cannabisnews.com: U.S. Court Backs Use of Medical Marijuana U.S. Court Backs Use of Medical Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on October 30, 2002 at 07:44:51 PT By Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Source: San Francisco Chronicle A federal appeals court said Tuesday the federal government cannot punish California doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients. The ruling by the three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco was a rare legal victory for medical marijuana advocates and was hailed as a significant step toward preserving California's landmark medical marijuana law, which has been continually challenged by the U. S. Justice Department since its adoption in 1996. Seeking sanctions against doctors who advise the use of marijuana, a federal policy pursued by both the Clinton and Bush administrations, violates the freedom of speech of both doctors and patients, the judges said. "An integral component of the practice of medicine is the communication between a doctor and a patient," said Chief Judge Mary Schroeder. "Physicians must be able to speak frankly and openly to patients." Tuesday's 3-0 ruling upheld lower-court injunctions that have been in effect since shortly after California voters passed Proposition 215, the state's medical marijuana law in 1996. "If you eliminate the doctors' recommendations, you've eliminated Proposition 215," said Graham Boyd, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer for doctors and patients who challenged the federal policy. "If federal policy here stood, that would be the end of the ability of people to legally use medical marijuana." The Justice Department, which said it was reviewing the decision, could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Tuesday's ruling stems from a conflict between Proposition 215 and federal law. The Justice Department insists that marijuana has no medicinal value and that California's law, if allowed to remain intact, would sabotage the government's effort to fight illicit drugs. THREAT OF PENALTIESJust two months after Proposition 215 passed, drug officials in the Clinton administration threatened stiff penalties for physicians who told patients with cancer, AIDS or other diseases that marijuana might help them. They threatened to revoke the doctors' licenses to prescribe federally regulated narcotics -- vital to many medical practices -- and disqualify them from the Medicare program. The Clinton administration dropped the issue after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction protecting doctors who recommended marijuana as long as they didn't help patients obtain it. But after U.S. District Judge William Alsup, newly assigned to the case, issued a permanent injunction in 2000, the Bush administration took it to the appeals court. The ruling affects seven states with medical marijuana laws: California, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/10/30/MN112080.DTL Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Wednesday, October 30, 2002 Copyright: 2002 San Francisco Chronicle - Page A - 1 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:Conant vs. Walters in PDF http://freedomtoexhale.com/conant.pdfCourt Protects Doctors Who Recommend Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14595.shtmlMedical Marijuana Wins a Court Victoryhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14594.shtmlCourt Protects Doctors' Pot Discussions http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14592.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment