cannabisnews.com: Pot Law Passes Muster, But Doctors Risk All Pot Law Passes Muster, But Doctors Risk All Posted by FoM on June 01, 2001 at 05:58:37 PT By Karen Auge, Denver Post Medical Writer Source: Denver Post Colorado doctors who recommend medical marijuana for their patients could risk federal prosecution, Attorney General Ken Salazar warned Thursday. However, after more than two weeks of review, Salazar said that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling does not invalidate Colorado's medical marijuana law. "The ruling does not prevent the state from moving forward" to implement the amendment allowing use of medical marijuana, Salazar wrote in a prepared statement. Amendment 20, which voters approved in November, is set to take effect today. The new state law does not establish any legal means to obtain marijuana. Salazar, along with Gov. Bill Owens, opposed the amendment. The amendment allows patients who suffer from certain debilitatpetition the state for permission to possess and use small amounts of the drug. For that permission to be granted, a physician must sign a form verifying an applicant suffers from one of several specific medical conditions and that "marijuana may mitigate the symptoms of the patient's condition." Salazar's statement said he and Owens wrote Dr. Richard Allen, president of the Colorado Medical Society, warning that "physicians face the risk of potential federal prosecution if they participate in the program." Allen said Thursday that he had not yet received the letter. But, he said, "it sounds like there are some issues here that physicians need to be concerned about. And nobody has any answers yet." Rich Caschette, a former federal prosecutor in Denver, said federal law prohibiting sale and use of marijuana should cause concern. "I certainly would be wary if I were a physician," he said. Luther Symonds, spokesman for Coloradans for Medical Rights, which backed Amendment 20, said he was disappointed that Salazar included what Symonds termed a threat in his statement. "He is attempting to scare and frighten Colorado doctors. It's unfortunate that they're resorting to fear tactics." But Symonds said he didn't think the warning would effectively derail Amendment 20. "I think once everyone steps back and sees that federal courts were really quick and really decisive in California, it's going to give doctors here a level of comfort that these threats won't be carried out," Symonds said. Last September, a federal district judge in California ruled that federal efforts to bar physicians from discussing medical marijuana with patients violated the doctors' First Amendment right to free speech. Alan Gilbert, Colorado's solicitor general, said courts could interpret a doctor's signature on the application as merely offering an opinion and therefore not a violation of drug laws. Salazar's opinion on Amendment 20 comes in the wake of a May 14 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said cannabis buyers clubs, which provide medical marijuana for people in California, are illegal. In its ruling, the court said there is no scientific basis for the medical use of marijuana. But while it outlawed the buyers' clubs, the high court did not specifically overturn California's Proposition 215, the 1996 law that legalized the use of medical marijuana in that state. The ruling prompted questions about whether Colorado's Amendment 20 would be pre-empted by federal laws barring marijuana use. In his statement Thursday, Salazar said he and Owens had sent a letter to acting U.S. Attorney Richard Spriggs asking him to "enforce federal law." A spokesman for Spriggs said the office hadn't yet received the letter Thursday afternoon.Source: Denver Post (CO)Author: Karen Auge, Denver Post Medical WriterPublished: Friday June 1, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Denver PostContact: letters denverpost.com Website: http://www.denverpost.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Coloradans For Medical Rights http://www.medicalmarijuana.com/Owens Warns Doctors Against Pot Prescriptionshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9920.shtmlMedical Pot Law Set To Kick In http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9914.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on June 01, 2001 at 07:11:11 PT: Legal Lightweight ""physicians face the risk of potential federal prosecution if they participate in the program." He's wrong. How did this person rise to his current position? Does that position insulate him from ignorance of the law? Why hasn't he heard of a little case in California called Conant vs. McCaffrey? That ruling still stands, and remains unchallenged by the Feds. It arose because bully boy Czar and his henchmen threatened the DEA licenses of California physicians who recommended cannabis for their patients. The court ruled that this was protected Free Speech. Any fool would agree with the ruling.I have news for Salazar and his ideologue friends. I am American. I am a licensed physician. I will continue to talk to my patients about any available treatments whether they be FDA-approved, American, European, synthetic, herbal, supplemental, legal, illegal, magical, or of alien origin. I will not be muzzled by know-nothings with a moral agenda. Should you prosecute me, or others like me, you will lose, and be the subject of lawsuits in return. It is the Amerikan Way. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by ras james rsifwh on June 01, 2001 at 07:04:40 PT The Great Sign "The Tree of Life shall bear fruit on both sides of the street each month of the year"....Book of Revelation 22:1&2. Marijuana's fruit is the most nutritious fruit in the world. Last year, the Marijuana Plant bore fruit on both sides of American Streets each month of the year in private growrooms...the only plant in the history of man to do this.This undisputed fact now makes Marijuana the Most Sacred Sacrament in the world....for the Son's Prayer to the Father has been answered...."Thy Kingdom Come on Earth as it is in Heaven." People realize the City of the Almightty is here on earth now. The Gates of Zion are open...enter with I-mind. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on June 01, 2001 at 07:04:36 PT: No s**t, Sherlock... "However, after more than two weeks of review, Salazar said that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling does notinvalidate Colorado's medical marijuana law. "The ruling does not prevent the state from moving forward" to implement the amendment allowing use of medical marijuana, Salazarwrote in a prepared statement."Which is what we've been saying here, all along. A point which many in the media have simply ignored. (Are they still sucking that government Barry-ola teat? Or are they mistaking it for another protruding appendage that they seem fond of applying their lips to?)Ever since the Feds, personified by Shalala, Reno and McCaffrey, were forced to back off from infringing on doctor's First Amendment rights to express their opinion that cannabis might have medicinal properties and be useful to their patients, the Feds have tried to spook doctors. Unfortunately, some have been. But others have stood fast. They know that the Feds would be shooting themselves in the foot to get between a doctor and patient and the Bill of Rights. There's rocks and hard places...and then there's hammers and anvils. And the smarter of the Feds know this would be a losing proposition.another long hot summer coming folks. I can feel it. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: