cannabisnews.com: Supreme Court Allows Prosecution of Med Marijuana





Supreme Court Allows Prosecution of Med Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on June 06, 2005 at 07:41:32 PT
By The Associated Press 
Source: Associated Press
USA -- Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors' orders, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state medical marijuana laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug.The decision is a stinging defeat for marijuana advocates who had successfully pushed 10 states to allow the drug's use to treat various illnesses.
Justice John Paul Stevens, writing the 6-3 decision, said that Congress could change the law to allow medical use of marijuana.The closely watched case was an appeal by the Bush administration in a case that it lost in late 2003. At issue was whether the prosecution of medical marijuana users under the federal Controlled Substances Act was constitutional.Under the Constitution, Congress may pass laws regulating a state's economic activity so long as it involves "interstate commerce" that crosses state borders. The California marijuana in question was homegrown, distributed to patients without charge and without crossing state lines.Stevens said there are other legal options for patients, "but perhaps even more important than these legal avenues is the democratic process, in which the voices of voters allied with these respondents may one day be heard in the halls of Congress."California's medical marijuana law, passed by voters in 1996, allows people to grow, smoke or obtain marijuana for medical needs with a doctor's recommendation. Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state have laws similar to California.In those states, doctors generally can give written or oral recommendations on marijuana to patients with cancer, HIV and other serious illnesses.In a dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said that states should be allowed to set their own rules."The states' core police powers have always included authority to define criminal law and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens," said O'Connor, who was joined by other states' rights advocates.The legal question presented a dilemma for the court's conservatives, who have pushed to broaden states' rights in recent years, invalidating federal laws dealing with gun possession near schools and violence against women on the grounds the activity was too local to justify federal intrusion.O'Connor said she would have opposed California's medical marijuana law if she was a voter or a legislator. But she said the court was overreaching to endorse "making it a federal crime to grow small amounts of marijuana in one's own home for one's own medicinal use."The case concerned two seriously ill California women, Angel Raich and Diane Monson. The two had sued then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, asking for a court order letting them smoke, grow or obtain marijuana without fear of arrest, home raids or other intrusion by federal authorities.Raich, an Oakland woman suffering from ailments including scoliosis, a brain tumor, chronic nausea, fatigue and pain, smokes marijuana every few hours. She said she was partly paralyzed until she started smoking pot. Monson, an accountant who lives near Oroville, California, has degenerative spine disease and grows her own marijuana plants in her backyard.Source: Associated Press (Wire)Published: June 6, 2005Copyright: 2005 The Associated Press Angel Raich v. Ashcroft Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/raich.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #51 posted by The GCW on June 06, 2005 at 21:18:26 PT
2 POLLS
Vote here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8118359/ Should the federal government prosecute medical marijuana users, now that it has been given the OK by the Supreme Court? * 69575 responses Yes 
10% No 
88% I'm not sure 
2%&&&&LOU DOBBS TONIGHT QUICKVOTE Do you believe the federal government should prosecute doctors who prescribe medical marijuana? Current Results: Yes -- 7% No -- 93% Total: 3264 votes http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/
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Comment #50 posted by jose melendez on June 06, 2005 at 14:08:54 PT
hit it
Absolutely - things stay the same for us, we've always risked arrest.What they risked was being exposed _on the record_ as insisting that although they are aware cannabis is safe and efficacious and people will suffer irreperable harm, medical marijuana may affect the illicit trade in recreational cannabis and therefore remains rationally prohibited.Now they are naked before the world as capricious hypocrites and have fundamentally undermined any respect for the law.Rational. Right. Remind me again why I should not turn myself in, Hope? Oh yeah, because it would mean my dog would be alone.
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Comment #49 posted by FoM on June 06, 2005 at 13:59:57 PT
Heads UP: Now on MSNBC - Connected
Coming on now more on the MMJ decision today!I agree dongenero!
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Comment #48 posted by dongenero on June 06, 2005 at 13:58:04 PT
what else can you do...
What else can you do, crying won't help.Try to find some humor to temper the sting then steel your resolve and determination and push for justice like never before. There is too much momentum to stop cannabis.
I agree with some of the comments I've read to the effect that this will only increase awareness of the issue and make more people want it. It does feel like the more the Feds fight it, the stronger our cause gets.
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Comment #47 posted by gloovins on June 06, 2005 at 13:51:01 PT
Hello out there...
Hey everyone....As Jim Morrisson said: "Wake Up....!"I don't know how the subject of clitoral mutilation/ Hillary in 2008 and states rights to regulate cannabis got intertwined but let's be real all.If you vote for either duopoly party currently in power you send the message of apathy and continuing the status quo. So, vote Libertarian or write-in Johnson or Paul in 2008. Enough on that for now.The Supreme Court justices who ruled in favor of the government have made it clear: They do not have the balls to make cannabis legal and sanctioned, so they say it takes "Congress" to act. Ahh, if I am not correct, hasn't NORML petitioned since 1972 to have cannabis RE-SCHEDULED. And, yeah they finally got their DEA hearing on the issue & the DEA's own administrative judge affirmed it was safe and should be re-scheduled. That was about 1988, no? And the DEA ignored him. But sodomy is legal in the home because of citizens "right to privacy". Ahhh, yeah, okay.But, it will take an act of Congress to change the law everyone. Ahhh, the shear brilliance at that Supreme Court. You know what, they are frankly insulting, at least, to shove medical cannabis patients down this dead-end road. Heartless and cruel these persons in black robes. They do not represent us nor do the fools in Congress. They are bought and sold by the pharmacuitcal, tobacco and alcohol lobbies, it is now clear as daylight.It's time to start unleashing true forms of making Congress and the Supreme Court OUT OF THE PICTURE.We now can and should wait for a test case of possession of cannabis prosecuted at the federal level. Then we unfurl our dusty constitutional right to NULLIFY any state or federal cannabis law charge. Tell everyone who will listen: NULLIFICATION is and will always be legal to render in jury trials of cannabis patients. NULLIFY - start saying it. Visit FIJA.org, get vocal and active. Talk to people who are currently interested in medical cannabis because of our issue being front and center this week and the unconstitutional ruling by these 6 people in black robes. Say NULLIFY as much as possible, educate people of this. Be an activist. Don't take apathy as an answer. Force people to know it's not only their RIGHT when sitting on a jury to judge the validity of the law, but their DUTY to. Tell them of the unhappy Rosenthal jurors who were angered once they found out that Ed Rosenthal was indeed a medical cannabis grower but was not even able to speak of Prop 215 at his federal trial a couple years back. Tell them the judge gave him 1 day in jail. Tell them what a waste of federal tax doillars this trial was. Tell them Angel Raich is not a criminal but rather a great Patriot simply wanting to ease the pain of multiple ailments including a brain tumor for Christ's sake! Tell people - anyone - that this ruling makes you angry and motivated to advance the cause of medical freedom to self medicate with a plant. That's it, a plant. We are fighting for the right to grow a plant - that's all. Explain how many many different conflicts of interest befall the feds when it comes to medical cannabis. Tell them the pharmacutical companies will actually benefit in some cases because many patients cannot keep their many meds down WITHOUT cannabis anti-nausia properties. Yes, whole raw plant product. NOT Sativex, NOT Marinol but THE WHOLE RAW PLANT! It can be digested, smoked or vaporized. Educate people that Congress will and has not acted since 1970 and their bread is so buttered by the corporations sick , rancid butter they no longer see who the breadmakers are: The US voters.Let us all speak of the wicked nature of this most current ruling and the ways we can save the U.S.A. and our daily dwindling rights by bashing the blind, heartless drug war ignorance Washington has battered the US public with for the last 75 years. We do still have rights people. Our only way to freedom is to educate and inform.Stay strong all -- the fight is almost over or has it just begun? Time will tell.... 
Our last hope
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Comment #46 posted by FoM on June 06, 2005 at 13:38:04 PT
dongenero
You made me laugh! Thanks!
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Comment #45 posted by dongenero on June 06, 2005 at 13:33:04 PT
Ans one ana two ana you know what to do..........
"Leetttt the Eaaagllee SOoooaaRRRRRRRR!!!!
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Comment #44 posted by FoM on June 06, 2005 at 12:53:46 PT
Nuevo Mexican 
Oh no you made me think of Ashcroft's Eagle song! LOL!I'm just kidding. Thank you so much and it is great to see you.
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Comment #43 posted by nuevo mexican on June 06, 2005 at 12:38:34 PT
Hillary is a Scorp! FOM, you're an eagle!
There are two kinds of Scorpios', the ones with integrity, and those who appear to have integrity, as in Hillarys' case.
Hypocritical Dems are worse than hypocritical Repugs, in my opinion, more damage is done this way. Look at Clinton, who NEVER did anything for us but make us 'feel good' about America, when there isn't anything to feel good about. Unless you're in denial!The decision was made before todays late afternoon New Moon, in Gemini, the sign of flip-flops, and thus, nothing will come from this decision. The Planets have the last word folks, not me! If the decision was made after 3 pm today, it would NOT bode well, but alas, dear ones, the UNiverse will see to it that this does not come to pass! Mark my words, and throw stones at me if proven wrong, but if you realize it is us that create reality, and when we take responsibility for our creation, and not blame others for our situation, then we can embrace our role in this condition, and DO sonmething about it, besides complain. Actions speak louder than words, and upon the first arrest by the Feds, the demise of this decision will follow!
Signed, Faithful!
(not hopeless)
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Comment #42 posted by Nick Thimmesch on June 06, 2005 at 11:59:08 PT:
A "Benevolent Dictatorship"...
...(ala Eva Peron)is what we can expect from a Rodham Presidency. Besides: we already know what Hillary thinks of smoking when she -- according to the United States Secret Service -- was known to throw ashtrays at Poor Old Bubba!BTW: there were actually MORE marijuana arrests during the Klintoon presidency.
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Comment #41 posted by FoM on June 06, 2005 at 11:51:25 PT
Nicholas
If Hillary runs I will vote for a repub! LOL!No not really but I sure won't vote! I never could handle her.Thanks for the response and link! 
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Comment #40 posted by Nick Thimmesch on June 06, 2005 at 11:46:06 PT:
It's absolutely wrong...
...Mutilation of children is wrong, period (I have an adorable three year old daughter who makes ME cry when she even gets a shot from the doctor): perhaps it's also wrong for boys, too, say like the ones who are born in places like the state of New York that she represents. But in this case, the point I'm making is that here is an opportunity for Hillary The Queen of Health Care to address a uniquely AMERICAN health and justice issue but I doubt she will dare cross that proverbial line and speak out for these two WYMYN's health (if she believes in medicinal marijuana or marijuana reform at all: she's never said anything significant on these issues that I can find).Vote away: the Republicans are drooling at the prospect of a Hillary candidacy in 2008 because she's already easliy defined, highly divisive (they will raise a ton of dough in response to her from their base) and will have had nearly a decade's worth of a Senate voting record for them to tear apart. Hopefully, she won't have the same problem of being around female White House interns that Bubba did, but then, who knows....it's a whole new day, ain't it?
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Comment #39 posted by jose melendez on June 06, 2005 at 11:43:02 PT
Re: #38
Hear, hear. I think Senator Clinton is probably under lots of pressure not to express any sympathy for marijuana users, "purely medical" or otherwise.Perhaps Justice Ginsberg suffers from similar pressures from her coworkers. 
 
Similarly, Rush Limbaugh apparently kept rather quiet on the issue, although I admit I was rather frustrated to hear that the voice of the right really did tie half his brain behind his back.In hindsight, I can't think of a more fitting proof that extremism, while popular, is misguided.Let's encourage a rational backlash. We'll need to be as inclusive as possible if we really want them to listen.
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Comment #38 posted by CorvallisEric on June 06, 2005 at 11:26:55 PT
Nicholas (comment 32)
There: does that make you feel better when you vote for her in 2008?Actually, it does. I shows that she's not as much a stooge for "cultural relativism" as her detractors would have us think. Mutilation of children is wrong, period.
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Comment #37 posted by rchandar on June 06, 2005 at 11:16:59 PT:
fearfull...
unfortunately, you're right. I can picture them trying to make a clean sweep of anything in California that hints of the herb. Sad, it is, but of course it doesn't end there--patients who are at home can expect warrants and courts, and the Federal docket will simply explode with new cases.PS Federal law isn't good. These people have pounds, plants. They may be in big trouble, and that just sucks.--rchandar
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Comment #36 posted by Nick Thimmesch on June 06, 2005 at 11:12:39 PT
Oh FoM you ain't "spineless"...
...you're a sweetheart! A downright Sweetheart of the Rodeo!
http://www.swingdancemusic.com/send/40682-byrds%20sweetheart%20of%20the%20rodeo.
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Comment #35 posted by FoM on June 06, 2005 at 11:07:04 PT
Nicholas
I hope you still like me since I could be called spineless too to some degree or the other. I wouldn't fight a republican. Most of them, and I don't mean you, fight dirty. How can you win when they hammer issues like they do?
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Comment #34 posted by Nick Thimmesch on June 06, 2005 at 10:56:25 PT:
Fresh off the AP wire...
...resistance:Marijuana Plaintiff to Defy Court RulingBy DAVID KRAVETS
The Associated Press
Monday, June 6, 2005; 12:57 PMSAN FRANCISCO -- One of the lead plaintiffs in the medical marijuana case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday says she'll defy the ruling and continue to smoke pot."I'm going to have to be prepared to be arrested," said Diane Monson, who smokes marijuana several times a day to relieve back pain.The Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities may arrest and prosecute people whose doctors prescribe marijuana to ease pain, concluding that state laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug.The Bush administration had argued that states, even the 10 states with medical marijuana laws, could not defy the federal Controlled Substances Act, which declares marijuana to be not only illegal, but of no medical value.Justice John Paul Stevens, writing the 6-3 decision, said that Congress could change the law to allow medical use of marijuana.Monson, 48, of Oroville, was prescribed marijuana by her doctor in 1997, after standard prescription drugs didn't work or made her sleepy. She is battling degenerative spine disease."I'm way disappointed. There are so many people that need cannabis," Monson said.Fifty-six percent of California voters approved the nation's first so-called medical marijuana law in 1996, allowing patients to smoke and grow marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled against pot clubs that distributed medical marijuana, saying they cannot do so based on the "medical necessity" of the patient. The ruling forced the Oakland supplier of Angel Raich, the other plaintiff, to close.Raich suffers from scoliosis, a brain tumor, chronic nausea and other problems.Many other cannabis clubs still operate openly in California and other states, but have taken measures _ such as not keeping client lists _ to protect their customers from arrest.The Drug Enforcement Administration, often working over the objections of local law enforcement, has periodically raided medical marijuana operations and their clients' pot supplies.Raich and Monson sued Attorney General John Ashcroft because they feared their supplies of medical marijuana might dry up.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/06/AR2005060600795_
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Comment #33 posted by jose melendez on June 06, 2005 at 10:44:07 PT
get 'em on the record, on the facts
sent by fax to (202) 483-0057 Attention: NORMLI have a meeting in Congressman Mica's Deltona office tomorrow at 10 AM, to discuss what they can do in regard to Raich v. Ashcroft / Gonzales v. Raich.They want me to arrive alone, and I would feel more comfortable if while I am there we can have a speaker phone conversation so that I am not at a loss for words. I got a haircut, but there's no spell check or resource to rebut their claims when alone and in person. Thankfully, I stopped smoking so I'll be clear headed and not reeking of the Chronic.Please call me or at least email a statement so that I can walk in armed to the teeth with comments that will stick and have later legal effect.Jose MelendezDeLand, FL
32724day 386-848-1877
toll free 888 247-8183With respect: "Writing my (Congressional representative) will achieve nothing (with the possible exception of my making another "enemies" list) as her mind has been made up for years. "At least get them on the record, so pretend for the moment they represent you.It's up to us to rationally explain that they are harming citizens AND increasing marijuana sales. And also, why not a quick picket of SCOTUS?We'd make the papers . . .
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Comment #32 posted by Nick Thimmesch on June 06, 2005 at 10:41:06 PT:
Yes, Nicholas, Democrats are spineless...
(but I will probably vote for a few more, anyway): 
Actually, I never said that, I was using the exact words from someone else's post(on the NORML chat room site) to make my point that it was only Republican appointed Justices who dissented -- all primarily because of that dirty little phrase of the 50's & 60's, "states' right's".But while we're at it: Hillary's all for grandstanding about female circumcision in Africa but I doubt we will hear a peep from her about these two California women.Thursday, April 2, 1998First lady celebrates African village that ended female circumcision.
Thursday, April 2, 1998DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton, meeting with villagers who have ended the practice of female circumcision in their community, praised the village for having started "a great movement.""It was not easy for women and men to come together to stand against and speak out against a key ancient custom," said the first lady after a handful of village women acted out a play meant to educate others about the potentially dangerous health effects from the practice."The courage and commitment of the women, the men and the religious leaders of Malicounda has served now as an example to bring together thousands and thousands of other Senegalese," she said after meeting with them at a Dakar hotel.The women of Malicounda, a 2,000-person village about 100 miles from Dakar, decided two years ago to stop circumcising the village's girls. The decision was taken up by Malicounda's men, some of whom went from town to town to discuss the problems that can go along with the practice.Since then, the decision has spread to at least 10 other villages in Senegal, where an estimated 20 percent of girls are circumcised.The practice, sometimes called female genital mutilation, can range from cutting the hood of the clitoris to the removal of the clitoris and some vaginal tissue.Health problems include difficult childbirths and bleeding and sometimes even death. However, it is considered an important tradition in dozens of countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East where girls are often seen as unclean and undeserving of marriage if they have not undergone it.The Clintons were ending a 12-day trip to Africa Thursday evening.There: does that make you feel better when you vote for her in 2008?
http://www.news-star.com/stories/040298/lfe_hillary.html
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Comment #31 posted by dididadadidit on June 06, 2005 at 10:12:34 PT
Hope #28
Ron Paul...Governor JohnsonTwo honorable men, rethug in name only, actually libertarian, had to ally with a main party to be electable.Cheers?
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Comment #30 posted by CorvallisEric on June 06, 2005 at 10:04:00 PT
Why?
I suppose one could say that the Justices voted consistently with their states-rights positions, regardless of the issue (but no explanation for Scalia, as usual). And one could also note that the dissenters are 2 cancer patients and a former pot smoker.Yes, Nicholas, Democrats are spineless (but I will probably vote for a few more, anyway).
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Comment #29 posted by dididadadidit on June 06, 2005 at 09:58:12 PT
Doomed
I note numerous passages suggesting writing congress, congress will change, etc., etc. BS.Congress will not change. Writing my rethugnican congresscritter will achieve nothing (with the possible exception of my making another "enemies" list) as her mind has been made up for years. With 70 to 80% consistent support for medical in the polls, the rethugs in congress can't get to double digit support, as per the Rohrbacher/Hinchey votes of the past two years. Count on the congress to get even stupider as they take this court action as a green light to suppress even further, not as an opening to change the schedule 1 status, 80% public opinion to the contrary not counting one iota.I truly hope the medically threatened in California (and elsewhere) take full advantage of the 2nd amendment and don't just march calmly into the showers.By the way, does an American company make the (jack)boots issued to the military? I'd like to buy their stock for the coming DEA demand.Cheers? 
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Comment #28 posted by Hope on June 06, 2005 at 09:37:18 PT
Ron Paul...Governor Johnson
The name of the party means nothing to me, but I can tell you, if Republicans Ron Paul or ex-governor Johnson ever run for anything that I can vote for, I will not hesitate to vote for them.
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Comment #27 posted by westnyc on June 06, 2005 at 09:26:22 PT
Clinton = Ginsburg
Clinton appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg; whom I admired until today. Somebody must have slipped her a big fat check!
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Comment #26 posted by Nick Thimmesch on June 06, 2005 at 09:20:46 PT:
Yeah, someone else noticed...
The Liberal Judges 
Anyone notice that the so-called "liberal" judges ruled against this case; and, two of the most conservative judges on the bench ruled in favor of letting it stand?From NORML's chat room right now:From: Bob from Bowie (06/06/05 12:00:22)You are correct:"This is terrible, and the Democrats have absolutely no spine on this issue"Oddly, all three dissenters were GOP appointed: one by Nixon, one by Reagan and one by Bush.Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Clarence Thomas dissented.What happened to the Clinton appointee? 
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6550
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Comment #25 posted by Hope on June 06, 2005 at 09:19:17 PT
Jose ....comment 16
No court appeals left for this particular case. Supreme Court is end of the line for appeals to courts.I keep thinking of old Job and Dred Scott. This isn't the end by any means. This door didn't open to righteousness and justice. Another one will.Dred Scott didn't put out the anti-slavery fire. Raich/Monson won't put out the anti-prohibition fire.
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Comment #24 posted by Nick Thimmesch on June 06, 2005 at 09:17:44 PT:
Rush Limbaugh says...
...on SCOTUS:"There is no interstate commerce in this...I want to talk about this on the Constitutional side...""I think its hillarious" says Limbaugh, "Stevens says federal government trumps state law""I don't want phone calls all days from the legalize marijuana crowd..."Rush is taking a commercial break right now...but it might be worth a listen: sounds like he's against the SCOTUS ruling -- albeit for reasons that are perhaps different from the "legalize marijuana crowd".He actually might side with us -- and we can use all the help we can get to change Congress, even from the likes of Limbaugh.
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Comment #23 posted by westnyc on June 06, 2005 at 09:17:14 PT
The Liberal Judges
Anyone notice that the so-called "liberal" judges ruled against this case; and, two of the most conservative judges on the bench ruled in favor of letting it stand?
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Comment #22 posted by Max Flowers on June 06, 2005 at 09:12:28 PT
fearfull
Long before the snake gets a fatal grip on us, the less fearful among us will rear back and fight back in a final surge of defiance and get a fatal bite on the head of the snake---and either we the prey will triumph, or we the prey and the snake will all die together.
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Comment #21 posted by fearfull on June 06, 2005 at 09:03:02 PT
nuevo mexican
I wish I could change to hopefull or fearsome or something else, but I've used this handle here for some time now. When I selected it, it summed up my feelings at the time. Those feelings are as yet unchanged. I fear that the neo-con facists will squeeze and squeeze just like the giant snake they are, untill we can no longer breath without permission. Kind of reminds me of the film the Shawshank Redemption. When Red gets out of prison he comments that he can no longer pee without permission, "can't squeeze a drop with out say-so". I love my counrty, but I fear it has gone beyond the point of no return.
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Comment #20 posted by JHarshaw on June 06, 2005 at 09:02:04 PT
Not a setback
Greetings,This really is not a setback if you think about it because the court decision just leaves us right where we were before they spat upon the sick and dying members of our culture.
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Comment #19 posted by goneposthole on June 06, 2005 at 09:01:51 PT
It is un-American to be sick
Those sick people have a lot of nerve being sick, maybe even dying, too! How dare they be sick! How dare they live with the help of medicinal marijuana. Medicine isn't supposed to keep you alive, you take medicine to help you die, like Vioxx or Celebrex. Get it right.Just who do they think they are? Sick Americans? No such animal. HA HA HAGood Americans don't get sick. Good Americans don't use this snake oil so-called medicinal marijuana phony baloney medicine. We'll judge them on the merits of whether or not they live up to the standards of what is acceptable to be American. If they're sick, it means they're not an American. DEA agents will be peeing on the those medicinal marijuana plants like the Gitmo interrogators pee on the Koran. Round up the sick users of medicinal marijuana and send them to Gitmo or some prison in Indonesia. Let the pogrom begin; fill up those gulags.Supreme Justice is done. The sick be damned.
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Comment #18 posted by jose melendez on June 06, 2005 at 08:59:09 PT
write Congress!
To: Congressman John MicaHello,I am interested in having myself and one or more Volusia County citizens meet 
with you in regard to the Supreme Court decision in Raich v. 
Ashcroft.I do expect that fedral agencies will be very aggressive in light of this 
ruling. Your assistance could give voice to hundreds of thousands of 
Floridians that, whether they know it or not, are self medicating with 
marijuana instead of defective, deadly pharmaceuticals, alcohol and tobaccoo.Please contact me as soon as possible to arrange such a meeting. Thank you,Jose MelendezDeLand, FL 32724
888 247-8183As far as I can tell, we have the right to pursue happiness, but it makes them happy to block that pursuit. So, their happiness is acheived by trumping our rights, while our pursuits are deemed trivial to justify such injustice.
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Comment #17 posted by dongenero on June 06, 2005 at 08:35:03 PT
Marc P
We have "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" here.It's just lip service in today's society though.The spirit that founded America is pretty much lost in our current generations. People today are more inclined to simply say, "it's the law" rather than question, "is the law just." "Is the law constitutional?" "Is the law in the spirit of what America is about?"In the meantime the various spineless branches of our "Government" pass the hot potato back and forth and then throw their hands up, saying there is nothing they can do.
Try these other guys, try this other approach.Our forefathers would have staged something like the Boston Tea party. Or the American Revolution.
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Comment #16 posted by jose melendez on June 06, 2005 at 08:20:40 PT
if you have a cannabis club
If you have a cannabis club, and are unwilling to close in light of Raich (which can be appealed, yes?) . . . . . . GET VIDEO CAMERAS NOW! Ask friends to donate, take some of those piles of cash and get at least a couple of Hi8 camcorders, if not an entire security system:http://rock2000.comhttp://supercircuits.comhttp://bestbuy.comhttp://circuitcity.comhttp://bhphotovideo.comhttp://search.ebay.com/security-camera-system-dvr_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8Oh, and don't forget to point out that it is also food, and therefore not "purely for medical purposes."
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Comment #15 posted by Marc Paquette on June 06, 2005 at 08:19:04 PT:
HORRIBLE NEWS!!
Pressure on congress will make them change their minds about medical marijuana.The "People" always have the last word!In the meantime, we'll see ALOT of dying Americans die in jails because they can't access to the only medicinal herb that can improve their quality of life! It's too bad that Americans don't have Charter rights like we do in Canada! Under Section 7 of our Canadian Charter of Rights, Canadians have the right to survive, and for the permanently ill, since marijuana improves their quality of life and survive longer, they cannot fear prosecution.Re: Terry Parker Marc
http://medpot.net/forums
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Comment #14 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 06, 2005 at 08:18:34 PT
Most Americans Don't Even Care About Weed
...for adult or medicinal use. Congress is pushing the anti-marijuana agenda. And you know, I bet we can beat Congress at their own game. Overwhelm Uncle Sam
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Comment #13 posted by Sam Adams on June 06, 2005 at 08:15:40 PT
Another round for the Statists
The government's power continues to grow. Anything that can be federalized is, with no corresponding decrease in the size of local & state government. Oppression is much easier from Washington, thousands of miles away. Almost everything done at the federal level is harsher on "the people".  This will provide a brief power trip for the rich elite, but it will ultimately bring everything down, just as over-centralization did for the Romans & many other great civilizations.I find it very interesting that the opinion was written by a liberal democrat justice - Stevens - and even the liberal O'Connor's dissenting opinion including the statement that she's personally against medical marijuana, an issue which is supported by 80% of the population. It's litmus test for the entire political class - all Democrats and Republicans must swear allegiance.  They invent trifling issues like Iraq, abortion, gay rights, etc, to divide us, while the political class continues to gain more power over us every day.Kerry & Gore & Bush are just different flavors. Look at Gore, running around San Francisco yesterday preaching that we must all cut greenhouse gasses, while he was in power for EIGHT years, and his administration refused to sign the Kyoto treaty the whole time.Civil libertarians & pacifists rail against the Patriot Act & the Iraq war, while continuing to dump votes & money into the Democratic party, which vigorously supported both issues in Congress. And Nader is the anti-Christ.
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Comment #12 posted by Max Flowers on June 06, 2005 at 08:14:56 PT
No big surprise...
Justice John Paul Stevens, writing the 6-3 decision, said that Congress could change the law to allow medical use of marijuana.Oh and they will, you watch...they will be made to do that, and they will do it even sooner now. If there is ANY hope for this nation, this decision will now cause a very bright and glaring light to focus on this issue and add much-needed urgency to it. The very lives of patients are now more than ever being threatened by this zero-compassion "ruling", and if an act of Congress is what it's going to take, then an act of Congress is what we will get.ALL efforts now need to be directed at supporting HR 2592, if it's still alive, and its predecessors if needed.The Supreme Court "justices" who ruled in favor of the government on this have now shown themselves beyond any doubt to be capable of and willing to ignore the rule of law, the Constitution, and common decency. When the time comes for each of them, and they are dying, perhaps slowly and painfully, I will wish for the same amount of relief, mercy and compassion for them as they have showed for us (that is, ZERO). 
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Comment #11 posted by ekim on June 06, 2005 at 08:14:52 PT
far better to lite one candle
help promote Leap eventsJun 7 05 NORML for Boulder 07:00 PM Howard Wooldridge Boulder Colorado USA 
 No one is more normal or bolder than Board Member Howard Wooldridge when he meets with members of the NORML for Boulder organization. Howard will be discussing his cross country journey and efforts that LEAP is pursuing to end the failed war on drugs, as well as specific issues that affect the great state of Colorado. This event is open to the public and will be held at the Boulder Library. For a map to the library, visit http://www.normlforboulder.org Follow Howard on his journey at http://www.LEAP.cc/howard 
http://www.leap.cc/events
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Comment #10 posted by nuevo mexican on June 06, 2005 at 08:13:42 PT
Fearful, can you change that to Fearless?
Fear is the only thing bush has ever had over us, and I have NO fear of his holy ineptness ! Just a suggestion!The people dying in Iraq are people who have so much compassion for our idiocy, they are willing to be killed ('knowing there is no death, but only change'). We Americans that believe so much in a place called Heaven, are suspect, because if we REALLY believed in Heaven, why would we all be so afraid of dying? The belief in a higher power is so much stronger in Iraq, that they KNOW their sacrifices are NOT in vain. Now the Feds will be unleashed on the American public, and why not? We've pillaged and plundered every country on the planet, time to eat our own, don't you think? This will make the lack of compassion for our own people more obvious to the world, with Concious Humans avoiding the U.S. like the plague it has become.Bush is doing us all a favor, as he is dismantling the Monster called America (Steppenwold/68), quite well, as distressing as it may be for us, it gives the world hope that our demise is self-created! Though prophecized for ages, as we are well into the implosion phase. Just look at the state of the Mainstream Media and there complicity with bushes lies to go to war.The American people are Sheeple, until I see proof otherwise, we get what we deserve, until we demand a higher standard, and I don't see that happening,
(though the rest of the world has had it with us and our childish, immature, greed base lifestyles). When will we get over ourselves! And our ruthless 'corporate American dream'? I predict soon, as the darkest always comes before the dawn!
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Comment #9 posted by jose melendez on June 06, 2005 at 08:13:08 PT
neuvo is right
" . . . perhaps even more important than these legal avenues is the democratic process, in which the voices of voters allied with these respondents may one day be heard in the halls of Congress."Justice may seem to wear blinders, and Congress may actually be deaf, dumb and blind. But the great part of all this is that these truths are laid bare for all to see, including their constituents.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 06, 2005 at 08:07:44 PT
My Current Thoughts
I feel sorry for those who have Cannabis Clubs. 
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Comment #7 posted by cloud7 on June 06, 2005 at 08:06:09 PT
Un-Freakin-Believable
This was such a clear cut case of state's rights that this decision says nothing less than that we are one nation under the federal government. We are ruled by treason.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on June 06, 2005 at 07:58:13 PT
Nuevo Mexican 
Well you are a bright light for me on this sad day. I have been really worried about you since I haven't seen you post for a while. Yes it will backfire!
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Comment #5 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 06, 2005 at 07:57:42 PT
Well, I expected This Outcome
Now it's time to take reform to Congress. If they want to fight dirty, we should start by identifying the hard core prohibitionists like Souder and Sensenbrenner in the House, and in the Senate, who are up for re-election, support the strongest candidates in their district, and then de-elect as many prohibitionists in the 2006 election as we can. It's the only way we can win against them. Let's let them know we're here in '06. 
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Comment #4 posted by nuevo mexican on June 06, 2005 at 07:56:04 PT
This will backfire FOM, I'm celebrating!
The ignorance of the X-treme court judges is laid bare, now isn't that what we all hoped for? The backlash that will come from the obvious injustice that has been handed down will serve our cause, as it is the last gasp of a dying dinosaur, where compasssion for others painful conditions only matter if there is a profit to be gained. The jig is up, we know who pays these guys salaries, and there WILL be accountability, the Universe doesn't let an action go by that doesn't have an equal and opposite reaction, this is how life is, and it is only a matter of time before EVERYONE sees reality. One geophysical, earth-shattering, mind-boggling event and it all changes in a 'hot second'.
And has throughout time. 
Did anyone expect anything different? It is called 'self-dis-crediting', akin to GCWs' 'self-condemnation' (Book of Urantia). Give em enough rope, and they'll hang themselves, and now, it has been done. Perfect! 
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Comment #3 posted by fearfull on June 06, 2005 at 07:53:35 PT
Watch out for the Stormtroopers
Expect them to take quick and vengfull action. I would expect all hell to break loose as soon as today.
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Comment #2 posted by rchandar on June 06, 2005 at 07:51:21 PT:
just as i had suspected...
...but I'm sure many of you figured this would happen anyway. I think we just have to keep trying, that's all. Change will come. The fact that a few people voted this time in favor of the idea is actually encouraging; at some point, either the Supreme Court or Congress will be pressed significantly with the human necessity of changing the law.Peace.
rchandar
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 06, 2005 at 07:42:08 PT
Here's an AP Article
****
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