cannabisnews.com: Medicinal Marijuana Conflict 





Medicinal Marijuana Conflict 
Posted by CN Staff on December 07, 2003 at 14:09:19 PT
By Susan Bacon, Pilot & Today Staff 
Source: Steamboat Pilot & Today
Don Nord, 57, moves his heavy form slowly, step by step, as he carries a box of firewood up to his Hayden townhome. When he reaches the top step, he stops to catch his breath.Inside, his home is dark. In the living room, a hospital bed and easy chair are aimed at a large television, which is turned on. Nord sits down at his kitchen table and hooks himself up to an oxygen tank.
For Nord, each day can be measured in a series of pains. Since a fall in 1985, in which he hurt his neck and was put out of a long-term job, his health has deteriorated. He has battled kidney cancer, diabetes, a lung disease, phlebitis -- an inflammation of veins -- in both of his legs, and now is worried cancer has moved to his prostate.He takes about 20 different physician-prescribed medications.He also smokes marijuana. Although a physician can't prescribe the drug, the state does allow Nord to register as a legal user and grower of marijuana for medicinal purposes."I smoke marijuana to help me relax at night, so I can go to sleep at night," he said. "Otherwise, I don't sleep."In mid-October, officers with GRAMNET, the Grand, Routt and Moffat County Narcotics Enforcement Team, obtained a warrant to search Nord's home for drugs and confiscated his plants and growing equipment.On Monday, Nord has a hearing in front of a Routt County judge to try to get his plants and equipment back. Conflicting state and federal laws may make that difficult. Under federal laws, Nord can't have the marijuana. Period. But under Colorado's law, he hasn't done anything wrong.The rules In 2000, Colorado voters approved a law allowing people suffering from debilitating medical conditions, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma and chronic severe pain, to smoke marijuana. That clause is now written into the state's constitution.Colorado is one of eight states that allow medicinal use of marijuana. The practice also is accepted in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Maine.Science shows that smoking marijuana can help relieve nausea, appetite loss and pain that people with severe illnesses experience, said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group trying to remove criminal penalties for marijuana use."The long-term trend has got to be toward allowing seriously ill people to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation," Mirken said.Nord, along with 280 other Coloradans, is a registered marijuana user through the Medical Marijuana Registry program, which is administered by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.To get on the registry and receive an identification card, a Colorado resident with a debilitating illness that can be eased by use of marijuana must submit a letter from a doctor and a $140 fee.Being on the list isn't a go-ahead to grow acres of marijuana, though. The Colorado law specifies that a registered user can have no more than 2 ounces of a usable form of marijuana and no more than six marijuana plants, only three of which can be mature. It gives no suggestions for how registered users legally can obtain the marijuana or plants.According to statistics updated a week ago by the state health department, the average age of applicants for the registry is 45. Almost 70 percent are male. Almost 40 percent of the registered applicants live in the Denver-metro and Boulder areas. In Routt County, there are three registered applicants. Nord has been part of the registry since Aug. 28, 2002.To date, there have been no marijuana-related convictions of patients or caregivers listed on the registry, according to the health department's updated report."However, reluctance to participate due to the inconsistencies between state and federal marijuana laws has been expressed by doctors and patients alike," the report stated.Federal supremacy To the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the inconsistency is not an issue; in the DEA's eyes, it simply does not exist. That's because federal law does not permit marijuana use, said Dan Reuter, special agent and public information officer for the DEA's Denver field division."We really don't see it as a conflict because our mission is clear and our mandate is clear," Reuter said. The mandate, he said, is to crack down on users, sellers and producers of illegal drugs, including marijuana. The federal supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution says that federal law overrides state law whenever the two conflict, which means that Colorado's medicinal marijuana law doesn't hold up in federal courts, Reuter said.That's something the DEA does not want to change. No other medicinal drug comes in a smokeable form, and marijuana is addictive and dangerous, he said. Plus, there is a legal marijuana pill on the market called Marinol."There's really no excuse for using marijuana," Reuter said. "It's not a bridge to a better place; it's not medicine."In Nord's case, some of the officials who searched his house were part of GRAMNET, a federal task force that Reuter said should follow federal law.Reuter said he is aware of at least 10 other instances in Colorado in which federal officers searched someone for drugs and then found the person was registered with the state's medicinal marijuana program.In those cases, the officers seized plants, drugs and growing equipment and did not return them. In Nord's case, as well, Reuter said, administration officials have decided the confiscated drugs and equipment should not be returned. The search Attorney Kristopher Hammond is representing Nord at the hearing Monday in front of Routt County Judge James Garrecht. He said that the search warrant and charges against Nord were filed through a state court with a state judge, and so he believes that state law should be followed.That means, he said, Garrecht should order that the usable marijuana, marijuana plants, paraphernalia and growing equipment be returned to Nord. "I'm hoping the judge follows the Colorado Constitution, which requires the police to give the stuff back," Hammond said. "It requires them to take care of it and to return it."The state law that Hammond referred to says that any property connected with the use of medicinal marijuana "shall not be harmed, neglected, injured or destroyed while in the possession of state or local law enforcement officials where such property has been seized in connection with the claimed medical use of marijuana." It also states the property should be returned "immediately" when officials decide the user was legally registered and that charges would not be pressed.The search at Nord's house took place Oct. 14. A warrant for the search was issued by Garrecht. Hayden Police Chief Jody Lenahan said officers were expecting to find a large growing and selling operation in Nord's house.But they didn't. They found three marijuana plants, a baggie with some usable marijuana at the bottom, and dried marijuana leaves, which Nord said he was using for fertilizer, in a closet along with seeds, some growing equipment and several other items.After the search was finished, Nord was issued a ticket charging him with possession of between 1 and 8 ounces of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court documents. The ticket, which called for a court appearance Nov. 4, was not turned in to the courts until Nov. 6 because it was misplaced, Lenahan said.Garrecht dismissed the charges Nov. 17 because they were filed late. Charges could be refiled, however, if officials desired.Deputy District Attorney Marc Guerette, who is representing GRAMNET in the case, first filed a response to Hammond's Nov. 17 motion Nov. 20. In that response, Guerette contended that under Colorado law, a person with a medical marijuana license can possess no more than 2 ounces of usable marijuana, so that any amount seized exceeding 2 ounces should not be returned.Guerette then changed his motion five days later to state that, after consulting with the U.S. Attorney's Office and GRAMNET detectives, it was apparent that the return of drugs and equipment would be against federal law. The amended response asked the court to deny Hammond's motion to return the property."GRAMNET is required not to return the property because ... possession of (the property) is a violation of federal law, and GRAMNET is a federal agency," Guerette said.If the judge denies the request, Hammond said he and his client will appeal to a higher court.Both Guerette and Hammond agree the case is novel for the state. Depending on how far it goes in the legal process, it could set a precedent for other conflicts between state and federal rules on medicinal marijuana. The waiting game Nord's grow room is now mostly empty, except for a few florescent tube lights and pots of leftover soil. Nord spends his days as he did before the search, watching television, driving to the post office and running errands, and sometimes visiting or talking on the phone with friends.Sitting in his living room, he's surrounded by paintings and statues of eagles, which he said give him a feeling of freedom. There's a Bible on the mantle above the fireplace, and a picture of Jesus that reads: "Jesus, I trust in you." God, Nord said, helps him deal with his loneliness and pain.So does marijuana, he said. Without his plants, during the past few weeks he's had to find the drug where he can.He said he knows that the medical marijuana card he carries is a privilege, so he is careful to stay within the parameters of the state law.When his house was searched, he said he felt confused and upset."I didn't know what I did wrong," he said. "I said to them that day I didn't know I did something wrong. I said that over and over."After they left, I broke down pretty hard. It made me feel like I didn't want to be here anymore."He wouldn't mind officials looking around his house to make sure he's legal, he said. And, though he used marijuana when he was younger, he says he's not proud of that and doesn't think anyone without medicinal reasons should use the drug.What he wants from the hearing on Monday is to get his plants and equipment returned.Note: Resident's plants were seized in a raid, but he is registered as a legal user.Source: Steamboat Pilot & Today, The (CO)Author: Susan Bacon, Pilot & Today Staff Published: Saturday, December 6, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Steamboat Pilot & TodayContact: editor steamboatpilot.comWebsite: http://www.stmbt-pilot.com/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on December 09, 2003 at 06:44:45 PT
Update on this story...
(coming soon to MAP)US CO: Judge: Return marijuana 
Newshawk: The GCW
Pubdate: 09 Dec. 2003
Source: Steamboat Pilot & Today, The (CO)
Copyright: 2003 The Steamboat Pilot & Today
Contact: editor steamboatpilot.com
Website: http://www.stmbt-pilot.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1549
Author: Susan Bacon
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project (www.mpp.org)
Cited: Drug Enforcement Administration www.dea.gov
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Refered: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1884/a03.html?1162 
Viewed at: http://www.steamboatpilot.com/section/frontpage_lead/story/20697
 
Judge: Return marijuana 
County court sides with state law By Susan Bacon, Pilot & Today Staff Tuesday, December 9, 2003 STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — A Hayden resident who uses marijuana for medicinal purposes should have growing equipment and 2 ounces of the drug that were seized in a search returned to him, a county judge ruled Monday.The decision, which had to account for conflicting state and federal drug laws, may set an important precedent, Routt County Judge James Garrecht said."Obviously, this case has the potential of going a whole lot further than just this court," Garrecht said after giving his decision. "This may be a precedent-setting case a whole lot further down the road."Several ounces of usable marijuana, three marijuana plants and growing equipment were taken during a GRAMNET search of 57-year-old Don Nord's home in mid-October. GRAMNET, the Grand, Routt and Moffat Narcotics Enforcement Team, is a federal task force made up of local officers.Deputy District Attorney Marc Guerette, who represented GRAMNET, had no comment on the judge's decision and said he wasn't sure whether he would pursue an appeal, which would go to District Court if it was filed.During the hearing, Nord's attorney, Kristopher Hammond, argued that because the search warrant was served through a state court and charges were dismissed through the state court, the officers should follow state law and return the property.Garrecht then asked Hammond to clarify the state and federal laws, which he did.Under a Colorado law that voters approved in 2000, people suffering from debilitating medical conditions, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, and chronic severe pain, are allowed to grow and smoke marijuana. Colorado is one of eight states that allows medicinal marijuana use.Nord, who has battled kidney cancer, diabetes, a lung disease, and other illnesses, is listed with the state's Medical Marijuana Registry program.But according to federal laws, none of that matters; marijuana is an illegal drug for everyone.Hammond also directed the judge's attention to part of the state law that says that property seized from someone registered to use medicinal marijuana should not be harmed or neglected and should be returned. "All of a sudden, this marijuana they seized under a state order now becomes federal property," Hammond said. "My suspicion, judge, is they're just trying to do an end run around this case."After the search, Nord was issued a citation for the possession of between 1 and 8 ounces of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Those charges were dismissed, Garrecht said, because the citation was filed late.Garrecht asked why those charges were filed in a county court, and Guerette replied that he was not sure, but that it didn't matter because the marijuana and growing equipment are now federal property. He also said that it was clear that GRAMNET officers operated under federal laws.Hammond cited an Oregon Court of Appeals decision in which marijuana was seized from a man who was allowed to use it for medicinal purposes. Federal officers argued it would violate federal law to return the drug, but a local court said the drug should be returned, a decision which was upheld by the appeals court.Guerette said the Oregon court's decisions were not binding for this county, but Garrecht said that because neither lawyer was aware of a similar case for Colorado, the Oregon case offered some important precedent, which he used in making his decision.Garrecht then ordered that the seized property be returned. Hammond said that the marijuana plants were uprooted so they probably had died, and Garrecht responded that those would not be returned.Two ounces of usable marijuana, along with containers, a 1,000-watt bulb, pipes, a scale, rolling papers and several other items were ordered to be returned within 21 days. Some of those items, Guerette said during court, had been shipped to a federal lab in San Francisco.Before the hearing ended, Hammond said, "Your honor, my client just asked me if he can grow marijuana again."Garrecht replied that he did not give out legal advice.-- To reach Susan Bacon, call 871-4203 or e-mail sbacon steamboatpilot.com 
420& In case You haven't heard: Kucinich put in writing that as president He will: 
"decriminalize marijuana" -"in favor of a drug policy that sets reasonable boundaries for marijuana use by establishing guidelines similar to those already in place for alcohol." 
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17917.shtml As President, Kucinich would end the Federal U.S. effort to prohibitit cannabis.
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Comment #6 posted by jose melendez on December 08, 2003 at 05:23:51 PT
playing doctor on TV: drew spouts the party line
Dr. Drew Pinsky was just live on the Today Show with Katie Couric discussing the very complex issue that people are simultaneously being underprescribed for pain and risking addiction by being prescribed opiates and benzodoazapines. He several times, as if on a carefully written script paid for by their attorneys after consultation with drug advertisers and the ONDCP, pointed out that: if people have addictive personalities orare in a risk group that genetically predisposes them toward addictive consumption behaviors they should be aware that these medications are inappropriate for long term use, making the caveat that of course cancer patients should be able to take whatever works.here are some of his talking points:first degree relative momentum mentions rush llimbaugh as a classic case that he can see how pain drives the reward mechanism mentions post acute (opiate) withdrawal period which can cause high levels of anxiety up to a year but that people can manage their way through that points out that if you are lying to your family and people around you are telling you you have a probelem, then you probably do.Of couse, cannabis is far safer, and I don't hear much about folks dying from their smoked opium or cannabis adictions, unless they were killed as a result of the unjust laws that were enacted to control other, less politicallyconnected groups . . .
scared yet?
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Comment #5 posted by gloovins on December 07, 2003 at 23:43:16 PT
Wake Up DEA - the PEOPLE have spoken
"There's really no excuse for using marijuana," Reuter (of Denver DEA) said. "It's not a bridge to a better place; it's not medicine."Ok then mr. DEAth man, check out www.kubby.com or inquire about the 8 patients in the US who get their cannabis LEGALLY THRU OUR OWN FEDERAL GOV"T?????????? Answer that johnny law...Your ignorance Dan Reuter, "special agent and public information officer for the DEA's Denver field division"
on this issue makes you look like brainless, foolish and out of sync with the majority of the people of those states, such as Colorado, who have passes Med MJ laws.In my opinion, you are selfish, uncommpassionate, un-caring and I just hope no one in your family needs/requires med MJ. Mr. Reuter, want don't you do the best thing for this country?Resign.
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Comment #4 posted by Virgil on December 07, 2003 at 14:35:26 PT
Who mandated that?
The mandate, he said, is to crack down on users, sellers and producers of illegal drugs, including marijuana. What mandate are you talking about. The people's mandate is to quit walking over the Constitution to war on their freedom and to end the lies that have removed all credibility of the government.Well, we have another mouthpiece for officialdom while the cause for MMJ/CC is silenced because they will not ask the professional like Dr. Russo or Melemead or Andrew Weil."There's really no excuse for using marijuana," Reuter said. "It's not a bridge to a better place; it's not medicine."Why would you need an excuse. The stuff should have never been illegal. What is the excuse for prohibition? The it's not medicine is a lie if you use the FDA definition of medicine that says it is a medicine if it is better than nothing with a qualification that it does not kill you in short order."The long-term trend has got to be toward allowing seriously ill people to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation," Mirken said.That is the short-term trend. The long-term trend is toward Free Cannabis For Everyone with research to target the best help available to the sick that need it and that includes breeding.That's something the DEA does not want to change. No other medicinal drug comes in a smokeable form, and marijuana is addictive and dangerous, he said. Plus, there is a legal marijuana pill on the market called Marinol.Lies, bullshit, and obfuscation in three sentences. First, who gives a flying eff what the DEA wants. They should be abolished and the CSA of 1970 should be removed from law as the Cato Report suggested. The second sentence is a lie calling up the demonization of smoking tobacco while ignoring vaporizers, space cake, cannabutter, soup, and other edibles. It is an insult to an informed mind to have to read that without commentary to show that sentence in its proper light. Then we have the famous Marinol statement from the DEA that implies that synthetic THC is wonderful while the identical molecule in nature is a Schedule 1 narcotic. It is fraud by a government official to make such statements. There should be a trial. The DEA is a bunch of criminals wrapped up in a conspiracy and protected by treason. And that my friends is what the truth sounds like.
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on December 07, 2003 at 14:34:16 PT
Marinol?
US OH: PUB LTE: A Father's Talehttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1887/a04.html?1430Pubdate: Wed, 3 Dec 2003
Source: Cleveland Free Times (OH)A Father's TaleAs a cannabis activist having zero tolerance for cannabis prohibition, John Lasker's story ( "Pot RX," 11/19 ) is quite an eye-opener. It is regrettable to hear educated people support caging sick humans for using a plant. My experience with Marinol is really my dead son's experience. With leukemia, chemo, surgeries, spinal taps and all its implications, he just vomited it up, only to be billed highly for what was known to not stay in the gut long enough to possibly be effective. He should have been allowed smoke or vapor of pure cannabis plant material, that works much quicker, that he couldn't vomit. Instead he was allowed to self administer morphine every six minutes for pain. It seems the more the U.S. government fights to exterminate cannabis ( which I know of biblically as kaneh bosm ), the more cancer rates increase; indeed when my son died, stats indicated that 1 out of 4 U.S. citizens will directly confront cancer, and today that number has risen to 1 out of 3. Since every American family will have to confront cancer and cannabis helps, citizens should consider directly requesting that Congress reschedule cannabis from schedule one ( in the same category as heroin ), to schedule two. A sequel story might investigate and report what is known about the ability of cannabis/THC, to shrink cancerous tumors; the ability of cannabis to stop some viral forms of leukemia from forming; and how the government has known this since 1974. Stan White Dillon, Colorado 
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on December 07, 2003 at 14:22:31 PT
Drug War Inc.
Here is a new way to refer to it...Drug War Inc. -Greg Francisco, Educators of Sensible Drug Policies, Paw Paw US MI: PUB LTE: Senseless Drug War http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1884/a05.html?39742000000ohahhhThis above story seems like a case of the Feds sitting on the fence in case the locals don't serve them.420& In case You haven't heard: 
Kucinich put in writting that as presedent He will: 
"decriminalize cannabis" -"in favor of a drug policy that sets reasonable boundaries for marijuana use by establishing guidelines similar to those already in place for alcohol." 
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17917.shtml 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by FoM on December 07, 2003 at 14:12:51 PT
Only One Thing
I am sorry he commented on the recreational use of Cannabis. When someone says that I don't understand why. I believe it is often said out of fear. I wish him good luck though.
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