cannabisnews.com: Striking Down Medical Marijuana





Striking Down Medical Marijuana
Posted by FoM on August 30, 2000 at 22:35:21 PT
By David Tuller
Source: Salon Magazine
San Francisco's pro-pot district attorney discusses the long-term implications of the Supreme Court's ruling.Tuesday's Supreme Court decision temporarily barring the distribution of marijuana for medical purposes by an Oakland, Calif., cannabis club was just the latest twist in a long-running legal battle between pot supporters in California and the federal government. The conflict stems from the state's passage in 1996 of Proposition 215, a ballot initiative that permitted patients with AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other illnesses to use marijuana with a doctor's approval. 
In the wake of the initiative's passage, pot dispensaries sprang up throughout the state, although federal authorities forced some of them to close up shop. Several other states have passed similar measures. Advocates say the drug relieves pain, helps patients keep medications down and maintains their strength by boosting their appetite. But marijuana is classified under U.S. law as a drug that offers no medical benefits. And federal authorities, led by drug czar Barry McCaffrey, have aggressively opposed the measures, arguing that loosening the laws on pot will weaken the country's efforts to fight drug abuse. The decision Tuesday arose out of the federal government's efforts to shut down the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, along with several other clubs. After the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that medical necessity could be a valid defense for the use of marijuana, a lower-court judge determined in July that the Oakland club could once again dispense marijuana to seriously ill patients. The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to issue a stay of that ruling until the case is heard again on appeal before the 9th Circuit -- after which it will likely end up right back in front of the justices in Washington. In a parallel development yesterday, the University of California announced that it was launching the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research to conduct studies on the efficacy and safety of the drug. The center is a joint project of the university's San Diego and San Francisco campuses. The state has allocated $3 million for the center's first year of operation. The funds stem from a bill sponsored by state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, who is a longtime proponent of the use of medical marijuana. Like Vasconcellos, San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan has also been supportive of the issue. He has worked closely with local health and law enforcement authorities to keep the city's cannabis clubs open so they can distribute pot to those with a doctor's letter or prescription. In an interview with Salon this morning, he said that he hopes the federal government will eventually reclassify marijuana as a drug with medical potential. What exactly does this decision mean? Hopefully it's just a bump in the road, but it seems like a bad omen. They granted a stay pending a hearing at the Court of Appeals to see where we go from here. They grant those stays when they feel that something will end up being decided that way. So it seems that they might reverse the 9th Circuit and rule that medical necessity is not a defense. Do you think the federal authorities will now move to shut down the clubs currently dispensing marijuana? In the long run this might be tough on the dispensaries you're talking about. But I think it's premature for the federal government to take some steps to get them to close down because this is all in process. Hopefully, everybody will just defer until we get a final decision out of the Supreme Court. I assume that will take more than a year. Why do you think the administration is so aggressively opposed to the use of medical marijuana? Well, I've tried to talk to [drug czar Barry] McCaffrey about it a couple of times, and he doesn't even want to hear about it. They just seem adamant to maintain the status quo in the drug war. And medical marijuana is a serious challenge to the status quo, in that maybe things are not just black and white, maybe this is really a medical issue and not a legal issue. I just think there's a mind-set, the "just-say-no" mentality. And when you begin to say "maybe," it gets much more complex. What role, if any, do you see this issue playing in the presidential campaign? I guess I'll have to wait and see what Gore is going to say, but as far as anything I've seen, both the Democrats and the Republicans agree with the present classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug (a drug that has no medical value). I don't think Gore has made any statements about it. He has a background. He inhaled, right? Hopefully, he will take a more enlightened view and position, but of course it's kind of a hot potato, and politicians don't like hot potatoes. Perhaps he'll avoid making it an issue during the campaign, but of course it's in the nature of campaigns that they make people take positions. So keep your fingers crossed. You've had a good reputation with the advocates of medical marijuana. You even recently received an award from some of them for your support. I believe in this. Marijuana has medical properties. I think just about anybody in San Francisco knows somebody who swears that it has alleviated their suffering. When I was a member of the Board of Supervisors, I passed legislation making medical marijuana very low as a priority for law enforcement, so police officers could turn their back on it when it was a clear medical case. The local police are well aware of my position and I think for the most part are in agreement, or at least defer to my position on it. Have you received much support from other district attorneys around the state? Not a lot of support. I think basically people have spent so many years treating marijuana as a criminal drug that it's difficult for them to switch their view of it and see that it might have a medical purpose. They'd have to look back at all the people they've arrested and put in prison and wonder if they did the right thing. So it's a Catch-22 for most police officers and prosecutors. If they say now it's legitimate, how do they justify what they've done in the past? What about critics who argue that medical marijuana is just a stalking horse for attempts to legalize it completely? I don't see it that way. You could say that of any prescribed drug. Medical marijuana is about making marijuana available to people who have legitimate medical conditions that a doctor says are alleviated by use of marijuana. The concern is that the clubs don't just dispense it to people to make money or for recreational purposes, but that they're doing it on the basis of a doctor's recommendations. I try my best to encourage them to run the clubs carefully, and most of them do run it pretty strictly. They're not a bunch of hippies smoking marijuana. Anytime I have been in one of those clubs, there's no question in my mind that those are sick people. Have you found the constituency for medical marijuana to be broader than just young people? It's a constituency of sick people. I would say when I visit any of these clubs to determine how they're operating, it's basically people who have AIDS and old people who have arthritis or cancer or glaucoma. I've had numerous people in their 70s and in their 80s say that this works, that it alleviates the pain. These are people who are certainly not potheads and would not be expected to use it. To my mind that's the best argument for it. The University of California on Tuesday announced the creation of a new research center for studying the effects of medical marijuana. Some advocates say that there's already enough evidence of its usefulness. What's your position? I think more study is needed, because most of the indications now are aphoristic -- people saying, "It helps me." We don't know medically how that works. Although I know there are numerous doctors and scientists and research people who say that it does have these medical qualities, I don't think they understand exactly what they are yet. And to have a legitimate medical usage, you should understand how it works. If it alleviates suffering for people who are seriously ill, with the minimal side effects that it has, and a doctor supervising it, I think that's fine. But I also encourage more study. Salon Magazine - Striking Down Medical Marijuanahttp://www.salon.com/health/feature/2000/08/31/medical_marijuana/index.htmlWeb Posted: August 31, 2000Source: Salon.com (US Web)Copyright: 2000 Salon.comContact: salon salonmagazine.comAddress: 22 4th Street16th Floor San Francisco, CA 94103Fax: (415) 645-9204Feedback: http://www.salon.com/contact/letters/Website: http://www.salon.com/Forum: http://tabletalk.salon.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperativehttp://www.rxcbc.org/Court May Have Doused a Fire, but It Still Smokeshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6880.shtmlMedical Marijuana Advocates Optimistichttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6879.shtmlCalif. Clinic's Marijuana Distribution Barred http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6873.shtmlMedical Marijuana Decision a Death Sentencehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6871.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #9 posted by Dan B on September 01, 2000 at 12:20:25 PT:
Thanks
FoM, Kaptinemo, dddd...thanks for your kind comments, and thanks for your well-wishes before I took the exam. I don't know if they use sheepskin, but I (unfortunately) know the one-size-fits-all bureaucracy here enough to know that I'd be wasting my time requesting a particular kind of parchment. I have a Masters from this institution, and I know that the Ph.D. looks exactly the same, except that it says "Doctor of Philosophy" instead of "Master of Arts." Cheapskate state institution. Anyway, what matters is that I'll be getting the degree. I'll finish in May of 2001.Thanks, everyone, for your support. It is greatly appreciated.
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Comment #8 posted by dddd on September 01, 2000 at 02:52:57 PT
Ph.d.
Dan..in my opinion you already have a Phd..after this it will be on a sheepskin,,,if they still use sheepskin.. Perhaps you can request a fine parchment made of hemp,like I believe the Constitution was originally on.Best of luck to you.Keep on Keepin' on. ............sincerely.........dddd
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Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on August 31, 2000 at 13:26:55 PT:
Outstanding, Dan!
So, soon it will be 'Doctor' Dan? Go for it! People *do* listen to those whose names bear a string of consonants and vowels trailing behind. (It sure beats 'General' when you have to hold forth in public debate about the public weal. When former-General-now MISTER McCaffrey runs his yap about 'public safety', I keep seeing dead Iraquis who were killed *after* they surrendered. I wouldn't trust that man with *my* safety, no way.)
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on August 31, 2000 at 10:14:14 PT
Way To Go Dan!
Way To Go on your exams and good luck with getting your Ph.D. Life can be so darn frustrating and then we get a little ray of hope and we get going again and so the circle of life goes! We ARE Overcoming! Not someday either but now! They don't have any answers. They must give us reasons and hopefully this will come up in a presidental debate. I hope! I hope! I hope!Peace, FoM!
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Comment #5 posted by Dan B on August 31, 2000 at 10:00:18 PT:
Hi, FoM.
My spirits are greatly lifted now--in part because of your comments and the positive comments by others, and in part because I PASSED MY QUALIFYING EXAMS!!!!Now, I have just one more hurdle to the Ph.D.--the dissertation. And that's just a matter of working until I get it right. Having "Ph.D." after my name should give me more credibility when I write about the drug war, which will be one of my major topics of concern.You're right--we do have reason to be optimistic. We will be victorious against the WoSD.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 31, 2000 at 07:40:18 PT
Hi Dan B.
Hi Dan B.We are lucking to have the Kapt's wise words and yours too. Don't let it get you down it's only castles burning. I think we are scaring them and that's why all this is happening. The government is acting like a parent when a kid says why can't I do this Mom or Dad? The parent says because I said so.We are questioning the very foundation of the drug war and they don't have an answer for us.Peace, FoM!
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Comment #3 posted by Dan B on August 31, 2000 at 07:12:21 PT:
Thanks again, Kaptinemo.
I've been unusually depressed over the recent ruling,, and as usual your response to this article has lifted my spirits. It's easy to get bogged down by the setbacks in this wrestling match of a war, and it is good to have an optimistic voice like yours to get us back up off the mat and into the fight.You're right, this is just one setback among a whole summer of moving forward. Who knows? We may yet see victory--even at the Supreme Court. And if not there, our victory will be had in the minds of the curious Americans you have alluded to in your posting. If we continue to vocalize, we will be heard, and we will win.Thanks, Kapt.Sincerely,Dan B
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on August 31, 2000 at 05:18:31 PT:
Part of the real reason, in a nutshell:
D. A.. Hallinan has pointed out something I've been harping on for years: if cannabis is approved for medical purposes, *particularly* because it is safe, then how can the entire prohibition be explained? How can it be justified?Q)Have you received much support from other district attorneys around the state? A) Not a lot of support. I think basically people have spent so many years treating marijuana as a criminal drug that it's difficult for them to switch their view of it and seethat it might have a medical purpose. *They'd have to look back at all the people they've arrested and put in prison and wonder if they did the right thing.* (Emphasis mine.) So it's a Catch-22 for most police officers and prosecutors. If they say now it's legitimate, how do they justify what they've done in the past?This is in very large part the reason why the antis are fighting us tooth-and-nail. They see MMJ as being a Pandora's Box.But not for society. FOR THEM. To admit that a policy based upon racial bigotry - and nothing else, no scientific evaluations whatsoever - dictated the arrest and incarceration of millions of people over 63 years would be like standing next to a fusion bomb and pushing the detonator button. The financial cost from lawsuits for effective wrongful imprisonment would bankrupt the country.The more intelligent of the antis know that. They fear that. That fear runs all the way up to the Supremes. That's why they acted so quickly when their normal speeds are pegged at dead slow and dead. They know what's coming, but like most banana republic dictators, they are trying to forestall the inevitable 'revolution' by force.But not even that will stop us. Because the antis may have made the biggest mistake of their lives. They put MMJ on the *national* radar. People who never gave much thought about it one way or another will get curious. Some of those will do their own research. And come to the same conclusion many of us had long ago. A conclusion that the supposed threat doesn't exist. That it certainly doesn't justify the government's rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth reactions it all too often displays. They'll have questions the antis won't be able to duck for too long. Because if you try that with tens of millions of people, and you learn the painful truth of Lincoln's Dictum about fooling people - and what happens to political careers of those who ignore it.We have only suffered a temporary setback. This war's been going on for decades. But with the antis getting *this* desperate, we have gotten a lot closer to the end of it. Hang in there!
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Comment #1 posted by Larz on August 31, 2000 at 03:12:36 PT:
prop.215~Dead or Alive ?
I find it very funny, In this political season and to say with a smile on your face That EVERY VOTE COUNTS -    SO whats up with that ?IN 1996 I voted into Law PROP.215(with the help of many great Californian's) a compassionate use act designed to help the sick and dieing Never knowing I myself would be those sick & dieing who would use's cannabis in his theraphy for my battle against AIDS I was Diagnosed April '98 & became a medical patient in '99 and have watched all my counts improve so to say IT doesn't work is B.S. tnd it's documented my T-cells went form a stable 40 to over 200 and my viral load is now undetectable "Cannabis Saves Lives" and needs to be reclassified as a HERB, "NOT A DRUG" and remember in this WAR "A Seed is Mightier than a Sword!" GO IN PEACE and FIGHT this battle with your seeds!!, PEACE MrMojaveGreen aol.com
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