cannabisnews.com: Oakland Marijuana Case Goes to US Supreme Court





Oakland Marijuana Case Goes to US Supreme Court
Posted by FoM on November 28, 2000 at 10:21:25 PT
By Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
In agreeing to review a medical-marijuana case from Oakland, the U.S. Supreme Court has put itself in a position to decide how far states can go in making otherwise illegal drugs available to their residents for health reasons. The court granted a hearing yesterday to the Clinton administration, which argued that federal drug laws would be undermined by a lower court ruling last year in favor of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative. 
The ruling, due by the end of June, will also test the conservative majority's devotion to states' rights. The justices have limited federal sovereignty in areas such as age discrimination, handgun background checks and violence against women, but have not yet examined the war on drugs through the same prism. In the nation's first ruling of its kind, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco allowed seriously ill patients and their suppliers to win an exemption from the federal ban on marijuana if they could prove medical necessity -- a serious medical condition threatening imminent harm that can't be prevented by legal medicines. Marijuana, legalized for medical purposes under state law by California voters in 1996, is used to combat pain and the debilitating, sometimes life- threatening, side effects of treatments for AIDS and cancer. It is also used to revive the appetites of AIDS patients suffering from a lethal wasting syndrome. The government "has offered no evidence to rebut a marijuana club's evidence that cannabis is the only effective treatment for a large group of seriously ill individuals," the three-judge appellate panel said in September 1999. Justice Department lawyers argued that the ruling flies in the face of Congress' determination that marijuana has "no currently accepted medical use. " They said the federal law allows marijuana use only in tightly regulated medical experiments, such as the one approved last week for 60 AIDS patients in San Mateo County. The Supreme Court will not rule directly on the legality of California's Proposition 215 or medical-marijuana laws in eight other states: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado. But the ruling is likely to determine whether those laws can co-exist with the seemingly absolute federal prohibition on marijuana. "I think we've got a very strong argument, based on the way the (federal drug) statute has been applied, that it leaves the door open for unusual circumstances to permit medical use of marijuana," said Gerald Uelmen, a Santa Clara University law professor and lawyer for the Oakland cooperative. "I hope the Supreme Court will consider the needs of the patients who are suffering," said Jeff Jones, executive director of the Oakland cooperative. "We have had members die during this litigation." Jones spent the day fielding questions from reporters, patients and customers at the downtown storefront, which now serves as a hemp store and patient resource center. He recalled taking up the cannabis cause after his father, Wayne, died of kidney cancer in 1988 in his hometown of Rapid City, S.D.He saw a healthy 200-pound man deteriorate from lack of nourishment to the point that he was unable to walk up stairs. "When I found out about marijuana being an agent to deal with nausea, something erupted in me," said Jones, now 26. Also at the cooperative to apply for membership was Linda Rollett, 54, of Napa. While suffering from colon cancer, she has encountered a wasting syndrome, lost interest in eating, and dropped from 140 to 82 pounds. Marijuana "relaxes me so that I can eat, and I need to eat," Rollett said. "If I'm not hungry my digestive system does not work." Lawyers say the 2,000-member cooperative is one of about 35 organizations that have blossomed in California to supply medical marijuana since the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996. Only a handful have been targeted by the federal government, but that could change after the Supreme Court rules. The clubs filled a gap in the loosely drafted initiative, which allowed patients to possess and use marijuana based on a doctor's recommendation but provided no legal means to obtain the drug, other than cultivation for medical use. Some marijuana clubs have reached agreement with local authorities to keep their doors open, regulate their operations and avoid prosecution under state drug-distribution laws. Oakland has declared a public health emergency and designated the marijuana cooperative an agent of the city. Marijuana clubs in San Francisco can rely on ID cards issued by the city's Department of Public Health to residents who have a doctor's recommendation for the drug. Along similar lines, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer has argued that law enforcement and health needs can be accommodated with a medical-necessity rule for marijuana. He wrote to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno urging her not to appeal the Circuit Court ruling that exempted some patients from the drug law. The Clinton administration campaigned relentlessly against Proposition 215, both before and after its passage. Federal authorities threatened to revoke the prescription licenses of doctors who recommended marijuana, but were thwarted by a federal judge. The Justice Department also filed suit in 1998 against a half-dozen marijuana clubs in Northern California -- the case that has now reached the Supreme Court. Texas Gov. George W. Bush has said states should decide whether to allow medical marijuana within their boundaries. The Supreme Court has intervened in the case before, voting 7-1 in August to prevent the Oakland cooperative from resuming marijuana distribution while the government's appeal of the Circuit Court ruling was pending. That order blocked a ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who had responded to the appeals court's decision by allowing the cooperative to supply marijuana to patients who could show a medical necessity. Breyer is the brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who has excluded himself from the court's consideration of the case.Chronicle staff writer George Raine contributed to this report. Chronicle staff writer George Raine contributed to this report. Note: Ruling to decide if state laws can survive a federal prohibition.Complete Title: Oakland Medical-Marijuana Case Goes to U.S. Supreme CourtSource: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Tuesday, November 28, 2000 Copyright: 2000 San Francisco ChronicleContact: chronletters sfgate.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/Related Articles & Web Site:Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperativehttp://www.rxcbc.org/ U.S. Justices To Weigh Medical Marijuana Laws http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7797.shtmlSupreme Court To Decide Medical Marijuana Case http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7784.shtmlSupreme Court Accepts Medical-Marijuana Issue http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7783.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by freedom fighter on December 01, 2000 at 17:49:07 PT
I may be deaf
but I hear you Mikel Zorn!Keep on Puffing!I am on your side!\/
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Comment #2 posted by Walter Gourlay on November 30, 2000 at 03:09:33 PT:
Michael Zorn
You are absolutely right. Marijuana is a very special plant given to man by God. It is good not only for physical but emotional illnesses too. God bless you and protect you and others.
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Comment #1 posted by Mikel Zorn on November 28, 2000 at 20:20:32 PT
Medical marijuana
DEAR SIRS, my problem is being bi-polar with severe asthma and emphesema. I have tried via shrink every med known to help my illness and have had so many interactions that the only thing I am currently able to take is klonopin, and that is not enough. I have quickly gone from 145 pounds down to 115 and cannabis is the only thing allowing me to eat when I can afford it. I am poor on a breathing machine 4 times a day and take 9 other meds for my breathing problems that also interfere with my ability to eat, I eat bird like portions whenever hunger strikes which is very rare without cannabis. CANNABIS helps relax my bronchial tubes allowing me to take less pharmaceuticals thus increasing my appetite, and killing off my bi-polar illness all together. Cannabis is by far the most all around effective medication to help ALL of my illnesses, yet mr govt will not allow me to have what my lord Jesus has provided for my suffering. THIS IS WRONG AND WHY DO WE JUST ARGUE FOR AIDS AND CANCER PATIENTS THEY ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO NEED LEGAL ACCESS TO CANNABIS. PLEASE READ HARVARDS DR. LESTER GRINSPOONS MARIHUANA RECONSIDERED AND TAKE IT TO HEART FOR ALL OF US OPPRESSED SUFFERERS, NOT JUST AIDS AND CANCER PATIENTS. GOD FORBID WE MAY HAVE A LITTLE COMFORT WHILE ON OUR DEATHBEDS.Mikel Zorn of Illinois
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