cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot Clubs Dealt a Second Blow 





Medical Pot Clubs Dealt a Second Blow 
Posted by CN Staff on May 04, 2002 at 09:57:18 PT
By Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
After a loss in the U.S. Supreme Court, advocates for medical marijuana suffered another setback Friday when a judge rejected constitutional challenges to the federal government's campaign to shut down Northern California pot clubs. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer snuffed efforts by marijuana dispensaries in Oakland and Fairfax to mount new defenses against the Justice Department's enforcement of federal drug laws. 
The Supreme Court upheld the shutdown of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative last year, ruling that the federal ban on marijuana did not exempt cases of medical necessity. The court did not rule on other issues, prompting the clubs' return to Breyer's San Francisco court two weeks ago. On Friday, Breyer said the federal government has the constitutional power to regulate drug activity, even if it takes place entirely within a state's boundaries. Lawyers for the clubs had argued that such enforcement exceeds federal authority over interstate commerce. The clubs had also argued that barring marijuana distribution would violate their members' fundamental right to relief from pain and the life-threatening side effects of some treatments for AIDS and cancer. But Breyer said the clubs had no legal standing to assert the constitutional rights of individuals who obtain marijuana from them. Lawyers for the dispensaries had expected the defeat and planned to take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. That court issued a short-lived ruling in 2000 allowing distribution to patients who met the criteria for "medical necessity" -- showing that the drug would relieve severe pain or the side effects of treatment for AIDS or cancer and that they had no legal alternative. "We feel confident of a more favorable ruling in the Court of Appeals," Robert Raich, a lawyer for the Oakland cooperative, said Friday. "There were a lot of issues that he ignored." As a result of the Supreme Court ruling, the Oakland cooperative, which has formal city sponsorship, was barred from distributing marijuana. The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax and a club in Ukiah were also affected. The Justice Department sued those clubs, a now-defunct dispensary in Santa Cruz and two others in San Francisco, after California voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996. Note: Judge backs federal effort to close them. Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Saturday, May 4, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Hearst Communications Inc. - Page A - 15 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:OCBChttp://www.rxcbc.org/OCBC Versus US Governmenthttp://freedomtoexhale.com/mj.htmJudge Snuffs Out Oakland Pot Club Argumentshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12730.shtmlCalifornia's Medical Pot Clubs Lose Fight http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12727.shtmlMarijuana Clubs Lose One in Court http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12721.shtmlJudge Rejects Oakland Marijuana Club's Argumentshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12719.shtml
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