cannabisnews.com: Proponents Say DEA Raid on Pot Farm was Illegal Proponents Say DEA Raid on Pot Farm was Illegal Posted by CN Staff on July 07, 2003 at 16:45:13 PT By Rachel Konrad, Associated Press Source: Associated Press San Jose, Calif. - The Drug Enforcement Administration's autumn raid on a farm that cultivated pot for sick and dying people was both illegal and immoral, members of a medical marijuana movement argued Monday in a federal court trial."We are not asserting the right to market marijuana, but to cultivate and use it to prolong life and give comfort to the dying," said Santa Clara University law professor Gerald Uelmen, who represents about 200 chronically and terminally ill people. "We are asserting the fundamental rights of patients ... so they can meet their death without agony and suffering." The case, which pits state rules on medical marijuana against federal laws declaring it an illegal drug, marks the first time a public entity has sued the federal government on behalf of patients who need medical marijuana.The city and county of Santa Cruz sued the DEA and Attorney General John Ashcroft in April, demanding that federal agents stay away from a cooperative farm that grows marijuana on a quiet coastal road about 15 miles north of Santa Cruz. In September, agents uprooted about 165 plants and arrested the owners of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, Valerie and Michael Corral.The lawsuit claims that seven patients who are plaintiffs have had their marijuana intake substantially decreased since the raid, and that WAMM has been unable to provide members with necessary medicine to relieve nausea, pain and other chronic conditions. This has caused an "insurmountable" level of pain and suffering and hastened the deaths of the most vulnerable WAMM members, lawyers said.Marijuana is illegal under federal law. State law in California - as well as Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington - allows marijuana to be grown and distributed to people with a doctor's recommendation.The Supreme Court ruled in May 2002 that people charged with violating federal drug laws cannot use medical necessity as their defense. But Uelmen said the justices left open whether states could legalize medical marijuana under the 10th Amendment, which grants states powers not exercised by the federal government, or under the 14th Amendment's right to due process.The WAMM case, County of Santa Cruz et. al. v. Ashcroft et. al., also hinges in part on whether the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause applies to the California farm. The clause, which has been applied to cases ranging from Internet privacy to gun control, gives Congress power to regulate trade between states.But the patients' attorneys say the farm is neither interstate nor commercial. The cooperative is owned by about 200 patients and caregivers in the Santa Cruz area whose doctors have endorsed the use of marijuana to minimize seizures and migraines, or to improve patients' ability to deal with chemotherapy or other invasive treatments.Members of the cooperative receive marijuana up to once a week and must sign documents promising to use the pot only within California state lines. If physically able, they and their caregivers work the fields and supervise distribution of the drug in forms such as cigarettes and baked goods, but no money trades hands. The Corrals say the small farm cannot produce crops for more than roughly 200 members.Mark Quinlivan, senior trial counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice, said in opening arguments Monday that it didn't matter if the co-op was a noncommercial operation without known ties to gangs or out-of-state groups. Any type of drug trade was an interstate issue, he said, emphasizing that only the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can conduct experiments using illegal drugs."There isn't anyone here who doesn't have a friend or relative in ... dire straits," Quinlivan said to a courtroom packed with people in wheelchairs or suffering from epilepsy, post-polio syndrome and terminal cancer. But, he said, "the FDA drug approval process has served this country well over the years."U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel promised to review hundreds of pages of evidence, and he urged WAMM members, city and county officials and federal agents to "work together." He will review commerce clause case precedent and issue a ruling later this summer.Michael Cheslosky, a 49-year-old Santa Cruz resident diagnosed with AIDS in 1983, uses marijuana to counter nausea and chronic pain. He said the federal government's invocation of the commerce clause is little more than a means of protecting drug conglomerates, which make billions of dollars from the sale of prescription and over-the-counter pills."Frankly, it all comes down to the alliances between drug policy officials and the drug companies," Cheslosky said after the hearing. "This stuff is free and grows in the ground and can't be regulated."The case is County of Santa Cruz v. Ashcroft, 03-01802.Complete Title: Medical Marijuana Proponents Say DEA Raid on Pot Farm was IllegalSource: Associated PressAuthor: Rachel Konrad, Associated PressPublished: Monday, July 07, 2003Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites:WAMMhttp://www.wamm.org/Pictures from WAMM Protesthttp://freedomtoexhale.com/eventpics.htmJudge Indicates He Wants To Protect Pot Patients http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16771.shtmlFighting Back in Santa Cruzhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16092.shtmlWAMM Lawsuit Seeks To Curb Federal Authority http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16047.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by FoM on July 07, 2003 at 21:29:20 PT News Brief -- Associated Press Medical Marijuana Suit Goes To CourtPublished: July 7, 2003San Jose, California-AP -- People in wheelchairs and others suffering from illnesses such as epilepsy and terminal cancer packed into a California courtroom Monday.The city and county of Santa Cruz are suing the federal government over a D-E-A raid on a medical marijuana farm.A lawyer for about 200 chronically and terminally ill people says they're asserting the right to grow and use marijuana to "prolong life and give comfort to the dying."The case pits state laws on medical marijuana against federal laws making it illegal. It's the first time a public entity has sued the federal government on behalf of patients who need medical marijuana.California and seven other states allow marijuana to be grown and distributed with a doctor's recommendation. Marijuana can ease the symptoms of serious illnesses such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.Copyright: 2003 Associated Press [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by mayan on July 07, 2003 at 18:24:45 PT Grows in the Ground "Frankly, it all comes down to the alliances between drug policy officials and the drug companies," Cheslosky said after the hearing. "This stuff is free and grows in the ground and can't be regulated."Actually, there are many evil alliances which keep the most versatile plant on earth illegal...SHADOW OF THE SWASTIKA: The Real Reason the Government Won't Debate Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Re-legalization http://www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.htmlThe way out is the way in...Quizzing Them on 9/11: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030714-463061,00.htmlSenator Says White House Pre-Attack Briefings May Have 'Probative Value' as 9/11 Evidence: http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/archive/scoop/stories/42/4d/200307031300.fe725cc3.html9/11 Prior Knowledge/Government Involvement Archive: http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledge [ Post Comment ] Post Comment