cannabisnews.com: Oroville Woman at Center of Medical Pot Ruling





Oroville Woman at Center of Medical Pot Ruling
Posted by CN Staff on December 18, 2003 at 11:33:29 PT
By Terry Vau Dell, Staff Writer 
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record 
Oroville -- An Oroville woman Wednesday hailed a "landmark" court ruling that said the federal government did not have the right to uproot her six-plant medical marijuana garden last summer. "I was growing within the law and I'm very thankful to (the court) for giving me back my rights and my medicine," said Diane Monson.The 46-year-old Oroville woman had joined an Oakland pot patient, Angel Raich, in suing Attorney General John Ashcroft over the seizure by federal agents of small amounts of marijuana prescribed by their doctors.
They asked for a court order permitting them to smoke, grow or obtain pot without fear of federal prosecution in states such as California that have passed medical marijuana laws.In a 2-1 decision for the two women Tuesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal held that personal use of medical marijuana in a state that permits it can be outside the control of federal authorities. Specifically, the court majority found that prosecuting medical marijuana users under a 1970 federal drug trafficking law is unconstitutional if the pot isn't sold, transported across state lines or used for non-medical purposes.The decision sends the women's suit back to a lower court that had earlier refused to block federal action against Raich and Monson.Randy Barnett, a Boston law professor who represented the two California women, called it a landmark decision that could theoretically affect medical marijuana users in the other Western states within the court's jurisdiction."This is a tremendous landmark case that says it's unconstitutional to use federal drug laws to prohibit wholly non-commercial cultivation and use of medical cannabis. Such activities are solely a matter of state laws," said the plaintiffs' lawyer.The U.S. Justice Department and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C., said Wednesday they were still reviewing the court decision and had no comment at this time.A Justice Department spokesman indicated their options are to do nothing or appeal the case either to the full 9th Circuit Court or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.At the time of the local pot bust, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey had taken the unusual action of moving to block federal drug officers from uprooting Monson's medical marijuana garden because it fell within the county's six-plant limit.Though Ramsey later relented, he ended up writing a friend of the court brief on Monson's behalf."For people living up to the spirit and the law of Prop. 215, it should give them some additional comfort that the federal government will not intervene in their small personal grows," Ramsey said of this week's ruling.Monson, who smokes marijuana with a doctor's recommendation for painful back spasms, was home with her husband during an early summer morning in 2002 when Butte County sheriff's deputies, accompanied by a handful of federal agents, raided their rural Wyandotte ranch.Sheriff's deputies had previously flown over the heavily-wooded property by helicopter, but couldn't tell how large the grow was, according to Ramsey.After confirming the county's six-plant guidelines had not been exceeded, sheriff's officers started to leave, but the federal agents reportedly said they were compelled under federal drug law to seize the pot.When contacted by his investigator, Ramsey said he ordered the deputies to "take whatever means necessary" to stop the agents from uprooting the plants until he conferred with their superiors.After discussing the matter with the acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento, Ramsey said he advised the local officers to leave the site, but in no way assist the federal agents.Ramsey said he warned the U.S. attorney his agents would be viewed by the public as "jack-booted thugs ... if they took this woman's measly six plants."The district attorney said he also predicted that the agents' action would result in the very court ruling that came down this week."Bad facts make for bad case law," observed Ramsey.While he supported Monson's case and even wrote a brief saying that she was complying with local and state laws, Ramsey said he is concerned that larger growers will try to use the court ruling in seeking the same protection against federal prosecution."That will increase the challenge for local law enforcement officers," the DA predicted.As the federal authorities were chopping down her small grow, Diane Monson said she recited the entire text of Prop. 215, the 1996 voter-approved Compassionate Use law, which legalized medical use of pot in California.The Oroville woman said Tuesday's court decision showed she was right."I want to say to them, you violated my constitutional rights," Monson stated.She said she was particularly gratified that the 9th Circuit, which is known for some of its more liberal rulings, particularly in medical marijuana cases, relied on "solid case law that had come down from the U.S. Supreme Court."For Michael Pierce, Monson's husband, Tuesday's ruling means the government can no longer accuse his wife of being a criminal."This is a very good woman who devotes her time to helping illiterate persons to read and helping the homeless," said Monson's spouse."We paid our taxes, lived within the law, raised two beautiful children and they were trying to make her a significant criminal over this one issue between her and her doctor," added Pierce.The Oroville woman said the legal struggle was not without pain. She had been without her "medicine" for 15 months while the court case was being contested."I'm very sorry it came to having to go on the offensive with the federal government," she said. "But they sought to expand their powers far beyond what the founders of this country ever intended."Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)Author: Terry Vau Dell, Staff Writer Published: Thursday, December 18, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Media News GroupContact: letters chicoer.comWebsite: http://www.chicoer.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Raich v. Ashcroft in PDFhttp://freedomtoexhale.com/ruling.pdfA Landmark Victoryhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17996.shtmlHome-Grown Victory http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17994.shtmlMedical Use of Marijuana OK, Appeals Court http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17995.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on December 19, 2003 at 07:36:20 PT
Dr. Ganj
It is so good to see you! It has been a long, long road but maybe things will change now for the better. Happy Holidays to you!
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Comment #1 posted by Dr Ganj on December 19, 2003 at 00:26:53 PT
Raich V. Ashcroft
It sure is interesting how uprooting just 6 plants could be the turning point for all personal medical cannabis growers in SEVEN STATES!
However, it was just a matter of when, really, as we all watched/read in disgust as the federal raids continued. 
I got the feeling since Ed Rosenthal's 1 day sentence was handed out by Federal judge Charles Breyer, that they too are sick of seeing the obvious abuse by the justice department in MMJ cases.
By the time the Supreme court reviews this case, which I think likely, there will be strong public demand that this blatant abuse of power be stopped dead-finally and forever.  
http://raich-v-ashcroft.com/index.html
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