cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot Ban Lifted





Medical Pot Ban Lifted
Posted by FoM on July 15, 2000 at 11:04:46 PT
Judge To Allow Sales by Club in Oakland 
Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
A federal judge said yesterday that he will allow an Oakland medicinal- marijuana club to dispense the drug for seriously ill patients, modifying his order that shut down the club and five others two years ago. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said he will abide by a ruling last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco that he should have considered the needs of patients who could ``suffer imminent harm'' without marijuana and had no legal alternative. 
Breyer said the government has not yet rebutted the Oakland club's evidence that cannabis is the only effective treatment for many seriously ill individuals. The judge's modification, to be formally issued Monday, was cheered by supporters of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, who said the finding could finally lead to legally mandated exceptions to strict federal drug laws that outlaw marijuana for any purpose. ``What it looks like, one way or another, is that some patients are going to get legal access under federal law to the medicine they need,'' said Robert Raich, an Oakland attorney representing the club. The Justice Department will not comment until it sees the ruling, spokeswoman Gretchen Michael said in Washington, D.C. Breyer's anticipated ruling would be the latest in a protracted legal battle that has pitted the wishes of California voters and advocates of medicinal marijuana against federal drug laws. In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, the medicinal-marijuana initiative. But two years later, the federal government filed a lawsuit demanding the shutdown of six Northern California clubs, arguing that federal law supersedes state law. In May 1998, Breyer agreed, issuing an injunction barring clubs in Oakland, Santa Cruz, Fairfax, Ukiah and two in San Francisco from distributing marijuana. Of the six clubs, only those in Fairfax and Ukiah still sell medicinal marijuana. The Oakland club, serving 2,000 members, later reopened to sell hemp products and provide identification cards for patients. A three-judge panel of the appeals court, in a ruling last September, said Breyer denied the Oakland club's appeal of his injunction ``without weighing or considering the public interest,'' which constituted ``an abuse of discretion.'' Judges Mary Schroeder, Stephen Reinhardt and Barry Silverman also urged Breyer to take into account the ``medical-necessity'' defense, which holds that seriously ill people can violate the law if they are in danger of imminent harm and have no legal recourse. Raich, representing the Oakland club, said the federal government could appeal Breyer's modification or appeal last year's appeals court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. But Raich, citing Breyer's expected ruling, said, ``I would think that it's in the government's best interest not to try to block patient access to the medicine they need.'' Among those who attended a brief court hearing in San Francisco yesterday were patients as well as San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan, a vocal medicinal- marijuana advocate, and Oakland City Attorney Jayne Williams. ``I think it's great,'' Williams said. ``He gave all the clues that he would modify the injunction so that cannabis can be distributed to individuals who demonstrate medical necessity.'' E-mail Henry K. Lee at henryk sfgate.comHenry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff WriterSaturday, July 15, 2000 ©2000 San Francisco Chronicle  Page A17 Related Articles & Web Site:Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperativehttp://www.rxcbc.org/index.htmlMed. Pot Ruling May Have Far-Reaching Implicationshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6402.shtmlJudge Hints He Will Modify MMJ Injunctionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6399.shtmlStudy Finds Pot Safe for AIDS Patientshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6390.shtmlStudy Finds Marijuana Use Safe for HIV Patients http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6383.shtmlStudy Finds Pot Use Safe for HIV Patientshttp://www.examiner.com/000713/0713aids.htmlCircuit Rules in Favor of Pot Users http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5712.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives: http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 16, 2000 at 20:19:43 PT
Medicinal Marijuana Ban May Fall
Medicinal Marijuana Ban May Fall'Banner week' for pot patients sees release of first U.S. study July 15, 2000By Josh Richman, Staff WriterThe Oakland Tribunehttp://www.oaklandtribune.com/A federal judge hinted Friday he will modify -- or perhaps lift -- a ban that has kept the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative and other Northern California medicinal marijuana clubs from dispensing the drug to people with certain illnesses. Robert Raich, the cooperative's attorney, said U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer spoke during a hearing on the cooperative's motion to modify the 1998 injunction. Oakland City Attorney Jayne Williams and San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan were there to argue on the cooperative's behalf, Raich said, "but as it turned out ... it wasn't necessary for us to say much at all." Raich said Breyer seemed to indicate he will issue a written ruling Monday to change the injunction to permit medicinal marijuana dispensation. He is doing so "because of the 9th Circuit's opinion regarding medical necessity," Raich said. Medicinal marijuana clubs opened all over the state after California voters in 1996 approved Proposition 215, which allowed patients with serious illnesses to get and use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. Breyer issued an injunction in 1998 closing the Oakland cooperative and five other Northern California clubs after the U.S. Justice Department argued that federal law absolutely bans marijuana distribution and use, no matter what any state statute or ballot initiative says. But last September, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Breyer should reconsider the case and let the clubs claim there is a medical necessity for medicinal marijuana use. The Oakland cooperative has stayed open under the injunction -- it stopped official distribution of marijuana but has kept providing information and support to its more than 2,500 members. Executive director Jeff Jones noted Friday that this has been a banner week for medicinal marijuana advocates and patients. On Thursday, University of California, San Francisco researcher Donald Abrams released the first U.S. study of medicinal marijuana use by people with HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS. Some people rely on marijuana's appetite-boosting effect to combat the nausea and weight loss associated with AIDS, and Abrams' study found smoking marijuana does not interfere with anti-retroviral drugs used to fight HIV. On Friday, Hallinan kicked off San Francisco's new program of issuing identification cards that protect medicinal marijuana users from prosecution for possessing the drug. The cards have no effect on federal law governing marijuana. Jones said these events make it clear the federal government is "overdue" to move marijuana out of its current, most-restricted classification under the Controlle Substances Act. Marijuana is listed on Schedule One, along with drugs such as heroin and LSD that the government believes are unsafe, have high potential for abuse and have no recognized medicinal value. "We're now dealing with a substance that has accepted medical use, which is not the definition of Schedule One," Jones said. Jones said he's "no more than cautiously optimistic" about the ruling Breyer will issue Monday. "It seemed as if ... he looked at the 9th Circuit decision of last September as a report card, and the report card told him what he needed to do so he's going to fill in the blanks and issue a decision on Monday," Jones said, adding Breyer didn't seem happy to have been second-guessed by the appellate court. Jones said Breyer asked Justice Department lawyer Mark Quinlivan on Friday what public harm would be done by letting the Oakland cooperative distribute marijuana to patients with physicians' recommendations. Quinlivan had no answer, Jones claimed. Quinlivan couldn't be reached later Friday, and Justice Department officials said they won't comment until Breyer issues his ruling. © 2000 by MediaNews Group, Inc. 
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