cannabisnews.com: Judge Refuses To Block Raids of Marijuana Farm





Judge Refuses To Block Raids of Marijuana Farm
Posted by CN Staff on August 28, 2003 at 22:38:40 PT
By Lisa Leff, Associated Press Writer
Source: Associated Press
A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit brought by Santa Cruz County that attempted to block the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from raiding a cooperative farm that cultivated marijuana for sick and dying members.U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled that federal laws making growing pot illegal except for approved research trumps California's 7-year-old medicinal marijuana statute, which allows marijuana to be grown and distributed to people with a doctor's recommendation.
In his 27-page opinion, Fogel wrote that while he agreed the patients represented in the suit "face a significant threat of irreparable harm" from having their access to pot curtailed, he had "no alternative but to conclude that under existing law they cannot succeed on the merits of their claims."The case involved a raid at the Davenport, Calif. farm of Valerie and Michael Corral, the owners of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a hospice collective with about 250 members. In Sept. 2002, more than 20 armed DEA agents descended on the property, and pointed loading handguns at the couple before handcuffing and arresting them and seizing 165 pot plants.Although the Corrals were never charged, the government refused to return the plants. With the backing of Santa Cruz city and county officials, who have passed local medicinal marijuana laws, the co-op became one of several cases testing the limits of California's statute.The lawsuit claimed that the raid violated the patients' constitutional rights by infringing on their ability to alleviate their suffering, to control the circumstances of their deaths, and to follows the recommendations of their doctors.Fogel rejected those claims, however, ruling that even if the Supreme Court recognized a terminally ill person's right to lessen their pain, that right would not apply to people who use and cultivate a controlled substance. The judge similarly found that the sanctity of doctor-patient relationships did not protect situations where physicians prescribe illegal drugs.While California voters may think seriously ill patients should be allowed to use marijuana, "the legislative and executive branches of the federal government have a different view, and in a federal system that view is controlling," Fogel wrote.Judy Appel, a lawyer with the Drug Policy Alliance, said Fogel's decision would be appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals."I'm disappointed, even outraged," Appel said. "But what I keep thinking about is all of the patients, who are going to suffer and maybe even die as a result of the court's slowness to catch up with the court of public opinion on this issue." Complete Title: Judge Refuses To Block Raids of Medical Marijuana FarmSource: Associated Press Author: Lisa Leff, Associated Press WriterPublished: August 29, 2003Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites:WAMMhttp://www.wamm.org/ Drug Policy Alliancehttp://www.drugpolicy.org/Judge Refuses To Halt Pot Raids In Santa Cruz http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17172.shtmlMedical Pot Gets Its Day in Courthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16978.shtmlJudge Seeks Help From Pot Advocates http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16779.shtml
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