cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot Users Lose in U.S. Court Medical Pot Users Lose in U.S. Court Posted by CN Staff on March 11, 2003 at 07:43:42 PT By Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Source: San Francisco Chronicle In another legal setback for medical marijuana in California, a federal judge says two patients who used locally grown pot with their doctors' approval could face prosecution under federal drug laws. In a ruling made public Monday, U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins expressed sympathy for the two women, for whom "traditional medicine has utterly failed." But he said the federal ban on marijuana applied to everyone, including patients using drugs that never cross state lines. One plaintiff, Angel Raich of Oakland, suffers from painful and life- threatening conditions, including a brain tumor, wasting syndrome and a seizure disorder, said Robert Raich, her attorney and husband. The second, Diane Monson of Oroville (Butte County), who uses marijuana to ease chronic back pain and muscle spasms, was the target of a raid in August in which federal agents seized and destroyed her six plants. Both say marijuana is the only substance that has helped them. Neither has been prosecuted, but both filed civil suits in October seeking injunctions that would prohibit federal prosecution. Their attorneys said they would appeal. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/angel.htm Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Tuesday, March 11, 2003Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Chronicle - Page A - 17 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:OCBChttp://www.rxcbc.org/Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmU.S. Judge Rules Against Medical Pot Patients http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15690.shtmlJudge Says Woman Not Immune from Prosecution http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15688.shtmlAuthor, Others Battle for Marijuana Rightshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15245.shtmlMedicinal Marijuana Users Sue U.S. Officialshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14417.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by FoM on March 11, 2003 at 12:18:05 PT We Can't Find a Helicopter Now If we lost a Blackhawk Helicopter in Central New York how could one be found if one would go missing in Iraq? Why aren't we seeing any pictures of the MOAB that was dropped at about 1pm. This is getting weird. Thanks malleus2 and Virgil.PS: My husband just said maybe the Blackhawk helicopter soldiers got hungry and went to Wendys. I said really and he said no he was kidding. Maybe I take all this way to seriously but maybe not too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by malleus2 on March 11, 2003 at 12:07:58 PT FoM, you aren't the only one who gets depressed There's not a day that goes by that I don't think the same thing. And then I remember the recent past.I remember the 1970's, when it seemed that Europe was going Communist, and the Republicans were running around like Chicken Little, expecting the sky to fall courtesy of Soviet nukes. Things looked pretty bad, back then.But I also remember the incredible years of 1989 and 1990, when the Iron Curtian didn't just fall, it disintegrated. It came crashing down in a reverse of the old 'domino theory'. The people of one Communist controlled nation after another quietly or with bloodshed threw down their oppressors. I remember seeing the Berlin Wall being chipped away at first by little guys with hammers, then, power tools, then cranes, until finally the remains of the hateful symbol of a failed system was being carted off as tourist souvenirs.Those in power have a bad tendency to forget history, thinking themselves immune from it. I'm sure the Stasi thought exactly the same thing. Now, no former Stasi officer would ever admit to being one, for fear of his neighbors wrath.Are you reading this, DEA?The arrogant people presently running this country think that their Jubilee has arrived, that they will set 'right' everything they blamed their opponents for in the past...not aware that the things they have set in motion will lead to their downfall. Because for all their power, they are blind to the ledge that they are running full blast towards. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people have been marching, all around the world, to try to stop their plans. The contempt that the rulers of this country have shown those ordinary people will in turn be manifested as anger towards those elitists. And that anger is being compounded daily. When it finally explodes, nothing will save those who have caused so much harm to innocent people from an ignoble end.Nothing.Herr Busch, Ashcroft, Walters, and every one of those presently drawing a paycheck courtesy of oppressing their fellow Americans know the only way thay can rule is not through enlightened administration but by fear and force. But there comes a time, as any student of the past can tell you, that things get so bad the oppressed take on the attitude of Pancho Villa's men - that it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees. When people get that determined, there is no stopping them.If war starts, and things become more oppressive at home, then any tenous claim to legitimacy (remember, Busch was not elected, he was selected; he has no more legitimacy than Saddam Hussain) goes down the toilet. Raw naked force will be the Administration's only recourse. In that event...I remember what the true purpose of the Second Amendment was all about. So do many other veterans.Some lines are never meant to be crossed. Some actions government was originally abjured from taking because of what happens when you do have been disregarded. The Busch Administration has done so with impunity, never thinking of the price to be paid. A price that it WILL pay if the war gets out of hand.I have hope, yes, but it is a terrible, razor sharp hope borne of the knowledge that life is a circle, and what you do comes back to you. What the drug warriors have done may have set the stage for a second revolution in this country.And as one Founder wrote, the Tree of Liberty of often nourished with the blood of patriots...and of *tyrants*. We know who the real patriots are.And we also know who the tyrants are, too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Virgil on March 11, 2003 at 11:45:37 PT The dog ate my homework I spent about 20 minutes composing something in response to FoM's comment3. My dog wanted fed and I wanted to finish. She finally walked up her steps onto the bed and put my computer to sleep and basically she ate my comment.I will again remind everyone there is a big event in vienna as the insane drug conventions of the UN are scheduled for review and there is going to be all kinds of noise. I also await the speech by Jack Heror at the NORML convention.Now, my ramblings take me on a new course to speak of doublespeak in relation to the mixed- message chant. The lie is just a tool in the fascist toolbelt about like torture and government overthrows and assassinations. We saw this most clearly in the conversion of thought that got over 60% of Americans to think Iraq was responsible for 9/11.It is the government that sends mixed messages and then says we do. We are for truth and the best way and are happy to project a message of truth and reason. then the government doublespeak says we send mixed messages because it isdifferent from all their lies, bullshit, and obfuscation and their half-truths, quarter-truths, and other sized wrenches of truth in their disinformational too belt.The world has caught on and the war on Iraq will fade into a war on the WOD.Change has already come and Free Cannabis is as inevitable as the sun coming out tomorrow. Yes, virginia, there used to be a cannabis prohibition.There is one great lacking in our information and that is on the nutritional value of hemp/cannabis. Heart disease will kill half of all Americans. There is only one Danish study I have read on the good choleserol thing out of Denmark and I wonder why we don't hear more about a hemp diet especially for a healthy heart. I think the bomb is on the plane and it will have a big impact when it explodes. Anyway, I really do believe hemp is going to return to the diet of millions of people. I will soon be joining them- http://www.hempoilcan.com/nutri.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on March 11, 2003 at 10:46:28 PT druid Thanks! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by druid on March 11, 2003 at 10:37:46 PT link works just great for me! :D [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 11, 2003 at 10:29:07 PT Shishaldin It worked for me. Could you try it again? Thanks.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/whatsnew.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Shishaldin on March 11, 2003 at 10:24:53 PT FoM Your "What's New" link is busted...Peace and Strength,Shishaldin [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on March 11, 2003 at 09:40:32 PT malleus2 Sometimes I think we are all doomed and we might as well just forget it all. I hope we can win but each day with war and more war being the only issue I wonder. I'll keep hoping but it's getting hard. What's New [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by malleus2 on March 11, 2003 at 09:16:46 PT Now, this is something interesting... Seems like every time these antis open their mouths, they let a little more of their skaky rationale be exposed to the criticism it deserves.Go to the link and read the rest of it. Then read this again:"Their chief argument is that Congress' constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce -- the basis of the federal drug laws -- does not extend to marijuana that is grown, distributed and used within one state's borders, and is permitted by state law. The U.S. Supreme Court steered clear of the interstate commerce issue when it ruled in 2001 that a medical marijuana club in Oakland could not avoid federal enforcement by claiming that its members had a medical need for the drug...... The judge said Congress found that any distribution of illegal drugs ultimately affected interstate commerce and was subject to federal control. "Law is a matter more of precedence than actual hard thought; habit and culture rather than sound reasoning. So, where's the precedent for this statement? Has someone who lives and works and grew for the sick in California taken those plants outside of California? Where's the precedent for the statement of this judge?With these rulings, the fools in charge of the Justice Department blindly, smugly believe that they have derailed the issue. But all they have succeeded in doing is shut off the relief valve on a boiler about to explode.The next Rosenthal trial will be accompanied by a very large public demand to include ALL the relevent testimony - which perforce requires not only studies concerning medial efficacy but BACKGROUND INTO THE VERY HISTORY OF CANNABIS PROHIBITION, ITSELF.Placing this information in front of a jury already largely disposed to acquit due to previous publicity will spell the end of cannabis convictions in California. The shock waves from that will in turn reverberate around every court house in the republic. The feds live in fear of that eventuality. And make no mistake: it IS an eventuality. The feds have assured that themselves with their pigheadedness. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 11, 2003 at 09:14:21 PT News Brief from The New York Daily News Pol in Pot Bill Push A city councilman is set to introduce a resolution today supporting the use of medical marijuana - bringing the controversial issue to City Hall.The resolution, authored by Councilman Philip Reed (D-Manhattan), calls for supporting a pending bill in the state Assembly that would let doctors prescribe pot to patients with serious or terminal illnesses.The Albany bill, which is sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan), was proposed several years ago, but has been stuck in committee. The Republican-controlled Senate has yet to introduce a companion bill.But Gottfried said yesterday that approval of the pot resolution by the Council would help "give the issue more visibility and credibility."Reed's resolution won't come up for hearings until at least next month. The Council is expected to vote today on a resolution opposing a possible war with Iraq. Backers of the measure said they expect it to pass.Frank LombardiOriginally published on March 11, 2003 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/66162p-61607c.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment