cannabisnews.com: Judge Seeks Help From Pot Advocates Judge Seeks Help From Pot Advocates Posted by CN Staff on July 08, 2003 at 07:32:05 PT By Alan Gathright, Chronicle Staff Writer Source: San Francisco Chronicle A San Jose federal judge, expressing sympathy for the suffering of terminally ill patients, asked medical marijuana advocates Monday for a legal "hook" to grant an injunction halting federal raids against a free Santa Cruz pot cooperative. During arguments before U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel, patient advocates said their case was unique among federal-state pot skirmishes. It is the first time local government officials have joined in a legal battle to stop federal drug agents from raiding a medical marijuana operation. In this case, officials of the city and county of Santa Cruz have joined in seeking to stop a repeat of the controversial September crackdown on Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, during which the cooperative's entire 2002 pot crop was seized. Fogel said he was moved by accounts of how 15 patients had swiftly and painfully died since the raid deprived them of their pain-relieving pot, but he warned that federal law and court precedents don't allow exceptions for marijuana use even for medical necessity. In December, Fogel rejected a request by WAMM founders Mike and Valerie Corral to force the federal government to return the 160 pot plants that were seized. "Frankly, I'm looking for a hook that's very different from the one I've looked at and been forced to reject," said Fogel, who vowed to issue a quick ruling on the injunction request. "I would need something new and different other than someone saying: 'Judge you got it wrong last time.' " County of Santa Cruz vs. Ashcroft names Attorney General John Ashcroft, federal drug czar John Walters and the Drug Enforcement Administration as defendants. WAMM advocates call the federal government's ban on medical pot an illegal "crusade to disrupt WAMM's lawful activities and to deprive these patients of their medicine," protected by Proposition 215, the state's 1996 voter-approved medical marijuana initiative. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/07/08/BA97315.DTL Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Alan Gathright, Chronicle Staff Writer Published: Tuesday, July 8, 2003 Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Chronicle - Page A - 13Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:WAMMhttp://www.wamm.org/Pictures from WAMM Protesthttp://freedomtoexhale.com/eventpics.htmProponents Say DEA Raid on Pot Farm was Illegalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16774.shtmlJudge Indicates He Wants To Protect Pot Patients http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16771.shtmlWAMM Lawsuit Seeks To Curb Federal Authority http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16047.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by freedom fighter on July 08, 2003 at 20:34:39 PT What Hook? "What the Supreme Court made quite clear is that there's no medical necessity exception in the Controlled Substances Act," Quinlivan argued"Govt.'s "rational" thinking..ff's thinking real hard! Okay, now, then, what will the necessity exception in the Controlled Substances Act?Is it an exception when after 20 years later, we discovered statements like this..."Look, we understood we could not make it illegal to be young or poor or black in the United States, but we could criminalize their common pleasure. We understood that drugs were not the health problem we were making them out to be, but it was such a perfect issue for the Nixon White House that we couldn't resist it."or"President Nixon emphasized that you have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes this while not appearing to." Smokes and Mirrors, http://www.sonic.net/~doretk/Issues/96-08%20AUG/smokeanmirrors.htmlIs it exceptional enough for this Judge?Who is really in charge of Controlled Substances Act?The United States of Consitution?Is that the hook?Give me a freakin break!pazff [ Post Comment ] Post Comment