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Judge Dismisses Cannabis Program
Pubdate: Sat, 04 May 2002
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2002 San Jose Mercury News
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/ocbc.htm (Oakland Cannabis Court Case)
JUDGE DISMISSES CANNABIS PROGRAM
Federal Law Upheld: Oakland Group Banned From Distributing Pot
For Medical Reasons
A federal judge ruled Friday that a California medicinal
marijuana distributor has no constitutional right to dole out
cannabis to the sick.
The decision was another blow to the Oakland Cannabis Buyers
Cooperative. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the
group had no right to sell marijuana to the sick under
California's 1996 voter-approved medicinal marijuana law, which
requires the sick to have a doctor's recommendation.
The cooperative had sought to reopen the 5-year-old case under
new legal arguments, but U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer
rejected them at the government's urging. At the same time,
Breyer declined to lift an order barring the club from
distributing cannabis.
"With or without medical authorization, the distribution of
marijuana is illegal under federal law," Breyer wrote.
"Defendants' other objections are equally without merit."
The decision, however, sets the stage for more litigation on the
fate of California's medicinal marijuana law and similar ones in
seven other states.
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and
Washington allow the infirm to receive, possess, grow or smoke
marijuana for medical purposes without fear of state
prosecution. The federal government, which declined to
immediately comment Friday, is challenging those laws and says
marijuana has no medical benefits and is an illegal drug.
Robert Raich, the club's attorney, said he would appeal the
decision to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals.
"There's no question about that," he said.
The 9th Circuit earlier ruled in the case that the club could
legally defend its actions on grounds it was helping the sick,
who say marijuana gives them relief that lawful drugs cannot
provide.
But the nation's high court reversed the decision, saying the
so-called "medical necessity defense" was at odds with a 1970
federal law that said marijuana, like heroin and LSD, has no
medical benefits and cannot be dispensed or prescribed by
doctors. That decision, however, opened the door to new legal
challenges, which Breyer rejected Friday.
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, Justice Clarence Thomas noted
that some constitutional questions remained undecided.
Those included Congress' ability to interfere with intrastate
commerce, the right of states to experiment with their own laws
and whether Americans have a fundamental right to marijuana as an
avenue to be free of pain. Thomas wrote that the court would not
decide those "underlying constitutional issues today."
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MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk
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