cannabisnews.com: High on Politics










  High on Politics

Posted by CN Staff on November 08, 2005 at 11:07:28 PT
By Tom Hinkle 
Source: Temple News 

Philadelphia, PA -- Ralph Nader, the third party contender for President in the 2000 election, who is well known for his support of legalizing marijuana for personal use, spoke to Temple students and media last Thursday, Nov. 3, in the Student Center Annex. "I support decriminalization of marijuana, but regulated," Nader said. This would provide for a regulated distribution of the substance similar to that of alcohol, Nader said. Of the plant's commercial uses Nader said, "Industrial hemp has nothing to do with marijuana uses, it's a great thing."
Nader lost the presidential election in 2000 to President Bush. He has been critical of the Bush administration and its policies, particularly the war in Iraq. "If we don't tell the Iraqi people that they're going to get their country back, then they will support all kinds of insurgencies," Nader said. He further explained that this means not just a military withdrawal. He said America must also withdraw our economic controls, introduce international peace keepers, have internationally controlled elections and sustain the same humanitarian aid. "The insurgency cannot succeed without lots of people supporting it," Nader said.Nader also criticized the current administration."You think if we had a real democracy they would have been a war in Iraq? Of course not," Nader said. "Some of us believed Bush's lies. Democrats folded. The press saluted. And here we are, in a terrible quagmire."Nader also focused on the ever-present majority of political apathy on college campuses."If I gave an ethnic, racial and gender slur to college students they'd go ballistic - [that's] just words," Nader said. "The fact their democracy is being progressively destroyed, before them, and they know it and their jobs are at stake, and their future is at stake. None of this gets college students angry." He said that students will not take interest without a reason. "You've got to find ways to make these issues exciting," Nader said. The former Green Party candidate said there is a need for electoral reform on the national and state level, primarily in Pennsylvania, where 67,000 signatures are needed for a candidate to be listed on the ballot. In California the number is 170,000; however, in Massachusetts only 400 are needed. "They kick you off the ballot … I could tell you stories you wouldn't believe," Nader said. "In Oregon they went to our petitioners homes, and threatened jail."Nader also focused on the ineffectiveness of standardized testing by saying "these tests don't test your creativity, determination, diligence, idealism; they don't test anything that really matters in life," Nader said. "There's a real tyranny there. You try to go to law school in the 80th percentile. A lot of kids know how to take these exams, [that] doesn't mean they're not going to be great lawyers. It's like a game."He encouraged students to not only work in the community but to encourage the Temple to add a civic skills class. Nader also asked a series of question posed to the audience."Why do so many college students now wonder whether if they become accountants or engineers they may have their jobs outsourced to India and elsewhere? Why do you have lousy public transit? Why do you have such high tuition rates?" Nader asked. "It all comes down to a political system that is corrupt and owned by corporate and commercial interests." Nader's lecture carried the same message that he has carried throughout his many campaigns. During the lecture, the main issue he spoke of was the present state of the two-party system.Nader said he believes the current corporately controlled system is a duopoly, which means the only difference in the parties is the spelling of their names. Nader stressed to the student body that all people in America, including himself, have grown up in a corporately-run world. "The world awaits you," Nader said. "There are huge problems, great potential for solving so many abuses and injustices, deprivations and starvations, diseases and wars around the world."Note: Controversial politician Ralph Nader tackled the Iraq war, President Bush and legalizing marijuana.Source: Temple News (PA)Author: Tom HinklePublished: November 8, 2005Copyright: 2005  The Temple NewsContact: tua24825 temple.eduWebsite: http://www.temple-news.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml

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Comment #37 posted by FoM on November 09, 2005 at 09:48:51 PT
Methadone Schedule II
Methadone can kill people and Cannabis is still in Schedule I.So illogical to me.
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Comment #36 posted by Dankhank on November 09, 2005 at 09:42:06 PT
emails
It would be helpful if many would inundate these folks with protests ...see earlier posts for contact info
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Comment #35 posted by Dankhank on November 09, 2005 at 09:40:51 PT
what the DOJ says ...
http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs6/6292/for the govt take on Methadone abuse/use
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Comment #34 posted by FoM on November 09, 2005 at 09:16:18 PT

Thanks Dankhank
Why is Methadone being used so darn much these days? You had to be a Heroin Addict to get Methadone years ago.Methadone was very addicting but it took out the fun of Heroin I was told.
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Comment #33 posted by Dankhank on November 09, 2005 at 09:05:03 PT

explaining
I talked to Laure F. (something) and she was forthright to a small degree.She said the young man ODed on Methadone. She said that her producers shaved time off and they decided that most Americans knew that you couldn't OD on Cannabis.I commented on the optimism of her bosses, but the little old lady across the street would view that story and be happy to asssume that Cory ODed on Marijuana.I urged her to so another story to plug the gaps and she said she would try. I don't hope much that it will happen.
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Comment #32 posted by FoM on November 09, 2005 at 08:14:35 PT

Dankhank 
Thank you. Please let us know what they said when you find out.
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Comment #31 posted by Dankhank on November 09, 2005 at 08:03:55 PT

beating drug tests
I called news 9 OKC and learned that the package came from Tulsa news 6. Laure is the reporterI will speak to them when they hang up their phone.(918) 732-6199 their news tip line ... obviously they need some tips on factual reporting.http://www.kotv.com/main/aboutUs/contactUs.aspfor contact page ...
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Comment #30 posted by siege on November 09, 2005 at 07:18:41 PT

O T S Court
There is something just not wright with Rehnquist Death. the doctors said he was in good shap for the shap he was in. death by appointment! 
Sandra Day O'Connor was she told to resign  or die by Bush administration??? sounds about right...
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Comment #29 posted by Hope on November 09, 2005 at 06:27:41 PT

God knows
I try not to despise these people, the Semblers, Calvina Faye, and the rest of them...but I do so hate and despise their deeds. Perhaps they should be forced to wear "humble pants" at the very least. No. I guess not. I don't want to be like them. If there is any justice, anywhere, anytime...they won't get away with the horrible things they have done and been responsible for being done to people, and children at that. They are big time child abusers. It would be easier to forgive them if they admitted and made as much recompense as they could for what they've done.Dispicable people. Heinous wolves covered in luxurious sheep's clothing.If this, Straight Inc., etc, had taken place in another time or another place, I fear I could easily be part of the mob that would drag these people to the guillotine. I wouldn't want that on my concience...but Lord...what can be done to protect people from the likes of the Semblers. God help us...they and people like them have got to be stopped. They are a true "scourge".
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Comment #28 posted by Hope on November 09, 2005 at 06:08:29 PT

Actually, Sembler is no longer ambassador
to Italy as of earlier this year, according to this article.http://www.alternet.org/story/27725/The Semblers and everyone involved with their hideous organization, Straight...and all it's offspring, are monsters. I can't believe they got away with what they did and the money they made doing doing it. Excessive amounts of money and being a member of the world wide "Elite" is why.They are still, I'm sure, a major driving force behind prohibition world wide.
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Comment #27 posted by Hope on November 09, 2005 at 05:09:09 PT

Prevarication, Dishonesty, and Outright Lies
Have always been the prohibitionist's greatest tools.The prohibitionists and the government they infest really do have no sense of shame. If they did, Mel Sembler would be in prison instead of Ambassador to Italy. 
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Comment #26 posted by billos on November 09, 2005 at 03:56:08 PT

            ..Teens beat tests..
I saw this disgusting display of MSM C R A P and they absloutely yet subtly blamed pot for this kids death. 
These anchors on channel 9 must have been paid extra to do this from an outside source.
The young woman going out and buying the "detox" drinks (which do not really work the way most would think) acted as if buying these "potions that pose a grave threat to public safety" was as bad if not worse than buying the actual drugs it's meant to clean out of your system.
The look of disgust on her face as she stated how "easy" it was to purchase the product.I'd like to see the law ban these drinks. It would be interesting due to the fact that vendors seem one step ahead by claiming they are a health drink meant to wash toxins out of your body. This plus the fact that the drinks are really nothing but fruit juice loaded with vitamins will make the attempt to ban very interesting.Hats off to Channel 9 who displayed what seemed like a sequel to the 1930's movie REEFER MADNESS.Unbelievable, you-couldn't-make-this-crap-up, display but typical of MSM.
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Comment #25 posted by Dankhank on November 08, 2005 at 21:52:11 PT

Teens beat drug tests
Siege, thanx for the link ....Did anyone else notice what I noticed?A letter to the anchors ...The package you run on this page has some troubling holes in it. An award-winning journalist should have seen the disconnect.http://newsok.com/video/1671422/Cody was randomed for two months for what drugs? Marijuana obviously, but any other?Two weeks later he was dead of an overdose of WHAT?Was it your intent to suggest that he died of an overdose of Marijuana, (Cannabis)?Why is the drug of overdose not named?I believe all of the video of drug use in the package was of Marijuana Use.Again, was that to infer that Marijuana was the cause of the overdose?It is known that traces of Cannabis linger in the body for many days, even weeks with regular use.It is known that many of the other illegal drugs are out of the system in a few days.It is known that some kids will choose to use a more dangerous drug that will leave the system fast. This includes alcohol.Party hard on Friday night, abstain Saturday/Sunday. Drink a body flush before sleep sunday night, urinate the toxins before school Monday morning. No problem. Except for Cannabis, possibly.Can we look for a clarification to this story with ALL the facts?Thank You for your attention. I look for a comment from you.
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Comment #24 posted by Jim Lunsford on November 08, 2005 at 21:29:38 PT

The Government
has always been all of us anyway. And, hopefully, we can all get on about our business soon. I will be having a big fat doobie in mine. Legal or not. But, the writing seems pretty clear to me. Democracy will win out. I just hope we are truly winning a larger war, that of compassion. Personally, I wish we could all move beyond guilt and innocence, good and evil, etc., and just repeal all prohibitions and get to work helping each other make it through the day. Just a thought. Peace, JimRev Jim LunsfordFirst Cannabist ChurchThomas Jefferson: Founding Father, Visionary, Drug Smuggler, Stoner. A real American Hero!Timmy, eat your brownies or you'll grow up stupid!
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 21:07:28 PT

MikeC 
I guess I believe that the government doesn't know the meaning of the word shame.
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Comment #22 posted by MikeC on November 08, 2005 at 20:47:06 PT

FoM...
Absolutely...I was tired of the government trying to make me feel ashamed of myself for doing nothing wrong. I was put in the same class with child molesters, murderers, rapists, etc. It's the government who ought to be ashamed of themselves!
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 20:37:20 PT

MikeC
I always felt like I was so different then many people and I thought I was a crazy lady or something. I'm kidding about that but I never seemed to fit in with the way I was suppose to be by societies standards. Then the Internet freed so many of us and we realized we weren't alone and we weren't unique but a part of a large group of people with a like mind. 
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Comment #20 posted by MikeC on November 08, 2005 at 20:28:25 PT

FoM
I feel good too! It's nice to see that people are finally realizing the truth in regards to cannabis. I have to give a huge amount of credit to the internet for the way things have gone in the last few years. The communication we all share is so important. No longer do we sit and wonder if we're alone in our feelings about marijuana. The internet has introduced me to so many, many others who feel like I do. And you FoM such a huge part of that. I and many others thank you for all you do to keep us posted on the latest news.Thank you.Now...hopefully my state of Wisconsin can make some noise in the near future. We have some great activists here like Gary Storck and Jacki Rickert to name just a few. I've had the pleasure of speaking with Gary and I'm confident that with people like him leading the way more good things are coming!
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 20:14:56 PT

MikeC
I was sitting here eating some popcorn and saw you posted the article and I felt good inside. Little by little we are becoming the popular decision and that makes me really happy. I feel like we can hold our head up and be humbly proud and thankful for these wins.
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Comment #18 posted by MikeC on November 08, 2005 at 20:09:47 PT

Thank you FoM...
I like good news too!When the Walls...come tumbling down!
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 20:01:07 PT

Thanks MikeC
I really like good news! http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21280.shtml
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Comment #16 posted by MikeC on November 08, 2005 at 19:48:45 PT

More great news!!!
Medicinal pot appears headed for victory in FerndaleTuesday, November 8, 2005BY GINA DAMRON AND BILL LAITNER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERSVoters likely voted for marijuana and against alcohol by the glass in two southern Oakland County cities. A Ferndale proposal to allow the medical use of marijuana apparently passed and one in Oak Park to allow sales of alcohol by the glass likely failed.Ferndale Councilman Mike Lennon said that, with most precincts reporting, city officials believed the proposal passed. If so, the city joins Detroit and Ann Arbor, which in 2004 approved allowing marijuana for medical use.Such initiatives have been approved in 10 states, but not in Michigan, so the new measure flies in the face of state laws banning marijuana possession. Police, including Ferndale Chief Michael Kitchen, pledged to ignore such an ordinance and arrest anyone found with the drug."It basically just seems like a big waste of time to me," said Ferndale resident Michele Sibula, 44. "Does approving that mean that we're cool? I think that's the implication."Proponents include a group called the Ferndale Coalition for Compassionate Care, led by University of Michigan sophomore Donal O'Leary III."I think people realize that this is a legitimate medical question," O'Leary said. http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm7216_20051108.htm
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Comment #15 posted by mayan on November 08, 2005 at 18:11:16 PT

Give Us Truth
Ralph Nader might never win the presidency but his message will spur change. It's now obvious that as long as we vote for the lesser of evils our country will continue it's decline. This thing we call the internet will be the end of the corporate duopoly. But first, the mainstream media will have to either go the way of the dinosaur or give us the truth. Either way, we win! Send this one far and wide...Guilty of Protecting War Criminals: Dear owners, editors, and producers of America's largest media companies:
http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2005/11/guilty-of-protecting-war-criminals.htmlTHE WAY OUT...German Intel Agent Von Bulow Solves 9/11:
http://rense.com/general68/911jh.htm9/11 Truther Forum: 
http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=14
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Comment #14 posted by siege on November 08, 2005 at 18:02:38 PT

O T Government in Action 
All four of the Seminole County, Fla. (suburban Orlando), judges who hear drunk-driving cases have routinely tossed out all challenged breath-alcohol readings since January (a total of more than 700), according to a September Orlando Sentinel story, because the judges believe the defendants should be given access to the machines' computer code. (Without the readings as evidence, about half the DUI defendants go free.) The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says the machines are accurate and that, anyway, manufacturers protect the codes as trade secrets. [Orlando Sentinel, 9-9-05] 
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Comment #13 posted by siege on November 08, 2005 at 16:06:00 PT

Teens beat random drug tests
http://www.newsok.com/article/1671422/?template=home/mainvideohttp://newsok.com/video/1671422/
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 15:38:04 PT

OverwhelmSam
Thank you for the article about Souder.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 15:37:05 PT

The Internet
I was showing a couple the Internet and I showed them videos, news, and music. They had never seen the Internet in action and I bet they get a computer now for Christmas.
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Comment #10 posted by Dankhank on November 08, 2005 at 15:29:22 PT

The Internet
has been my lifeblood.Finding like-minded folk in the ozone fills a void that lacking such communalism is hard to bear.cool site ... love the elevator ...Long live the free internet ...Peace
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Comment #9 posted by OverwhelmSam on November 08, 2005 at 15:09:12 PT

US: HHS Chief Is Scorned by Souder
Our old friend Souder is ranting again like a little crybaby. Although the story has to do with meth, it shows the hateful demented extremism that Souder exercises in politics. The guy is a loose canon who needs to be sedated. A joint comes to mind.Source: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1746/a08.html?999
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 15:07:44 PT

Dankhank
Just for fun. Check out the Greedy Hand Emporium. Use the Convoluted Store. When you click on say audio an elevator appears and takes you to the audio section of the web site. I love the Internet.http://neilyoung.com/ghand/
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 14:32:32 PT

med tents
I thought it was very nice to have a tent to help people with no judgement by us or the Doctor. Those were the days my friend. I will e-mail you and thank you.
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Comment #6 posted by dankhank on November 08, 2005 at 14:28:15 PT:

med tents ...
those were wondrous times, and with concerned folk like ya'll, it was safer.ThanksBTW, I have a cpy of "Panama Red"Send me an e
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 14:00:24 PT

Dankhank
My husband and I worked a concert back in the 70s. ( We made sure everyone was ok and if they weren't we tried to convince them to see the Doctor that was set up at the concert just in case someone seriously overdosed ) We only did it one time and Ten Years After performed that day. It was a great day pouring down rain and all.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 13:55:40 PT

More Videos on Marijuana Issues
http://youtube.com/results.php?search=marijuana&search_videos=Search+Videos
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Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on November 08, 2005 at 13:36:08 PT

Ralph
I matriculated at Macon Junior College, Macon, GA in September of 1968. It was a brand new place touted to be the answer to low-income prospective students.the grounds were that fabled Red-Georgia Clay...The college worked hard to get some good speakers there and I had the pleasure to hear Ralph Nader speak, about 1969ish.I liked Ralph for years, but shook my head in bemusement at his Presidential campaigns.It's sad that he would likely pull votes from Dumocrats more than Repugs.He shoulda put "*alls to the wall" in my opinion. Pardon for the imagery. all the things he supported... MM, Hemp, Elology ... the gamut. Give people a real chance to vote. It's always been diffucult to get on the ballot here in OK if you're not the Repugnants or Dumocrats. I would have voted for him if he had gotten on the ballot in OK the first time but he didn't feel we had enought delegates to push for it. In addition, there is no write-in on OK ballots.The site of the 2nd Annual Atlanta Pop festival was in between my house and my college.I didn't make it to the music Friday night, but I did saturday. Here are the bands I seem to remember from that night ...Procol Harum through the trees from the main campground that had the free stage as I got motivated and got up to go in.I thought ... barn Dance? as I got up to the gate. No, Pure Prarie League.Beautiful Day, Ten Years After, Chambers Brothers, Jimi Hendrix ... and that incredible fireworks show that freaked Jimi, and most of us.
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on November 08, 2005 at 13:04:20 PT:

NAFTA is so nifty.
Check it out. Paragraph 14 I think. I has been 10 years since I looked it up myself.
Canada traded for and recieved all hemp patent rights in the westren hemisphere Through NAFTA. We can't trade in hemp even if we could by law. The congress and the Senate won't even discuss legalization of hemp because the don't want to face the monumentally stupid act of giving all hemp rights to Canada who are busy growing and exporting more and more hemp products every year. They're just stonwallin' us in congress. They didn't think at the time 1995 that would ever become an issue. These poor farmers who are lobbying congress to drop the prohibition on hemp don't even know what they are up against. This probably goes for cannabis/hemp as medicine too. 
I pledge allegance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisable with truth justice for all. 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 08, 2005 at 11:23:21 PT

ACLU Press Release
Nation’s First Government Office to Provide Medical Marijuana Directly to Patients Established by Santa Cruz, California City Council 
 November 8, 2005
 CONTACT: media aclu.orgACLU Argues City Has Constitutional Right to Opt Out of
Enforcing Federal Medical Marijuana Prohibition SchemeSANTA CRUZ, CA – The nation’s first-ever government office tasked with providing medical marijuana directly to patients will likely be established today by the Santa Cruz City Council, the American Civil Liberties Union said. The action is designed to test states’ constitutional right to opt out of enforcing the federal government’s medical marijuana prohibition scheme. “This ordinance represents our city’s sincere attempt to responsibly implement state medical marijuana laws,” said Santa Cruz Mayor Mike Rotkin, a co-sponsor of the ordinance. “We want to help medical marijuana patients obtain their medicine while also protecting them from the undesirable consequences of an unregulated black market.” The ordinance, which gained a preliminary vote of approval two weeks ago, will have its final vote today between 3:00 and 4:30 p.m. at the Santa Cruz City Hall at 809 Center Street. If enacted as expected, the measure will establish a city “Office of Compassionate Use” to provide medical marijuana to patients qualified under California state law. The measure contains a provision protecting the city from federal law enforcement by delaying full implementation until the federal courts rule the plan legal.The ordinance complements an ongoing legal challenge brought by the city and county of Santa Cruz and a local medical marijuana cooperative and hospice, the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM). The ACLU is co-counsel in the lawsuit, City and County of Santa Cruz v. Gonzales, which asserts, in part, states’ constitutional authority to opt out of enforcing federal laws criminalizing medical marijuana.“Under the Tenth Amendment, the federal government cannot force California to go along with its ill-conceived war against medical marijuana patients,” said Allen Hopper, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project. “In order to keep California’s medical marijuana law from being an empty letter, the state must be given leeway to decide how best to carry out the humanitarian mandate envisioned by its citizens.”California passed Proposition 215, known as the Compassionate Use Act, nearly a decade ago, making medical marijuana legal under state law. Nine other states have since enacted similar measures.While the validity of Proposition 215 under federal law has not been questioned, confusion has arisen over how best to assure patients’ access to medical marijuana since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this past June in Raich v. Gonzales. The high court ruled in Raich that the federal government maintains power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to enforce federal marijuana laws even in states that have made medical marijuana legal under state law. The decision left untouched individual states’ medical marijuana laws, but as a practical matter leaves patients and those who provide their marijuana vulnerable to federal arrest and prosecution.The Santa Cruz ordinance targets this discrepancy, taking a cue from a recent opinion issued by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, which stated that “the federal government cannot enforce federal criminal laws against state officials who merely implement valid state law – or choose not to enforce federal law.”City and County of Santa Cruz v. Gonzales will test the ordinance’s ultimate legality under federal law. The lawsuit seeks a federal court order protecting the city and its medical marijuana patients from federal law enforcement interference. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration executed a paramilitary raid of WAMM facilities in 2003.“I applaud the city’s action and pray the courts ultimately find in our favor,” said Valerie Corral, a co-founder of WAMM. Corral is a medical marijuana patient who suffered severe head injuries in a car accident that resulted in daily grand mal seizures. “The sick should not be threatened with arrest for accessing needed medicine, nor the compassionate for providing it.”The proposed ordinance is available at: http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicy.cfm?ID=19363&c=81Attorney General Lockyer’s opinion may be viewed at: http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicy.cfm?ID=19365&c=81http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicy.cfm?ID=19367&c=81

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