cannabisnews.com: Pot Backers Vow Fight for Right To Use 





Pot Backers Vow Fight for Right To Use 
Posted by FoM on August 01, 2000 at 10:17:46 PT
By Josh Richman, Staff Writer
Source: Alameda Times Star
Creighton Frost of San Ramon speaks in a hoarse croak, the only voice his cancer-ravaged throat will allow. "The cancer I got, I got from tobacco, which as we all know is our government's favorite weed," he said. "It's ironic that its least favorite weed is what's keeping me alive." Frost was among patients who appeared Monday at Oakland City Hall with leaders of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative in a show of solidarity, vowing to continue fighting the federal government for the right to use marijuana as medicine. 
Last week, the federal government asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider and eventually overturn a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that cleared the way for a federal judge to let the cooperative start dispensing marijuana again. The high court won't consider the government's request for review until the court's new term starts in October. The government also has asked the 9th Circuit to stay the federal judge's decision -- and so prevent any marijuana dispensation -- at least until then; the 9th Circuit could rule on that request by the end of this week. "We will fight these with all the resouces we have," Robert Raich, the Oakland cooperative's attorney, vowed Monday. "This is not about hippies who are trying to get stoned. This is about patients who are trying to get the medicine they need to stay alive." All of this court action surrounds a temporary injunction the government sought to keep the Oakland cooperative from dispensing the drug while the full case is argued. Raich said he doesn't expect any progress will be made on getting the case before a jury until all of this hoopla over the injunction is sorted out. California voters in 1996 passed Proposition 215, which was meant to let seriously ill patients get and use marijuana without fear of prosecution. The federal government contends Congress has completely banned marijuana possession and use after finding the drug is risky and lacks any recognized medical value, and that no state law, judge or cooperative can second-guess that judgment. Dr. Michael Alcalay, the cooperative's medical director, said he uses marijuana to combat the nausea and weight loss associated with AIDS-related illnesses and the harsh anti-retroviral drugs used to combat HIV. "If it weren't for medical marijuana, I wouldn't be here to talk to you today," he said. Yvonne Westbrook of Richmond said she uses marijuana to fight the muscle spasticity and pain created by multiple sclerosis. She is wheelchair-bound and said she appreciated the district judge's ruling to allow the cooperative to dispense marijuana. Raich said the federal government "has engaged in a cynical political process using medical patients as pawns." Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush's accusations that Democratic candidate Al Gore is "soft on drugs" have driven the Clinton/Gore administration to enforce a draconian drug policy, he said. Raich said he was told the decision to seek Supreme Court review of the 9th Circuit's ruling was made "at the highest levels of government." Feedback:http://63.147.65.43/services/mainfeedback.asp?Paper=AngTsPublished: Tuesday, August 01, 2000© 2000 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG NewspapersRelated Articles & Web Site:Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperativehttp://www.rxcbc.org/Clinton Asks Supreme Court To Overturn Marijuana Rulinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6558.shtmlMedicinal Pot Goes To Supreme Court http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6557.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtmlArticles from The Alameda Times Star:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Alameda+Times+Star
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Comment #1 posted by Reitman on August 01, 2000 at 13:17:00 PT:
Unalienable Rights, or you can't prohibit a plant!
"The federal government contends Congress has completely banned marijuana possession and use after findingthe drug is risky and lacks any recognized medical value, and that no state law, judge or cooperative cansecond-guess that judgment." See, they use only statements that will have the effect of bolstering their prohibition, but leaving the truth far behind. Nixon commissioned a MMJ study in 1970, and when the report by doctors came back recommending cannabis be decriminalized, Nixon chose to ignore it. You know, it wasn't what he wanted to hear, those darn hippie draft evaders and all that THAT IMPLIES. Escalation of the Vietnam "War" with the complete support of the citizens of the USA was more important than hearing the truth being told by (pot smoking) war protesters. The Federal Government banned cannabis in 1937 because of one industrialist's request. It might interfere or compete with synthetic fibers that were being developed at DuPont laboratories in the 1930's, or some such nonsense. Also, politically speaking, there were 'undesirables' that used cannabis and the Republicrats wanted to send them back to Mexico, from where they came. There is too much nonsense and hysteria associated with the history of cannabis laws in the USA and the politicians perpetrate this behavior because thay don't want to appear to soft on 'some' drugs.The facts are becoming known with the help of the Internet, read all you can on the history of cannabis and its numerous beneficial uses. It continually amazes...The will of the people with the backing of the Constitution can alter or change any law that is deemed arbitrarily and capriciously enforced, or just plain wrong. The current marijuana laws are no exception.GET ACTIVE TODAY!
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