at 11:50:15 PT Freedom is north young man... Canada is sounding better everyday now, RUN FOR THE BORDER !!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Dan B on October 06, 2002 at 05:27:39 PT: Thanks, DANA and afterburner It's good to know people can appreciate my dark moods. And, I appreciate the article, afterburner. What a crock, eh? Those Enron guys sure did make the right choice by cozying up to ol' Bush and Dick, didn't they?Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by afterburner on October 05, 2002 at 22:34:05 PT: Dan B: The hypocrisy we all face Check out this MSNBC link; they haven't been publishing many pot news articles lately, but the powers that be cannot hide forever... Enron directors escaping discipline? [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by DANA on October 05, 2002 at 20:51:53 PT ...no apology needed!... ..DanB.....there is nothing bad or wrong with tellin' it like it is!...Yes,,it may sound "negative",,,but I think that there is a need for cuttin' the crap,and facing the reality of the situation!....Hopeful,flowery optomism may be nice , ,but we gotta face the facts!,,and the facts are,that things DO NOT look very pretty....In fact,,hopeful optimist wussys are kindof sickening....I know,it's true that hope is about all we have to keep on keepin' on,,but that doesn't mean that good old fashioned negative,despondent Truth,is not a proper,or "good" thing to point out,and discuss.......I think it's more admirable to sound the alarm,with negative truths,than to fluff up a false hope with blind optimism.......I think that I enjoy a good sizzling pissed off tirade,,more than I like a fuzzy hopeful wimpy 'happy-happy joy-joy' song.......keep on keepin' on Dr Dan..........you are the BEST! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Dan B on October 05, 2002 at 17:52:00 PT: Pardon Me Please pardon my "impending doom" speech. I get rather gloomy sometimes, and today has been one of those days. Of course there is room to hope. If we have no hope, what's the point in continuing this fight? I just get bogged down in the heat of the moment sometimes, and my anger and gloom spilleth over. So, sorry for the outburst. I am sure that I expressed things others have also felt at one time or another, but I still wish I'd gotten myself together more before writing that post. Perhaps we can look at this "decision" by the courts as one more sign that it is getting darker because a new dawn is approaching.Apologetically,Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Dan B on October 05, 2002 at 14:09:29 PT: The Hard Truth No, D.C. will never become a self-governing state because the U.S. Congress will take the citizens of D.C. to court and win if they try it (they will always win; they have stacked the deck in their favor). Furthermore, no American state is a soveriegn entity anymore. The power of states has been revoked; don't you get that message yet? Have you not been paying attention? We have already lost because both parties have sold you out to corporations. While everyone in power was screaming about the communists (a common theme of both parties from at least the 1920s through the 1980s), fascists took over both parties and are now destroying every freedom for which we have fought, every freedom paid for by the blood of countless American soldiers. Profits reign supreme; corporations are gods; and the people are all slaves (yes, even you, sir, with the soon to be scaled-down six-, seven- or eight-figure income). Fraud is rampant, from the White House to Congress to the local sheriff's department; from the CEO to the janitor who steals office supplies after hours. There is no morality, and there is no hope. All we have to look forward to in the coming years is increasing slavery topped by an increasingly stupid electorate--until soon the only "electorate" will be the leaders of the corporations. The vast majority of the people will be arguing over whether they should have voted Democrat or Republican long after they begin singing songs about Jesus a-comin' for to carry them home. Meanwhile, those of us who have figured out the scam will, if we have not yet been crucified for our truthtelling, be walking around like blind Tiresias, prophesying to those who refuse to listen. There is no such thing as a soveriegn state. There is no such thing as a soveriegn country. Even the United States is not soveriegn; if it were, the will of the people would reign supreme. Instead, it is run by corporations whose biggest wet dreams involve seeing 98% of the country in forced labor camps making money for the other 2%. One more thing for those who think the answer is an armed revolution: the United States government, especially the current administration, will not hesitate to nuke its own citizens. Hope? I don't see any cause for it.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by charmed quark on October 05, 2002 at 11:57:38 PT Basically, if you live in DC you have no franchise This should push DC in the direction of becoming a self-governing state. The last thing the Feds want. But as things stand now, they have no real voting franchise if Congress can ecven go so far as to prevent the counting of a vote. It's like alittle banana republic.-Pete [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by p4me on October 05, 2002 at 09:45:01 PT Why not quote what they already said "A phone call to the group about the ruling reversal was not immediately returned."The mpp.org website says this at http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=1569 : "It is too bad that a three-judge panel was able to thwart the will of tens of thousands of D.C. voters," said Steve Fox, a spokesman for the group. "It is sadder still that this ruling will cause the suffering of seriously ill patients in the city to continue." The mpp.org has this link that says - http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=1570 - "We're saddened," said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. "This decision by the court of appeals will cause the suffering of seriously ill patients in the city to continue." Nevertheless, Mr. Fox added that he and other medicinal-marijuana advocates can't help feeling pleased that "we were able to do the work necessary to show that we had enough signatures and the initiative may be able to appear on another ballot in the future." DAD-D,1,2 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment