cannabisnews.com: US Cracks Down on Medical Marijuana in California US Cracks Down on Medical Marijuana in California Posted by FoM on October 31, 2001 at 06:39:16 PT By Greg Winter Source: New York Times Armed with a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court, the Bush administration has begun its first major crackdown on the distribution of marijuana for medical purposes, Justice Department officials say.In the last month, federal agents in California have uprooted a marijuana garden run by patients, seized the files of a doctor and lawyer who recommended the drug for thousands of sick clients and raided one of the state's largest cannabis clubs, in West Hollywood, where more than 900 people with ailments like cancer and AIDS bought the drug with the blessing of city officials. The sudden rush of enforcement, coming three years after the last federal raid on a "medical marijuana" club in Oakland, represents the Justice Department's renewed attempt to impose federal drug laws in states that have legalized marijuana use for people who are sick or dying.Basing its efforts on a unanimous Supreme Court decision last May, which effectively rendered the distribution of marijuana through large cooperatives illegal, the Justice Department said that more actions would probably follow, despite its current focus on fighting terrorism."The recent enforcement is indicative that we have not lost our priorities in other areas since Sept. 11," said Susan Dryden, a spokeswoman for the department."The attorney general and the administration have been very clear: We will be aggressive," Ms. Dryden said, adding that the department did not differentiate between medical marijuana and other illegal drugs.The recent raids have enraged local officials, who not only support medical marijuana clubs but also sometimes help to set them up. The City of West Hollywood, for example, co-signed the mortgage for the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center that was raided last week and helped to get the club listed as a member of the local chamber of commerce."This was a serious effort to provide relief for people who were ill," said Steve Martin, a councilman in West Hollywood. "The Bush administration is forcing sick people to become criminals."Some medical professionals are equally concerned about the recent seizure of medical records and legal files from a doctor and her husband, a lawyer, who run a clinic of sorts in Cool, northeast of Sacramento. The pair, federal agents say, coached their patients how to evade arrest and supplied them with marijuana grown in their home and a greenhouse out back."Federal and state law enforcement authorities have no business interfering with the doctor-patient relationship," said Peter Warren, a spokesman for the California Medical Association, which supports using medical marijuana when other treatments have failed. "It's especially shocking in this time of national crisis that federal agents are out there tossing doctor's offices."Federal officials did not specify why they have focused their efforts on California, as opposed to seven other states that have passed similar initiatives, saying they did not want to compromise investigations taking place elsewhere.Some of those investigations, federal officials acknowledge, may be taking longer than anticipated, in part because the interest in cracking down on distributors of medical marijuana is not equally shared throughout the Justice Department.Still, local politicians and advocates argue that California is a natural target for enforcement, since it has far more marijuana clubs than other states, with many more patients buying from them.The recent enforcement actions have not yet resulted in any criminal charges, which would give rise to jury trials. In the past, the Justice Department has sought injunctions from judges, rather than face jurors who might be sympathetic to the idea of supplying those suffering from debilitating or terminal illnesses with marijuana. In a nationwide poll in March by the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of respondents said they supported allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana.Justice Department officials said criminal charges might be forthcoming, and certainly were a part of their policy to thwart the illegal distribution of drugs, including medical marijuana. Even short of bringing charges, though, the recent enforcement actions have had their impact. Left without medical records to verify legitimate patients and, perhaps most important, devoid of any marijuana to pass out, the cannabis club in West Hollywood, for example, is effectively shut down.In response, advocates of medical marijuana say they are looking at ways of bringing states directly into the business of distributing the drug, something the Supreme Court ruling did not specifically prohibit.The constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana in Nevada last year, for instance, specified that the state must make sure that patients there can obtain the drug legally. As a result, the state is asking the federal government to supply it with marijuana for those in need, providing a model that advocates would like to duplicate in future ballot measures."If these initiatives passed, then how would the administration enforce federal law? By arresting the governor?" asked Bill Zimmerman, executive director of the Campaign for New Drug Policies, which helped draft the eight medical marijuana measures that have passed. "It would produce too much of a crisis." Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Greg WinterPublished: October 31, 2001Copyright: 2001 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comWebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/Forum: http://forums.nytimes.com/comment/Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtmlMedical Marijuana Center in Mourning http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11220.shtmlStaff of Medical Marijuana Clinic Protest DEA Raidhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11201.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #13 posted by FoM on November 01, 2001 at 15:14:03 PT p4me Thank you for voting for C News. That is really nice of you. I've been trying to configure my modem so it connects at a faster speed then it has been so I am a little slow answering a couple posts because I've been sidetracked. Thanks again and I really appreciate the vote. PS: All the modem stuff I did didn't make the connection any better. I just love my isp! LOL! [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 31, 2001 at 22:52:46 PT E_Johnson They don't care if AIDS patients can't keep their medicine down. My son lived in West Hollywood and I was able to get to meet some very nice people while I was out there during the earthquake a few years ago. I watched my son stand at the sink and get sick and get sick again and again and again. They don't care or medical marijuana would be allowed. It's the humane thing to do if nothing else! [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by E_Johnson on October 31, 2001 at 22:46:31 PT Does the DEA know what drug resistant HIV is??? Where is the AIDS science community right now? There should be a few virologists taking the time to explain to the DEA what drug resistant HIV is and how stopping an AIDS patient's only anti-emetic is going to contribue to that.This is all so stupid. Who needs drug resistant HIV? Do we want America to end up like Africa? We'll be rich enough to afford the drugs, but they'll stop working on the virus.Oh well as if they care. They put on a great act of professionalism, but they don't care what is true and what is not true, they don't care about any of the consequences of their actions.The consequences of making 900 AIDS patients in West Hollywood barf up the drugs that suppress their virus is going to be drug resistant HIV.Cancer also becomes drug resiatant when people are too ill to continue their chemo. But at least that doesn't spread the way HIV spreads. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by goneposthole on October 31, 2001 at 17:24:25 PT medical marijuana I guess if my ma were sick and dying in need of great care and wanted to use marijuana to relieve the pain and misery of death, I would say, "what the hell" and get her some. Only, if she wanted it.If I were a potential threat or menace to her well being at that time, she would make sure the individuals involved would not be present for long.I can provide a long list of reasons as to why it would be that way.Just a hypothetical situation used to illustrate an example.It is time to stop arresting. It is utter foolishness. Help those who are in need of relief of the pain and misery of death.I believe marijuana will do wonders. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by mayan on October 31, 2001 at 15:42:50 PT p4me To vote enter www.cannabisnews.com in the "search" feature. The C-news link should come up & next to it it should say "rate site" or something like that. Happy votin'! [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by freedom fighter on October 31, 2001 at 15:36:55 PT ahh, p4me just go to Yahooka and type cannabisnews keyword everytime That is how the system works..\/ be with you my friend ff [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by p4me on October 31, 2001 at 13:50:01 PT: when is the next raid coming Does the DEA have to take a few weeks off before the next raid. Go ahead and hit San Fransisco and let us see what happens. I bet the papers in San Fran will not abandon their journalistic responsibilities like the LA Times.Either you are right or you are wrong DEA. Get off your lazy butts and put down the advertisements for new cars and get out there and enforce the law. I got laid off a while back. I used to think it a bad thing to get food stamps. Boy was I wrong. The government has got money to waste on something as senseless as closing down and seizing assets, maybe it is my duty to deprive them of some of all this money. Besides that I could use the food. Jobs are hard to get and when you refuse to work for a company that drug test it makes it even harder. I can live off of the $7200 you can make before paying income taxes and that can be my way of protesting against this insanity. Besides it looks like I have a lot of work ahead of helping to educate people on medical marijuana first and the sense of decriminalizing MJ after that. I have a book to write anyway.What a screwed up group, these right wing conservatives. I cannot wait to be able to vote next May. Boy are the Republicans going to take a beating when the "compassionate conservative adds start running."I was going to ask how you vote at yahooka for your favorite sites. Maybe if I were high I could figure it out, but in this depressed state I am not functioning at optimum levels. Cannabisnews is my favorite MJ site and would like to "vote often" to bring this service to the top of Yahooka's list where others can find out about FoM and the real news. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Sam Adams on October 31, 2001 at 10:34:33 PT Yes, Lookinside... It is encouraging that both the LA Times and NY Times, two very prohibitionist papers, have both published favorable articles on the latest raid by the American Gestapo... [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on October 31, 2001 at 09:26:19 PT They see NOTHING wrong with this picture? The recent enforcement actions have not yet resulted in any criminal charges, which would give rise to jury trials. In the past, the Justice Department has sought injunctions from judges, rather than face jurors who might be sympathetic to the idea of supplying those suffering from debilitating or terminal illnesses with marijuana. In a nationwide poll in March by the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of respondents said they supported allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana.[/b]They know that they can't get a jury to convict -- so why don't they take that as a signal they shouldn't be bringing cases that juries will refuse to convict?What is it about these people that makes them feel such an enormous right to ignore voters and juries?The legal system in this country is supposed to be BASED ON juries and voters. These are supposed to be the two pillars of our democratic system -- the government rules based on the consent of the governed, and guilt or innocence is decided by a jury of our peers.People in the JUSTICE Department are trying to make end runs around juries and voters?There is something so exceedingly sick about that picture, it makes me wonder what drugs they're on in Washington DC.Maybe authoritarian thinking is a side effect of Zoloft or Paxil or one of those legal mindaltering drugs they allow themselves to use. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by lookinside on October 31, 2001 at 08:57:21 PT: a very even handed article... reading between the lines, the feds look like idiots...an accurate picture...i think we can win... [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on October 31, 2001 at 08:40:41 PT Do not get pot from the federal government The constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana in Nevada last year, for instance, specified that the state must make sure that patients there can obtain the drug legally. As a result, the state is asking the federal government to supply it with marijuana for those in need, providing a model that advocates would like to duplicate in future ballot measures.The federal government grows dirt weed that makes people sick because it's so harsh and crappy.They'd better have a better plan than this, because it's almost as hard to get marijuana out of NIDA as it is to get an apology for crimes against humanity from Milosevic. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on October 31, 2001 at 08:33:25 PT Just a Comment This is so wrong. We are at war and they spend money, energy and time going after sick people. When we they ever learn? Medical Marijuana Information Links [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on October 31, 2001 at 08:31:51 PT You mean some of these people are reasonable???? Some of those investigations, federal officials acknowledge, may be taking longer than anticipated, in part because the interest in cracking down on distributors of medical marijuana is not equally shared throughout the Justice Department.Hallalujah, then the whole world isn't going insane.Get up, stand up.Stand up for your rights.You people in Washington are reasonable on this issue:STAND UP [ Post Comment ] Post Comment