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| California Marijuana Raid Contradicts State Law |
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Posted by CN Staff on September 09, 2002 at 23:13:35 PT By P. Ryan Petkoff, Daily Texan Staff Source: Daily Texan 
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency raided a medicinal marijuana dispensary in California last week, despite a California state law permitting distribution to prescribed patients.DEA agents seized 167 marijuana plants along with a small amount of hashish at an operation run by Michael and Valerie Corral said Richard Myer, a DEA spokesman. The Corrals, who as of Sunday had not been charged, grew and harvested their own cannabis plants for patients around the Santa Cruz area. Thomas Hinojosa, a DEA spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the contradiction between state and federal laws could not continue. "The DEA enforces the controlled substances act," Hinojosa said. "We enforce what is law, unless the laws are changed, marijuana falls into that category - a dangerous drug." The DEA's stance on medicinal marijuana remains steadfast, despite criticism from advocacy groups like the Drug Policy Forum of Texas. Thursday's busts were protested in nearly 50 cities nationwide including Austin, said Karen Heikkala, an activist with the Austin chapter. Heikkala said the busts showed the inhumanity of the federal government. "It's a sad day when our federal government attacks the sick and the dying," she said. The DEA fails to recognize the importance of responsible marijuana use and creates a negative image of patients who use cannabis, said Noelle Davis, a volunteer with the Drug Policy Forum of Texas. "It's very irresponsible of the DEA to say that all these people want to get high," Davis said. "They're lying to America." The issue of medicinal marijuana was explored by a special Senate committee on illegal drugs in Canada last Wednesday. The committee concluded a two-year study of public policy on cannabis and found that it should be legalized. Committee chair Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin said the government could not differentiate its policies on alcohol with those designed for the criminalization of marijuana. "Whether or not an individual uses marijuana should be a personal choice that is not subject to criminal penalties," Nolin said. "But we have come to the conclusion that, as a drug, it should be regulated by the state much as we do for wine and beer, hence our preference for legalization over decriminalization." The only instance in which the committee said that the government should interfere would be in the event that harm to others was a risk - illegal trafficking, or selling marijuana to people under the age of 16. The DEA disputed the committee's findings. "I respect the right of the Canadian government to make laws that it feels is in the best interest of its citizens," said DEA Director Asa Hutchinson in a statement. "But I don't believe legalization is the right direction for America. Marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug. Legalizing marijuana sends the opposite message - that drug use is safe." An annual household survey conducted by the U.S. Depart-ment of Health and Human Services released last week, found that only 53 percent of Americans felt that using marijuana once or twice presented a dangerous health risk. The DEA suggests that patients using medicinal marijuana use Marinol - a prescription drug designed to produce the same medicinal effects as smoking marijuana. The Drug Policy Forum of Texas contends that patients fail to see the same effects from the drug. The California raid was the fourth since last October. The group said more than 100 people have lost safe access to medicinal marijuana because of the DEA crackdown. Note: Action highlights disparity between state, federal law. Source: Daily Texan (TX Edu) Related Articles & Web Sites: Drug Policy Forum of Texas War on Medpot in California Intensifies The DEA in Chains: Bound by a Patient in a Chair Canadian Senate Panel Calls For Legalization Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #4 posted by p4me on September 10, 2002 at 14:18:49 PT |
| I ran across a new website today that linked off of cursor.org. I would recommend adding cursor.org to your favorites. I enjoy the running style with the links built into the dialoque. It also has some great links to explore. The website I found is http://www.rememberjohn.com/. If you were to add this to your favorites it would put these words up for its description: "The War on Terrorism is about oil." Now in a world where our ancestors ate plenty of gruel and every major country of any significance has legal hemp, the US government adopts some weird ass, unexplainable policy towards hemp foods. Sure there are the pill companies that are presently sizing up the market and figuring a way to get those big bucks out of a pill that could easily be for nothing in the back garden. And the alcohol industry does not hold their big meetings to see how to keep profits at current levels. They hold meetings to discuss how to make more and more money and legal marijuana surely isn't going to help the industry's bottom line. But the red sky alert should be with you by day and the red moon alert should be with you at night, because that is how unusual this hempfood ban and hemp prohibition should register with you by now. I regard oil as a principle factor on what is going on today with government policy. The fact that Cheyney will not release public records of discussions with energy industry representatives in forming policy is just another big alarm. Oil versus hemp and hemp loses. Wow. Forget helping the environment when the oil tycoons want their zillion$. Wasn't there a story about Peru adding hemp oil to diesel fuel to reduce pollution last year? Anyway, the oil industry isn't going to put up with nonsense like that in America. Forget the stinking pollution and use the products we tell you to use. In North Carolina they passed a law to change the formula of gasoline so it would pollute less and the industry jumped all over it and they beat the media with a big stick to fear people with "it could lead to higher prices", which I found funny because I thought that is why Irag was such a big deal- it would drive up prices. Anyway, please think of oil in anything that happens and recognize that the oil industry is plenty satisfied with the stupid policy that prohibits hemp in this country and the oil tycoons probably took a money bath when the DEA said they had determined that hempfoods were illegal. I will copy one paragraph from rememberjohn.com and hope a few people check it out. Here is the central paragraph from the homepage: "In August 2001, FBI Deputy Director John O'Neill resigned from his post over George W. Bush's policy on terrorism and Osama bin Laden. Specifically, O'Neill's department was told to "back off" their bin Laden and Al Queda investigations while the Bush administration negotiated with the Taliban. O'Neill became the security chief of the World Trade Center - where he died during the events of 9/11." 1,2 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by John Tyler on September 10, 2002 at 09:55:23 PT |
| Not a single country will back us on this Iraq thing Bush wants to undertake. Why not? Does he know something they don't? Why doesn't he tell them? Why doesn't he tell us? Is this some kind of a "wag the dog" operation? Is all unclear to me. I fear this will turn into some type of fiasco. This reminds me of the Shepherds prayer from the movie "Space Cowboys", that says, "Lord, please don't let him screw up." [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by qqqq on September 10, 2002 at 05:29:45 PT |
| ..firstly,,,my compliments to Unknown Pleasures for another excellent comment....ourageous,,yourageous,,we are all rageous!...(sorry)....but,,, I am ouraged,,
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| Comment #1 posted by Unknown Pleasures on September 10, 2002 at 04:00:17 PT |
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"...'It's very irresponsible of the DEA to say that all these people want to get high,' Davis said. 'They're lying to America.'" What!? The DEA does not lie! Ever! They are the shining beacon of truth! Whoever says the DEA lies is clearly a terrorist. I mean, why else would they level this baseless accusation at such a humble, peace-loving organization? The DEA has absolutely no reason to lie about anything whatsoever. They have nothing to hide. Especially not corruption, greed or a Fascist agenda. After work, most DEA agents frolick in the fields, chasing butterflies and bunny-wabbits. Singing: 'We are so pure and drug-free, oh what joy!' You see, their assault rifles and stormtrooper armor are just fashion accesories, and their polite 'home visits' are reserved for only the most depraved 'Terrorist Meth labs'. Yes, I agree, The DEA does not lie. (failure to agree with the above statement means you are anti-American. Your friendly neighborhood agent will be by shortly to arrest you. Please ignore your rights.)
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