cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Use Gets a Boost





Marijuana Use Gets a Boost
Posted by FoM on July 22, 2000 at 09:03:43 PT
Opinion
Source: Lima News
The news that U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer has modified a previous injunction against California cannabis clubs is good news on the medical marijuana front. The federal government's previously unyielding wall of marijuana prohibition is beginning to crumble. It's about time. Breyer's ruling almost certainly clears the way for the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative to begin dispensing marijuana to certain patients. 
Medical marijuana became legal in California through a 1996 ballot initiative, though the federal government refuses to accept that fact. In addition to Breyer's decision, University of California San Francisco medical school researcher Donald Abrams reported promising results earlier this month at the international AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa, on his pioneering studies on the use of marijuana by AIDS patients. Dr. Abrams' research showed no damage to the immune systems of patients in his study, but noted improved appetites and ability to hold down food and medicine. In San Francisco, meanwhile, District Attorney Terence Hallinan kicked off a new program of issuing city identification cards for medical marijuana users that are intended to protect patients from arrest by local law enforcement agencies. As Jeff Jones, executive director of the Oakland cooperative, said, "You can go to the same window where you apply for a copy of your birth certificate and get a cannabis card. From what patients tell us, the program ... is working smoothly." The San Francisco ID card program doesn't change federal law, but Breyer's decision affects the way federal law is applied in limited but significant ways. Breyer issued an injunction against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative and five other northern California medical cannabis distribution centers in May 1998, forbidding them to distribute cannabis to patients. The Oakland cooperative appealed Breyer's injunction and last September the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered him to reconsider the case after allowing the club to offer a "medical necessity" defense that would create exceptions to federal laws against marijuana use. On Monday, Breyer modified his injunction "as a result of the government's failure to offer any new evidence and in light of the 9th Circuit court's opinion." Specifically, Breyer ruled that under federal laws the Oakland cooperative could distribute marijuana to patients who meet certain criteria. They must: Suffer from a serious medical condition. Face "imminent harm" if they do not have access to marijuana. Need marijuana for treatment of a medical condition or to alleviate symptoms associated with the condition. Have no reasonable alternative to cannabis because they have tried other available legal treatments and those treatments that either have not worked or have produced intolerable side effects. The ruling also doesn't require a physician's certification because, as Raich put it, "Under the law if it's a necessity that settles it, no authority figure is needed." It is also worth noting that the federal government has not challenged California's medical marijuana law in court. So under that state's constitution, California officials are obliged to enforce the law as written. The next step, as Jeff Jones said, is for the federal government to recognize medical reality and remove marijuana from Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I is reserved for drugs that have no recognized medical use and cannot be used safely under a doctor's supervision. Federal courts and recent medical research have now recognized that there are accepted and safe medical uses for marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Administration should act immediately on a petition currently pending to reschedule marijuana and cease its cruel and unjustified war on sick people. Now is the time for Ohio's lawmakers to pass laws allowing for the medical use of marijuana. E-mail: letters limanews.com Published: July 22, 2000© 2000 The Lima News Related Articles & Web Sites:For A Better Ohiohttp://www.ohiohemp.org/NorthCoast NORMLhttp://www.timesoft.com/ncnorml/Drug Policy Forum Of Ohiohttp://www.drugsense.org/dpfoh/Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperativehttp://www.rxcbc.org/Oakland Pot Club Ready to Reopenhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6478.shtmlPot For Painhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6477.shtml
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