cannabisnews.com: Federal Court in California Hears Arguments on MMJ


cannabisnews.com: Federal Court in California Hears Arguments on MMJ





Federal Court in California Hears Arguments on MMJ
Posted by FoM on August 04, 2000 at 08:13:14 PT
By Greg Lefevre, CNN San Francisco Bureau Chief 
Source: CNN 
A federal judge is pondering arguments over California's voter-approved law that allows very sick patients under a doctor's care to use marijuana for medical purposes. Although the state law was passed in 1996, marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and federal authorities have threatened that a doctor who even suggests marijuana use to a patient could lose his license. 
"That means that a patient walks into my exam room, and I close the door, and I tell them something that the government objects to, they can take away my right to make a living, they can take away my right to practice medicine, they can take away my right to tell you what I honestly believe is true," said Dr. Marcus Conant of San Francisco. No doctor yet has had his or her license revoked, but the threat remains. Federal prosecutors are especially nervous about pro-marijuana opinions that conflict with federal law, especially when those opinions come from so respected a source as the family doctor. ACLU Enters The Fight: But Conant, supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, argues the federal prohibition is censorship, and he sued in federal district court. "They do not want doctors talking about marijuana to their patients at all," said Graham Boyd of the ACLU. "And they're willing to use federal power to try to censor, to stifle physicians." In hearings Thursday, Justice Department attorney Joseph Lobue argued that federal law against marijuana should prevail. "There is a national standard here," he said, arguing that using marijuana should not be up to a single physician. Federal Judge William Alsup seemed unbelieving. "Who better," asked the judge, "to decide the health of a patient, than a doctor." The California Medical Association agrees, saying in January that "A desperate patient with the advice of his or her physician must be able to explore all potential courses of treatment." Alsup's ruling, expected in several weeks, will affect several other states that have approved similar medicinal marijuana measures, including Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Long Legal Fight Expected: A California patient needing marijuana would go to a marijuana organization in Oakland, which is also fighting in federal court to stay open. "I'm very disappointed and disheartened by our government being so indifferent to people who are sick and dying," said Jeff Jones of the Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperative. Both sides of the debate agree on one thing: The issue will likely wind up in the Supreme Court. Forum: http://cnn.com/discussion/Web Posted: August 4, 2000Š 2000 Cable News Network.Related Articles & Web Sites:ACLUhttp://www.aclu.org/Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperativehttp://www.rxcbc.org/Pot Backers Vow Fight for Right To Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6584.shtmlClinton Asks Supreme Court To Overturn MMJ 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.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by Kanabys on August 06, 2000 at 11:01:35 PT
A worry.....
If the US govt performs its "own" research, what will keep McCzar from, under the table, influencing the outcome of the tests? I mean, it would be their own people doing the research.I think it should be done by completely independent researchers. Even from abroad. 
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on August 04, 2000 at 13:42:53 PT:
The wedge
Given that nearly all attempts to bring the historical evidence concerning the racist background of the anticannabis laws to light in a courtroom have been summarily thrown out (perhaps because their very explosive and incendiary nature was too hot politically for judges to handle?) this may be the only way to introduce this at all... via the medical defense. And the antis like Mr. Lobue have pretty much made it inevitable that it *will* be brought up. He has literally painted himself and all other antis into a corner where it's put up or shut up.I suspect it will now become a very interesting court battle... the 'duelling experts' kind. On our side, Dr. Abrams and his colleagues. On theirs...Dr. Gabriel Nahas. And his discredited studies. Which were torn apart in peer review and laughed out of serious journals. Then the history can be brought in. That will literally be the coup de grace for cannabis prohibition. Because if this winds up on Court TV, millions of people will learn the truth that we already know. Especially members of minorities. Many of them are already very angry. They know that they are targeted more by LEOs for shakedowns and rousts than Anglos are, but many don't know *why*. If the *origin* of US anti-cannabis laws becomes widespread public knowledge - as similar laws have in Ontario - then the slow simmer will quickly come to a boil. When they realize that they've been had...by the last of the Jim Crowe laws still on the books...I would not want to be a federal LEO or prosecutor.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 04, 2000 at 12:09:39 PT
My Thoughts
What I'm hoping is accomplished is that the government will be forced to reschedule Marijuana because they will be made to read all the reports that Cannabis has medicinal value and that would make it happen! I hope! What choice would they have if backed into a corner?Peace, FoM!
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on August 04, 2000 at 09:58:29 PT:
They are starting to get it.
'In hearings Thursday, Justice Department attorney Joseph Lobue argued that federal law against marijuana should prevail. "There is a national standard here," he said, arguing that using marijuana should not be up to a single physician. Federal Judge William Alsup seemed unbelieving. "Who better," asked the judge, "to decide the health of a patient, than a doctor."'Bit by bit, the wall is crumbling. Cracks are showing in the masonry between the bricks, and some daylight is peeping through. The last time a law judge showed this much spunk in the States was when the DEA's own Judge Francis Young spoke up and made the bold statement of cannabis being the safest drug known to humanity. Someone should clue in Judge Alsup as to this fact, that a fellow jurist had made that same determination long ago, and it has been borne out medically via the Abrams Report. The Feds have really made a bad tactical move, and at the worst of times: an election. (BTW, Lobue is the same man who said, in essence, that the free exercise of the sovereign franchise of California voters means nothing to the Federal government. In short, we live in a dictatorship, and do as Uncle says, or else! And his insistance upon maintainng a 'national standard' is especially dangerous - for them: it invites scrutiny as to the *origin* of that national standard. I wonder how many politicall active members of minority groups would be interested in knowing how those laws were passed, and why? Particularly when the major parties are trying so hard to appear 'inclusive' of those same minorities that the laws were aimed to suppress? This is going to be a redux of what just happened in Ontario, only the shock waves from this will be a lot greater. I swear, it seems like the Feds are getting more brazenly stupid by the hour.) By doing what they have done, by attempting to ignore the scientific proof of cannabis' medical efficacy, the Feds (led by Klinton and his protege, Mr. Gore) have just invited their would-be political executioners to chop their heads off. By telling the people of California that their votes count for nothing, they risk enraging a crucial State necessary for any political win. Ol' "W" has already beat Gore to the waffle match by making half-hearted noises about 'State's Rights' in this regard. I doubt that most Californians are even aware of what has just been done to them. But when they tumble to what's just happened, with their being disenfranchised by Federal decree, they won't like it one bit. Unless Gore does some serious backpedalling, he may have already lost California. As well as the rest of the West. Certainly the States covered by the 9th Circuit Court.Yes, we'll still have a hard road to travel. You can expect the antis to really start to scream their blather at a fever pitch. But now, they have one foot in a bucket of cement. Because they will now have to *prove* cannabis has absolutely no medical benefit. And that means undermining a study *authorized* by them...a study which proves it *does* have medical uses. A study that proves them to be *liars*. This summer is getting hotter all the time.
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Comment #1 posted by Dan B on August 04, 2000 at 09:50:13 PT:
More Exciting News
It sounds to me like this case will be decided in favor of the doctors, and when that happens we will have another judge (Alsup) to remember (and thank) when this persecution of the sick and dying finally ends. If the Supreme Court decides to hear both cases (we know this one will likely be appealed), each will weigh upon the other. That is, if they choose to uphold the Breyer decision, they will surely uphold this one. If they vote against the Breyer decision, this one will likely go down with it.But because two high-level federal judges have decided both cases, the Supreme Court may be more inclined to decide in favor of both. There is strength in numbers, and appealing this case will likely increase the chances of another victory, this time indisputable, for the good guys.And it will have the same effect as the Ontario decision has had in Canada. That is, it will call into question the wording of our federal laws with regard to medical use, and they will have to either rewrite the laws to exclude penalties for those using marijuana for medical purposes, or they will have to concede defeat on marijuana altogether. The former seems most probable, the latter is my hope.We may have federal judges to thank for ending the war against marijuana. Wouldn't that be a hoot?!
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