cannabisnews.com: Give Us Back Our Medical Marijuana










  Give Us Back Our Medical Marijuana

Posted by CN Staff on August 23, 2004 at 12:17:44 PT
Editorial by DRCNet 
Source: AlterNet  

California patients sue to get state law enforcement agencies to return almost $1 million worth of seized marijuana. In a mass legal action on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 38 California medical marijuana patients filed simultaneous lawsuits demanding that state law enforcement entities return almost $1 million worth of pot seized by police in recent years. California voters approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in 1996, but recalcitrant law enforcement organizations continue to seize marijuana from patients.
In all 38 cases, the plaintiffs had their medicine seized but were never charged with a crime or had the charges dropped. But they have been unable to get police to return their property – the marijuana. Now they are going to court in an effort to get their property back, or at least its cash value, and to try to shock California police into actually upholding and obeying the law.Under California law, persons whose property was unlawfully seized may seek its return through a court order. If the property has been lost, damaged, or destroyed, plaintiffs are entitled to receive compensation. Each case must be filed separately, as was done Tuesday across the state.According to a report issued this week by Americans for Safe Access, the group that coordinated the mass filing, illegal seizures of medical marijuana have occurred in more than half of the state's counties. The California Highway Patrol has also illegally seized marijuana from patients, the report found. Additionally, ASA found that eight years after the passage of Proposition 215, the state's Compassionate Use Act, most California law enforcement agencies have no procedures in place to determine who is a legal medical marijuana user.In the report, which examined only the last three months, ASA found more than 100 cases of police violating patients' rights and seizing their medicine. ASA executive director Steph Sherer blamed the problem on a "culture of resistance" within law enforcement."There is more support for medical marijuana in California than ever before," said Sherer in a conference call. "But when we look at the implementation of Prop. 215, it is surprising that we see such a culture of resistance to it among law enforcement."That reluctance to uphold the law will end up costing California taxpayers millions of dollars in arrest and prosecution costs, as well as millions more in compensation for seized or damaged property, Sherer said. "Patients are standing up for their rights and demanding their property back from the state," she said. "The Compassionate Use Act is not negotiable. Upholding the law is not negotiable. In addition to the return of property, we are asking for policies and regulations for law enforcement that will not only protect the rights of patients and monitor this culture of resistance, but also save money for taxpayers across the state."Police have had long enough to adapt to the law, said Joe Elford, a constitutional law expert and ASA staff attorney."When a substance such as pot has been illegal for so long," he said, "law enforcement cannot be expected to change its attitudes overnight – but it's been eight years. Because police continue to view marijuana as contraband and seize people's medicine, patients have had to stand up for their rights, they have had to go to court to try to get their medicine back. If this works," Elford continued, "we will have won a broader recognition of our rights. If it doesn't, we will see more lawsuits down the line. We don't intend to wait another eight years."Former California police officer and current medical marijuana patient Kevin Lewis said that even though he considers himself a responsible user, he "fears" the attitude of law enforcement if he is ever found with marijuana. But those attitudes could be changed, Lewis said, and it is up to law enforcement agencies to do so."Officer standards and training should make clear that if the person has a medical marijuana ID card and a doctor's recommendation, he should be treated like anyone else possessing a prescription drug. Officers need to review the documents, and if they are in order, let the patients go about their business," Lewis said. "I can't even understand what level of training these officers have or what orders they have to seize property."Lisa Swartz is one of the patients who filed suit Tuesday. During the conference call, she told of being raided at gunpoint in 1999. "They came with a narc SWAT team, pointing semi-automatic weapons at my grandkids' heads," she said before breaking into tears. "It was a terrible experience and totally changed my view of everything. I used to believe the police were there to protect and defend us. It is just so bizarre that they do this to people," said Swartz. "Even if we get our property back, this still takes a terrible toll on our families."Swartz spent 18 months and $50,000 defending herself before authorities dropped the charges. "They never apologized and they never gave me my medicine back," she said.The law enforcement "culture of resistance" to implementing the state's medical marijuana law is centered in the California Narcotics Officers Association, whose 7,000 members make a living enforcing the drug laws. The association, which is the largest law enforcement training organization in the state, says flatly on its web site that "marijuana is not a medicine" and that a well-financed drug legalization lobby has duped the voters of California.That's a big problem, said California Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). "I have only recently learned that the California Narcotics Officer Association says marijuana is not medicine," Leno said. "I would suggest they need to reread the wording of Prop. 215. That is the will of the voters, and it is not being respected. Prop. 215 clearly states seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes. That is what we are trying to implement." Source: AlterNet (US)Published:  August 22, 2004Copyright: 2004 Independent Media InstituteContact: letters alternet.org Website: http://www.alternet.org/DL: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/19632/Related Articles & Web Sites:DRCNethttp://www.drcnet.org/Americans For Safe Accesshttp://www.safeaccessnow.org/Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmPatients Sue for Return of Seized Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19353.shtmlCalifornians Ask Feds To Return Their Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19351.shtmlMarijuana Patients Coordinate Mass Court Action http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19347.shtml 

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Comment #15 posted by Hope on August 26, 2004 at 12:19:02 PT
ElPatricio 
Thanks for the great link.http://www.cnoa.org/
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on August 25, 2004 at 17:04:27 PT
Everyone involved in this 'position'
should be fired. Immediately.
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Comment #13 posted by Hope on August 25, 2004 at 17:02:09 PT
ElPatricio
It's a coup of some kind.In the United States? We have third world quality law enforcement now along with third world quality government?
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Comment #12 posted by ElPatricio on August 25, 2004 at 16:04:17 PT:
Obscene Is Only The Half Of It
Thanks for noting, Hope, that the California Narcotics Officer Association's "position paper" on medical marijuana is a hideous obscenity.Even worse, the CNOA is authorized to teach police officers throughout California how to conduct drug investigations. Starting from a belief that medical marijuana is a hoax, it's little wonder that CNOA teaches new narks that they don't have to conduct undercover buys to prove a qualified patient is cultivating with the intent to sell.All police officers have to do is count the plants, and apply nark arithmatic to estimate the amount needed for "personal medical use" and the future yield of the suspect's (excuse me, the patient's) pot garden. Doing so makes it easy to demonstrate that Aunt Millie is really the John Giotti of the marijuana world.At least, that's how they train 'em in California.
http://www.cnoa.org/
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on August 25, 2004 at 14:48:13 PT
spiritually
it is hideously obscene.
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on August 25, 2004 at 14:45:53 PT
Will they ever wake up
It's more than wrong...it's obscene.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on August 25, 2004 at 14:42:21 PT
Will they ever wake up to how "wrong" this is
"There currently exists some controversy concerning smoking marijuana as a medicine. Many well-intentioned leaders and members of the public have been misled by the well-financed and organized pro-drug legalization lobby into believing there is merit to their argument that smoking marijuana is a safe and effective medicine. A review of the scientific research, expert medical testimony, and government agency findings shows this to be erroneous. There is no justification for using marijuana as a medicine."http://www.cnoa.org/position-papers-1.htm
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Comment #8 posted by ElPatricio on August 25, 2004 at 12:27:57 PT:
Thanks, Eric of Corvallis
Thanks to Eric for the belly laughs from the two "position papers" he posted from the purportedly 7,000-strong California Narcotics Officers Association. The screeds should serve to remind the public of how dangerous the true believers in the war on drugs can be.The CNOA paper on medical marijuana is even worse. Nearly eight years after 56 percent of California voters approved the use of marijuana as medicine, the CNOA continues to tell the public that it is all a hoax. The association of narcs isn't afraid to name names -- it villifies individual doctors, attorneys and activists who dare to oppose its simple-minded message.Here's how it starts:"There currently exists some controversy concerning smoking marijuana as a medicine. Many well-intentioned leaders and members of the public have been misled by the well-financed and organized pro-drug legalization lobby into believing there is merit to their argument that smoking marijuana is a safe and effective medicine. A review of the scientific research, expert medical testimony, and government agency findings shows this to be erroneous. There is no justification for using marijuana as a medicine."
http://www.cnoa.org/position-papers-1.htm
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on August 24, 2004 at 08:26:46 PT
Forfeiture laws prostitute law enforcement
"The California Narcotic Officers’ Association believes that one of law enforcement’s most effective weapons in the fight to stop drug trafficking, is the use of existing civil asset forfeiture laws which deprive drug dealers of the proceeds from their illegal activities. Financial and asset forfeiture investigation is an integral part of law enforcement’s ongoing anti-drug operations."
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Comment #6 posted by siege on August 24, 2004 at 07:58:50 PT
GIS GEOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHS TECHNOLOGY
was developed for the OIL companys
the old man that live next door his son made this thing and made million off it. it works real good under water as well. from what I under stand it pick's up 4 -5 miles under ground. it could go deeper. 
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on August 23, 2004 at 20:07:32 PT
Press Release from Newswise
Geographers Use GIS Technology to Go One Up in the War on DrugsReleased: Mon 23-Aug-2004GIS GEOGRAPHY MARIJUANA AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS DRUG ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGY Two West Virginia University geographers are using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to project areas favorable for growing marijuana. MEDIA: A photo of the researchers is available on the Web at: http://www.nis.wvu.edu/2004_Releases/images/giswvu/giswvu.jpgNewswise — West Virginia’s hot, humid and rainy summer this year couldn’t have made for better conditions for the under-the-radar marijuana growers who give law enforcement fits in the Mountain State.Authorities last year confiscated 70,000 plants, and the West Virginia State Police are predicting to at least do that in 2004.In a state topped by hard-to-get-to mountaintops and slashed by rugged ravines and isolated valleys, the challenge isn’t always knowing where the pot is today. The trick is in knowing where it might be cultivated tomorrow.Or next week.Or next growing season.Two West Virginia University geographers are attempting to go one up in the war on drugs by doing just that. Dr. Trevor Harris and Dr. Briane Turley are using known data about marijuana sites across the Mountain State – then applying Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and fine-tuning it, to project those areas favorable for growing the plant that began its life in the tropics.GIS is an aerial photograph times 10 or 20.The technology provides researchers with a three-dimensional view of a targeted site, offering electronic data that takes in everything from the height and slope of mountains and valleys to the mapping of streets and highways.
Researchers are able to electronically “layer” in bits of data, making for a comprehensive study of a site that goes well beyond geography and aerial surveillance.Harris and Turley’s GIS work was bolstered recently with a $221,000 research grant from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Georgia Tech, like WVU, is part of a federal drug-fighting consortium sponsored by the National Guard Bureau’s Counter Drug Program, a sweeping, federal effort to rid the U.S. of illegal drugs.Call it a digital leveling of the playing field, said Harris, a soft-spoken 
Britisher who heads the University’s Department of Geology and Geography and is co-director of the State GIS Technical Center.“We’re looking at new ways to target those areas that growers might decide to use,” Harris said.In other words, he said, not where the drugs are – but where they aren’t.Not yet.Places, Turley seconded, that will most likely provide future yields of the crops that will be turned into illegal contraband.“We’re working on gridding out the places that are attractive to growers just because the conditions are right,” said Turley, a two-time Fullbright scholar and geography professor whose professional interests range from rights-of-way to religion.“It might be because the elevation is right,” Turley continued, “or because the terrain conditions and sunlight are suitable. It might be just because a site is off a back road and down some out-of-the-way hollow.”The duo can’t divulge a lot of the particulars of their work because it’s classified. But they do hope, however, that their efforts speak loud and clear with on-the-record results. They hope to soon be talking about home-grown drug trafficking in the past tense.“We’re looking at all these particulars, and are bringing them together,” Turley said of the new predictor models. “We’re looking at weather and elevation. We’re looking at water and roads.”For Harris, the technology is both practical – and tactical.“It’s not perfect,” he said. “It can never replace the gut and intuition of a good investigating officer. But when you combine the two, you have a real advantage. Right now we have very limited resources in the war on drugs, so every advantage most definitely counts.”Copyright: 2004 Newswise
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on August 23, 2004 at 17:46:15 PT
The man is delusional
"A: First of all, it's important to recognize that we have never waged a war on drugs any more than we waged war in Vietnam. I believe that saying is useful rhetoric but little else. We have had a very limited commitment of resources and no sustained or coordinated true national strategy. Committing less than one percent of the entire federal, state and local governments' expenditures on a war is a joke."Yeah, it was tragic when Vietnam attacked America and beat us and took our country over because we didn't commit enough resoruces to fighting them in the sixties.
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Comment #3 posted by CorvallisEric on August 23, 2004 at 14:56:15 PT
California Narcotics Officers Association
Maybe someone will enjoy this little snippet from CNOA's position paper "The Myths of Drug Legalization":Q: I keep hearing over and over that during the last decade we have had a war on drugs, and it's been a miserable failure. It seems, by what you read in the newspaper and hear on television everyday, that it's true. Do you feel we've lost the war on drugs?A: First of all, it's important to recognize that we have never waged a war on drugs any more than we waged war in Vietnam. I believe that saying is useful rhetoric but little else. We have had a very limited commitment of resources and no sustained or coordinated true national strategy. Committing less than one percent of the entire federal, state and local governments' expenditures on a war is a joke.http://www.cnoa.org/position-papers-2.htmFrom "Federal Asset Forfeiture":The California Narcotic Officers’ Association believes that one of law enforcement’s most effective weapons in the fight to stop drug trafficking, is the use of existing civil asset forfeiture laws which deprive drug dealers of the proceeds from their illegal activities. Financial and asset forfeiture investigation is an integral part of law enforcement’s ongoing anti-drug operations. Those that advocate changing our asset forfeiture laws cite cases in which there have been abuses of law enforcement’s authority. The fact is that no property may be forfeited unless it is legally determined to be a tool for, or the proceeds of illegal drug sales or money laundering.The civil forfeiture laws contain numerous protections for innocent parties whose property have been seized. Current law provides that no property may be seized unless the Government meets the standard of "probable cause." This is the same standard of proof required to arrest a person or secure a search warrant.http://www.cnoa.org/position-papers-5.htm
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 23, 2004 at 14:52:26 PT

ASA: MMJ Elders are Powerful! 
August 23 2004   
Dear ASA Friends
 
Did you know that the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), with 30 million members, is the most powerful special interest group lobbying Congress? Are you a member? Or a self-identified elder? Do you use marijuana as medicine? If so, we need your help with the Elders' Patients Union (EPU). 
 Modern Maturity, the AARP magazine, is coming out with a special article on medical marijuana use by retirees in October! This dovetails very well with ASA's action in Washington DC asking Health & Human Services (DHHS) to Reschedule Marijuana Oct 5. The day before, patients will be doing citizen lobbying with both elected officials AND advocacy organizations such as AARP. I can imagine no more powerful picture than our elders out in droves....those who have watched marijuana prohibition increase over the last 30 years despite working towards sensible policies, as well as those who have surprised themselves by using marijuana for the first time as age-related conditions developed. If you use marijuana to treat Parkinson's, Stroke, Alzheimer's, Chronic Pain, etc (or are a caregiver to those that do) please join the Elder's Patients Union today. And if you don't want to join the EPU, but you would still like to join us in DC, please let us know that as well.We will send every member of the EPU a copy of our new swank-looking 25 page booklet, " Medical Marijuana & Aging". For all of you non-elders, or who don't particularly identify that way, we have a number of other condition-based patients' unions up and running. For more info on any, please contact Stacey Swimme, stacey safeaccessnow.org, or by calling 510-486-8083. To join the lists directly, see the following:To join the Elders Patients' Union, send a blank email to seniors4mmj lists.riseup.netTo join the HIV/AIDS Survivors Union, send a blank email to hapu-subscribe lists.riseup.netTo join the Multiple Sclerosis Patients' Union, write to gstorck immly.orgTo join the Cancer Patients' Union, send a blank email to mmj4cancer lists.riseup.netTo join the Chronic Pain Patients' Union, send a blank email to mmj4cp lists.riseup.netTo start one based on any other condition, contact Stacey Swimme, info safeaccessnow.org, or calling 510-486-8083. To see more about the HHS action, click on http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=1295Hope to see y'all in Washington DC!
 Hilary McQuie
Effective Action Consulting:
http://www.Effective-Action.net
 
 
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Comment #1 posted by global_warming on August 23, 2004 at 14:23:24 PT

They are in violation of the "LAW"
"the California Narcotics Officers Association, whose 7,000 members make a living enforcing the drug laws...the California Narcotics Officer Association says marijuana is not medicine,.."They are in violation of the "LAW", fire the bastards, or arrest them and put them in jail.
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