cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana: Breathing Uneasy Medical Marijuana: Breathing Uneasy Posted by CN Staff on November 16, 2003 at 10:22:40 PT By Lee Catterall Source: Star-Bulletin Celebration by patients and relief by some doctors followed the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month clearing the way for physicians to recommend use of marijuana to patients in Hawaii and other states where medical marijuana has been legalized, but the legality remains hazy.The number of patients registered to grow and use the plant in Hawaii has grown to 1,145 from 1,039 since the Supreme Court's Oct. 14 decision, according to Keith Kamita, the state's narcotics enforcement chief and registrar of the certification program in the state Department of Public Safety. In that decision, the high court let stand a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, whose jurisdiction includes Hawaii, that physicians may recommend marijuana to their patients. Kamita said he believes the state's medical marijuana law complies with that ruling. "We haven't had any contact with the (U.S.) attorney general (saying) that it does not," Kamita said. Ed Kubo, the U.S. attorney for Hawaii, said the Justice Department "has a need to review and to analyze" the appellate court ruling. A "definitive decision or opinion" from the department could come in a few months, he said.Pamela Lichty, president of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, which supports the medical marijuana law, said the Supreme Court's rejection of the appeal was "a good non-decision" for the program, and thus for physicians recommending marijuana."It should allow them to relax somewhat," Lichty said. "Physicians' reluctance to participate has been one of the barriers to this program.""It seems like everybody I've talked to is really excited and glad that it happened," said Terri Hurst, a University of Hawaii sociology graduate student who is researching the issue. Thomas Mountain, who runs a cooperative of medical marijuana patients on Oahu, reports "an upsurge in activity" since the court's rejection of the government's appeal. However, Mountain is less than exuberant about the effect of the decision."It's still illegal federally even to possess marijuana," Mountain pointed out. "The law of the land still says -- the Supreme Court still says -- that, according to Congress, marijuana has no medical value. "Even if I were to be arrested and tried in federal court in Hawaii," he said, "I could not raise that (medical use) in my defense. The judge would not even allow me to tell the jury that I am legal under the state of Hawaii laws."Indeed, by an 8-0 vote, the Supreme Court ruled two years ago that a federal law classifying marijuana as an illegal drug carries no exception for ill patients. In that decision, the court ruled that California cannabis clubs may not legally distribute the drug as a "medical necessity" for the seriously ill. In January, a federal jury in California convicted Ed Rosenthal, 58, a self-proclaimed "Guru of Ganja," for growing 100 marijuana plants in an Oakland, Calif., warehouse for patients approved by state health officials for medicinal use of marijuana. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer had forbidden Rosenthal from citing that approval to the jury.Angered that the mitigating information had been kept from them, some jurors called for a new trial. Breyer instead sentenced Rosenthal to one day in jail, rejecting prosecutors' recommendation that he be sent to prison for at least five years.In the ruling that the Supreme Court let stand last month, the 9th Circuit said: "If, in making the recommendation, the physician intends for the patient to use it as the means for obtaining marijuana, as a prescription is used as a means for a patient to obtain a controlled substance, then a physician would be guilty of aiding and abetting the violation of federal law."A doctor's "anticipation" that a patient "might" obtain marijuana does not amount to illegal conspiracy to violate federal law, the appeals court said. A conspiracy, it ruled, "would require that a doctor have knowledge that a patient intends to acquire marijuana, agree to help the patient acquire marijuana and intend to help the patient acquire marijuana," as a result of the recommendation."There's a lot of wiggle room for everybody," U.S. Attorney Kubo said of the wording, "and that's why the (Justice) Department needs to analyze the case a little more before we can come out with any statement with regard to that case or medical marijuana in general."The Hawaii statute, enacted in 2000, allows patients to employ the recommendation to possess and use marijuana. It allows certified patients to possess three mature marijuana plants, four immature plants and as much as three ounces of marijuana, but they apparently are not allowed to obtain marijuana other than by growing it."The law is silent on that," Kamita says. It remains illegal in Hawaii for anyone to sell or buy marijuana. He says he believes a large majority of marijuana patients are growing their own.That is not the impression of Hurst, who has been contacted by about 20 patients and has interviewed nine of them."Very few" are growing marijuana themselves, Hurst says. "The big thing is that they don't know how. It seems like the ones who have tried growing it, sometimes the plants get stolen if they grow them outdoors, and then sometimes the plants don't yield enough, because they were saying the plants cross-breed, and there's some kind of fungus that attacks it."Mountain says most marijuana patients on neighbor islands may be growing it, but most patients in Honolulu are not."On Oahu, where can you grow it?" Mountain asks. "If you live in an apartment in Makiki, your landlord doesn't want you. They're going to chuck you out. They don't care if it's legal."Where do you get seeds? How do you grow it? You have to get lights. Can you put it on your balcony? In the middle of winter, the weather's bad for a month."Mountain says the high court's refusal to review the 9th Circuit ruling "just took some of the heat off doctors. Some doctors aren't quite as afraid anymore. Most doctors are still terrified." Not William B. Wenner, 77, a retired surgeon in Volcano, who estimates that he has recommended marijuana for more than 400 of the 591 certified patients on the Big Island."I'm home free now," Wenner told The New York Times after the high court's rejection of the 9th Circuit appeal. "Who's going to come and get me, and for what? I'm listening to these people and evaluating their complaints, and I've got three file drawers with their charts."Without naming Wenner, who could not be reached for further comment, Kamita said the sheer volume of a Big Island physician's recommendations "draws questions. Are you adequately treating these patients?" Lichty says she is confident that Wenner is acting responsibly in recommending marijuana to patients."I know Bill Wenner very well," Lichty said, "and I also know that he sees every one of those patients individually. He is very well aware of the politics of all this, and he is very careful."He looks at their medical records and he has a bona fide relationship with them," Lichty said of Wenner. "He's an addiction specialist as well as a surgeon, so he's not by any means a fly-by-night physician. He also has probably a better knowledge of the topic than any other doc in the state that I know of."Marijuana is touted as effective in easing pain for sufferers of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis and other illnesses. Kamita said he expected most physicians' recommendations to come from oncologists or other doctors specializing in treatment of those illnesses, but that has not been the case.He said a bill in last year's Legislature would have required a doctor to physically examine a patient before recommending marijuana, but it died in committee. The current law allows a physician to simply examine the patient's records before certifying that he or she has a debilitating medical condition warranting the medical use of marijuana.Mountain, whose Honolulu Medical Marijuana Patients Co-op has 60 to 70 members, said he refers patients only to "doctors who will treat patients not just for marijuana but treat them holistically for all their illnesses."It bothers me that doctors are abusing it," said Mountain, who smokes marijuana before bedtime to reduce pain and muscle spasms from a spinal cord injury. "They're going to give grounds to attack the law, because they're not really being doctors. The intent of the law is to allow doctors who are treating patients to be able to recommend marijuana."While concerned about such abuse, Mountain is leery about further legislation to prevent it. "I don't want to open up this law," he said, "because who knows who's going to jump in and take it away from us. Right now, the law is set up so that by jumping through loopholes we can help people grow their own marijuana. I can sleep at night."Note: Despite a Supreme Court ruling, questions remain about the legality of using pot as medicine.Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)Author: Lee CatterallPublished: Sunday, November 16, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Honolulu Star-BulletinContact: letters starbulletin.comWebsite: http://www.starbulletin.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Drug Policy Forum of Hawaiihttp://www.dpfhi.org/MMJ on Maui - How’s The Program Working?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17769.shtmlDoctors Tread a Thin Line on Marijuana Advicehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17681.shtmlBackers of Medical Marijuana Hail Rulinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17566.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #6 posted by ekim on November 17, 2003 at 19:38:01 PT way Rev Please send to new hts and for sure in mags and papers in HI also if you have a cable access station make a show and send it out to others to play. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Rev Jonathan Adler on November 17, 2003 at 17:37:11 PT: Once again, no one asked me!////// Aloha from the only sacra-medical religious ministry that has been arrested, awaited trial (4 years) and met the courts standards for burden of proof regarding religious use of marijuana. Why is it that the Star- Bulletin is so unprofessional as to not ask the expert about the subject? Keith Kamita is no expert. He holds the list and shares it with .D.*.A! Pam Lichty is not the expert as she cannot legally grow or supply patients with the medicine. Tom Mountain is a "drug" dealer committed to leaving things the way they are! He has never acknowledged us or attempted to cooperate at all. He claims to have "contacts" in the Police Force that advise him not to have anything to do with me??? Why can't they just call us and ask our opinion on the subject we are best qualified to expound on? News agaencies are funny, they pick their own version of the news that suits them best. Why isn't the truth that sacrammedicine is the answer....a legal, proven in court ministry; covered by our own media? ALL others are at best attemptimg to meet the standard the courts have set; at worst they are conspiring to commit fraud and mis-use a sacred priviledge so hard to attain legally, for profit. They thought I could NEVER do it, but I did. I also did time to prove it for the sake of the membership. WE ARE LEGAL! and THEY KNOW IT! I did this to benefit others, but I have to insist on equal treatment at least. Meet the standard or stay quiet until you can. All are welcome, peace. P.S. We are sponsoring HB 1805 and SB 2502 once again in the next session of the legislature, that acknowledges and supports our continuing rights to use and assist others with cannabis religiously as we are already court-reviewed and proven to do so.We are REGISTERED with a state that has no formal registry system for "universal providers". Totally in compliance and it feels good. Oh by the way...Bring our boys home now ! And stop flying yellow helicopters over my house at 50' like you did today. East Hawaii Religion of Jesus Church [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 16, 2003 at 19:14:56 PT Ferre I'm with you. I don't believe Howard Dean either. He said what he said because he had to say something. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Ferre on November 16, 2003 at 18:39:17 PT: Don't believe Dean! Dean is a liar and won't do anything to decriminize or legalize medical weed. The man is full of crap and has been proving this over and over as a governor of Vermont. Even for me, all the way down here in Holland it is as clear as glass the man's another puppet for the "puppetmasters" (the (petro)chemical-and-war industry). They have only pushed this creep forward into the spotlights and support him becouse their latest employe, mr Bush, messed it up for the public opinion. That Dean character has another label but it's the same product. DON'T BUY IT! Amsterdam Cannabis Ministry [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Richard Paul Zuckerm on November 16, 2003 at 13:09:35 PT: COLORADO MEDICAL MARIJUANA MOVEMENT ON UPPITY UP! Ken Gorman, www.kg1.org, is attempting to contact all doctors in The State of Colorado who is willing to recommend Cannabis for medical uses. Considering the recent Minnesota Attorney General's report critical of the pharmaceutical industry, "Follow the money. The Pharmaceutical industry: The Other Drug Cartel", www.ag.state.mn.us, and the article in an issue of the JAMA some time in the year 2000 claiming that properly administered pharmaceutical drugs are the 3rd leading cause of death in the world, and the Congressional Bills to restrict over-the-counter use of vitamins, minerals, and herbs; it appears that the government does not want to acknowledge the benefits of using natural substances to prevent and treat medical maladies, such as Ibogaine for drug addiction, www.cures-not-wars.org, and EMPowerplus for manic depression, www.truehope.com, and Cannabis.I spent last weekend at the Green Party USA conference, in the New York Law School. www.greenparty.org. It was quite informative, with several speakers, and it was FREE!! They should teach such information as part of the curriculum of public schools. www.johntaylorgatto.com. Richard Paul Zuckerman, Box 159, Metuchen, New Jersey, 08840-0159, (Cell telephone number)(908) 403-6990, richardzuckerman2002 yahoo.com. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 16, 2003 at 12:40:20 PT Portion of Article: What Howard Dean Said Students, jammed shoulder to shoulder, applauded the candidate's comments about health care, jobs and foreign policy. But they really were energized when Dean started discussing whether marijuana use should be illegal.He was outlining his plan to keep kids out of trouble when someone in the crowd said the drug should be decriminalized. Dean responded that wouldn't solve the problem, "but since you brought it up, I think substance abuse should be treated as a medical problem not a judicial problem."http://pennlive.com/newsflash/lateststories/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/1069013043167652.xml [ Post Comment ] Post Comment