cannabisnews.com: Berkeley Pot Doctor Alleges Judge is Biased





Berkeley Pot Doctor Alleges Judge is Biased
Posted by CN Staff on March 29, 2004 at 20:01:50 PT
Breaking News
Source: Bay City News 
A Berkeley psychiatrist who has prescribed medical marijuana for more than 7,000 patients said today he is asking that a judge's ruling against him be set aside because he believes the judge is biased against marijuana use. Dr. Tod Mikuriya said administrative law Judge Jonathan Lew concealed the fact that he is associated with a religious outreach group whose members reportedly believe that marijuana enslaves people.
Mikuriya's lawyer, Susan Lea of Stinson Beach, has asked the Medical Board of California to reopen Mikuriya's case, alleging that the judge failed to disclose material evidence of bias and prejudice. Lea wants Lew's ruling to be set aside and a new hearing to be held. In a letter to the board Thursday, Lea said, "The extent of Judge Lew's bias was so powerful that the hearing itself was a meaningless exercise.'' On March 18, the state board approved Lew's Jan. 30 ruling, which said Mikuriya, 70, should be disciplined for gross negligence for failing to properly examine his patients before prescribing cannabis. In the ruling, which is to take effect April 19, Lew placed Mikuriya on five years of probation, ordered that his practice be monitored by another physician and ordered him to pay the board and the state attorney general's office $75,000 for the cost of prosecuting him. The judge also said Mikuriya can't see patients at an office in the basement of his house in the Berkeley hills, for which he's had a use permit since 1970. However, the sanctions don't include suspension or revocation of his license or a requirement that Mikuriya attend remedial classes. Lew said Mikuriya made "extreme departures from the standard of care'' in his treatment of 17 patients, including a narcotics agent who posed as a patient. Lew made his ruling following a six-day hearing at the state building in Oakland in September and the submission of briefs by the attorney general's office and lawyers for Mikuriya. The psychiatrist began prescribing medical marijuana for his patients after the passage of state Proposition 215 in 1996. The measure legalized growing and using marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation. Mikuriya said during the hearing last year that among the conditions of those who have come to see him are migraine headaches, depression, alcoholism, insomnia and brain damage. He said today that "no patient complained about my services and no family complained.'' The complaints against Mikuriya all came from rural county prosecutors and sheriffs. Mikuriya and his attorneys believe they resent him for issuing approvals for medical marijuana. "They're sorehead criminal justice entities,'' Mikuriya said. The psychiatrist said the attorney general's office challenged the first judge assigned to his case and he would have challenged Judge Lew, the second judge, if he had known that Lew serves as an adviser and board member to Folsom-based Powerhouse Ministries, a group that works with prison inmates. "The fix was in,'' Mikuriya said. The group's Web site has a section on substance abuse that says, "Nobody likes slavery. And no one wants to be a slave. Yet, every day in our community people 'awake' to find out that they have become enslaved to some substance.'' The section continues, "For some it's marijuana, for others crank or alcohol or all three! Most start the same way, they just want to have a good time. They never dreamed that having a little bit of 'fun' would end up like this.'' Lea said in a letter to Dr. Ronald Wender, the chair of the medical board's division of medical quality, that Powerhouse's position on marijuana "demonstrates profound bias against its use'' and that Lew never disclosed "his belief in and involvement'' with the group. She attached the group's medical abuse statement as an exhibit. Candis Cohen, a spokeswoman for the medical board, said the same board that approved Lew's ruling would decide whether Mikuriya's request for a new hearing should be granted or denied. She also said Mikuriya can appeal Lew's ruling to a superior court judge or state appellate court at any time. Lew wasn't available for comment today, nor were officials from Powerhouse Ministries.Complete Title: Berkeley Pot Doctor Alleges Judge is Biased, Wants New HearingSource: Bay City News (CA)Published: March 29, 2004Copyright: 2004 Bay City News Contact: bcn pacbell.net Website: http://www.baycitynews.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Tod H. Mikuriya, M.D.http://www.mikuriya.com/Prosecuting The Pot Doc http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17538.shtmlMikuriya Case - It's The Judge's Turn http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17496.shtml
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Comment #7 posted by escapegoat on March 31, 2004 at 21:03:33 PT
More Info...
KUBBYS FILE AGAINST REFUGEE JUDGE AS BIASED BY CATHOLIC ANTI-DRUG 
VANCOUVER -- A recent decision to deny protection to Steve Kubby was biased by the judge's involvement with a Catholic drug treatment house, according to an appeal that was filed today with the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board."I was shocked and outraged when Steve and I learned that Paulah Dauns is a card-carrying drug treatment prohibitionist, who is deeply involved with the T.N. Libby Society, a Catholic drug treatment house in North Vancouver," complained Michele Kubby."On the third day of our hearing, Steve challenged Ms. Dauns and said that her comments were prejudicial and that therefore she was incapable of providing a fair and honest decision. Steve specifically objected to her prohibitionist comments when questioning Michele and our other witnesses.
We specifically requested that Ms. Dauns remove herself as the adjudicator, which Ms. Dauns refused to do," argued Mrs. Kubby."For Ms. Dauns to rule that she was qualified and not reveal her background and to render the kind of senseless decision that she did, is all compelling evidence that Ms. Dauns should have disqualified herself. Because Ms. Dauns
has decided not to disqualify herself, Steve Tuck and Ken Hayes face the very real possibility of being extradited and locked in a cage for years to come. I was ready to give Ms. Dauns the benefit of the doubt, but now I really think this is a clear case of bias, prejudice and injustice," Mrs.
Kubby said.The Kubbys have filed a formal complaint against Dauns to Richard Jackson, Asst. Deputy Chairman in charge of the BC Refugee Board. In their complaint, the Kubbys request that the decision be reviewed by the entire Refugee Board and be overturned because of bias, as well as her failure to
disclose her involvement in programs that oppose the use of medical marijuana.In addition, the Kubbys have filed a copy of their complaint in Ottawa with Jean-Guy Fleury, Chairperson, Immigration and Refugee Board.
http://www.cannatrade.com/database/display-medical.php?article=873&topic=2
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Comment #6 posted by escapegoat on March 31, 2004 at 20:59:34 PT
This is exactly what happened to Steve Kubby
Subsequent to the ruling, the Kubbys discovered that until 1999 Dauns had served as President of St. Leonard's Society, a Catholic charity, which discriminates against medical marijuana users. (In 1997 the Vatican called on Italy to ban marijuana as a "hard drug.") Consequently, the Kubbys demanded a rehearing in a complaint to Richard Jackson, Assistant Deputy Chairperson, Immigration and Refugee Board in Vancouver on January 8, 2004.
http://www.kubby.com/irb.appeal.jan.04.html
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Comment #5 posted by Rev Jonathan Adler on March 31, 2004 at 12:03:55 PT:
Piece of the action?
It doesn't surprise me that an undercover was sent to lie and subvert Dr. Todd. Entrapment is standard procedure in creating a case against someone who is NOT a criminal.
The government is the guilty party as usual in these types of free-exercise cases across "amerika". I too was convicted of "being legal" by a Judge who pre-judged the case before it started. The fix was in, is an appropriate conclusion.. Dr. Todd admitted me to his beautiful home office in 1996 and gave me my first legal recommendation to use medically. I am sure the exam I was given was thorough and clinical. He is very precise. The government, by fining him, is just collecting their piece of the action. Taxation by definition. And still wrong by my book, the constitution.
Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on March 31, 2004 at 08:29:25 PT
Related News Article from KPIX.com
Court Official: Marijuana Case Judge Wasn't BiasedMarch 30, 2004A court official and a leader of a religious outreach group both said today that they don't think an Oakland judge was biased in a case involving a Berkeley psychiatrist who has prescribed medical marijuana for more than 7,000 patients. Robb Deignan, a spokesman for the state Office of Administrative Hearings, said that if administrative law Judge Jonathan Lew believed his ruling in the case of Dr. Tod Mikuriya had any bias, as Mikuriya has claimed, the judge would have recused himself from the case. At the conclusion of a lengthy review that included six days of hearings at the state building in Oakland, Lew recently ruled that Mikuriya, 70, should be disciplined for gross negligence for failing to properly examine his patients before prescribing cannabis. The state medical board approved the ruling on March 18. Lew imposed sanctions against Mikuriya that include five years of probation, orders that his practice be monitored by another physician and fines of $75,000 for the costs of prosecuting him. Mikuriya said Monday that his lawyers want Lew's ruling set aside and a new hearing held because they recently discovered that Lew is an adviser to a religious outreach group that has a statement on its Web site equating marijuana use with slavery. Mikuriya said he and his lawyers believe the affiliation shows Lew's bias against marijuana use and they say he should have disclosed his affiliation with the group, Powerhouse Ministries of Folsom, before the hearing started. Deignan said, "Had the judge thought that the affiliation with Powerhouse Ministries required disclosure, he would have done so.'' Deignan said, "Decisions by the Office of Administrative Hearings include findings of fact which are based on evidence that is presented and on conclusions of law. If the decision was flawed, Dr. Mikuriya's remedy is to appeal to the superior court.'' Nancy Atchley, pastor and director at Powerhouse Ministries, said Lew "had nothing to do with the construction of the Web site'' to which Mikuriya and his lawyers are referring. The group's Web site has a section on substance abuse that reads, "Nobody likes slavery. And no one wants to be a slave. Yet, every day in our community people 'awake' to find out that they have become enslaved to some substance.'' The section continues, "For some it's marijuana, for others crank or alcohol or all three! Most start the same way, they just want to have a good time. They never dreamed that having a little bit of 'fun' would end up like this.'' Atchley said today, "I don't think that shows bias -- we're talking about addiction, not medical marijuana.'' Atchley said Powerhouse Ministries is a 12-year-old organization that works with families of prisoners, homeless people and at-risk families in the Sacramento area. Mikuriya's lawyer, Susan Lea, said in a letter Thursday to Dr. Ronald Wender, chair of the medical board's division of medical quality, that Powerhouse's position on marijuana "demonstrates profound bias against its use'' and that Lew never disclosed "his belief in and involvement'' with the group. She attached the group's medical abuse statement as an exhibit.http://beta.kpix.com/news/bcn/2004/03/30/n/HeadlineNews/MARIJUANA.html
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Comment #3 posted by ekim on March 30, 2004 at 18:50:57 PT
please Patients write a letter for Dr.Todd--75,000
Medical Marijuana Patients In California Top 75,000, California NORML Estimates 
January 15, 2004 - San Francisco, CA, USASan Francisco, CA: The number of patients in California using marijuana medicinally under a doctor's supervision is rising dramatically and now tops 75,000, according to estimates released this week by California NORML. The total is more than double the total number of patients estimated by the organization in a 2002 survey of patients' groups, registration programs, and physicians that appeared in the March 2003 issue of the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics. "The concentration of medical marijuana patients varies between different regions of the state, being highest in northern California, which has by far the greatest number of patients' groups, dispensaries, and medical cannabis resources," California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer said, noting that local registration programs in Oakland and Mendocino County indicate that medical cannabis patients total approximately one percent of the local adult population.Gieringer adds that a similar rise in the number of state-authorized medicinal marijuana patients is simultaneously occurring in Oregon. According to an Associated Press story published this week, more than 7,500 Oregonians possess state identification cards to use medicinal cannabis - up from 4,650 last July. (Unpublished reports estimate the current total is actually closer to 10,000.) Gieringer attributes this trend to a "growing acceptance of medical cannabis in the medical community," noting that "1,500 physicians are known to have recommended marijuana in California, and some five percent of all licensed physicians in Oregon."For more information, please contact California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer at (415) 563-5858 or Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation, at (202) 483-5500. Website -- http://www.canorml.org/DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5906
http://www.hashbash.com
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Comment #2 posted by charmed quark on March 30, 2004 at 16:42:00 PT
Dr. Tod is 70
I hope he doesn't decide to retire because of this nonsense.I don't know who would replace him. And the use of his house for his practice is one of the pluses of visiting him. I wish all of my doctors had his incredible view from the Berkeley Hills. You see the Bay and the Golden Gate bridge in the distance. Just thinking of it makes me feel beter. -Pete
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on March 30, 2004 at 10:05:09 PT
the website
http://www.powerhouse-ministries.org/turnPoint.htmlCannabis is just like speed and alcohol, yeah right - that's not fair! It's such a statement on humanity and our weaknesses - the Christian fundamentalists attack our cannabis use with bitter enmity, while their "lord" Jesus probably based his entire ministry on cannabis use! Hypocrisy, arrogance, and vulnerability to "holier-than-thou" feelings are the Achilles heel of the human species. http://www.cannabisculture.com/backissues/cc11/christ.htmlWe didn't evolve like all other living things from primordial ooze - "God" created us to rule the world. Riiiiiiight.I love the way Jesus is invoked in the gay-marriage debate also - activists heckle the poor gay people by yelling "turn to Jesus". Hmmm, exactly who was Jesus married to? Did he have any girlfriends? He died single in his mid-30s, right? What was he doing all those years?Considering how few people are religious or even attend church, it's amazing that these bigoted zealots have retained such a high degree of control after all these years. They hide behind the scenes now, but their power is felt just the same.,
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