cannabisnews.com: Doctors Free To Discuss Pot Use with Patients Doctors Free To Discuss Pot Use with Patients Posted by CN Staff on October 30, 2002 at 10:33:30 PT By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services Source: Arizona Daily Star The federal government cannot go after doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients, a federal appellate court ruled Tuesday. In a unanimous decision the three-judge panel upheld an injunction barring federal agencies from revoking the prescription-writing privileges of doctors who discuss marijuana use with their patients. Mary Schroeder, chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said the injunction is necessary to block federal officials from interfering with the First Amendment rights of doctors to discuss all options with their patients. Tuesday's ruling is very significant for Arizona where voters here will decide next week whether to approve Proposition 203. One provision would permit doctors to recommend marijuana to their patients. The decision appears to remove any legal impediment from that part of the law's taking effect if approved. The question of whether the patients will be able to get free pot from the Department of Public Safety - the other key provision - remains open. Jeffrey Singer, a Phoenix surgeon and physician, hailed the ruling as a crucial victory for doctors and their patients. Singer, a longtime proponent of medical marijuana, said about a third of his patients have cancer. He cited one woman who is being heavily medicated with other drugs and still has pain and nausea. "This is an ideal candidate to offer it to to see if it's going to help," he said, an option now legally precluded. "It breaks my heart." In 1996 Arizonans agreed to lessen the criminal penalties for those who illegally possess marijuana. It also permits doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients who could have it legally. But no Arizona doctor has been willing to comply after the federal government threatened to revoke their privileges to prescribe any drug. This year's version of the initiative changes the language to let doctors "recommend" marijuana, vs. having to write a prescription that is reviewable by federal authorities. That is similar to existing California law - the one that resulted in investigations against doctors there. The California doctors succeeded in getting a district judge to block investigations. Federal officials then appealed. Schroeder said a doctor's recommendation does not, by itself, constitute illegal conduct. So an injunction does not stop the government from enforcing the law. "The government policy does, however, strike at the core First Amendment interests of doctors and patients," she wrote. "An integral component of the practice of medicine is the communication between a doctor and a patient." Complete Title: Doctors Free To Discuss Pot Use with Patients, 9th Circuit Rules Source: Arizona Daily Star (AZ)Author: Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services Published: Wednesday, October 30, 2002Copyright: 2002 Pulitzer Publishing Co.Contact: letters azstarnet.comWebsite: http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/Related Articles & Web Sites:Conant vs. Walters in PDF http://freedomtoexhale.com/conant.pdfMedical Marijuana Wins a Court Victoryhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14594.shtmlCourt Protects Doctors' Pot Discussions http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14592.shtml Pot Plan a Smoke Screen, Foes Say http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14466.shtmlDrug Czar Urges 'No' Vote On Pot Proposition http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14424.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment