cannabisnews.com: Doctor's Suit Progresses





Doctor's Suit Progresses
Posted by CN Staff on September 12, 2007 at 06:49:03 PT
By Ryan Sabalow 
Source: Record Searchlight
California -- A federal judge rejected a government move to throw out a First Amendment lawsuit filed by a Redding doctor caught up in a sting against a local medical marijuana dispensary. A trial date was set for next summer.Dr. Philip Denney, a vocal medical marijuana advocate who frequently prescribes the drug, sued the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other government agencies for sending informants and undercover agents to his office posing as patients in 2005.
Denney alleges they targeted him because of his stance on the controversial drug, violating his legally protected right to a confidential relationship with his patients and his ability to prescribe a legal drug as he sees fit.Last month, U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton denied a request by the DEA and other defendants to throw out the case, saying that Denney's allegations have merit."The circumstances at least permit the inference that (Denney) was under investigation for his speech concerning medical marijuana," Karlton wrote.Speaking from his Redding office on Wednesday, Denney called Karlton's order a "huge victory.""What made it huge was the judge's opinion," Denney said, referring to the 36-page order filed in California's Eastern District Court in Sacramento. "He basically refuted all of the government's arguments. ... It's pretty clear this is going to a jury."Among those also named in Denney's suit are the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Redding Police Department; Shasta County Sheriff's Office; and county District Attorney Jerry Benito.A DEA spokeswoman in San Francisco declined to comment Tuesday on the ongoing lawsuit.A trial was set for June 2008, Denney said.Denney's involvement in the case stems from Dixon Herbs, a Redding dispensary agents busted and shut down in December 2005. The store reopened weeks later and continues doing business at another location in Redding, Denney said.Denney filed his suit in November 2006. In it, Denney says an informant and an ATF agent visited his office on separate occasions, gave false identification, reported chronic pain and received written recommendations for marijuana.The agents then went to the Redding herb store and bought medical marijuana, according to court documents.Police have said Denney was not a target of the probe, and he was not charged with a crime.But Denney claims he clearly was under investigation. He was under surveillance -- court papers show officers debated wearing a wire before going inside and had discussed going into his clinic armed, he said.Denney's suit alleges the investigators violated a 2002 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that a doctor's discussions with a patient about the pros and cons of medical marijuana are protected under the First Amendment.California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996 gives seriously ill patients the right to obtain and use marijuana to control pain, nausea and other symptoms.No such law exists on the federal level.Note: Judge decides against throwing out pot dispenser's claims.Source: Redding Record Searchlight (CA)Author: Ryan Sabalow Published: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 Copyright: 2007 Record Searchlight Contact: letters redding.comWebsite: http://www.redding.com/Related Articles: Doctor Sees Cannabis as Legitimate Medicinehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23172.shtmlRedding Doctor Sues DEAhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22426.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on September 13, 2007 at 04:54:54 PT:
Denney has already got a legal precedent
Namely, Conant vs. Walters: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/307/conant.shtml in which it was quite obvious the Fed narcs and their State cat's-paws tried to silence doctors from recommending cannabis to their patients. It blew up in the narcs' faces, big time, as it was a clear violation of the 1st Amendment. With Judge Breyer's opinion in the latest Ed Rosenthal trial that Rosenthal was singled out for punishment by the Feds because of his very vocal criticism of Fed efforts, this makes the Feds winning this case even less likely to happen, but the bull-headed Feds can be counted on to try to bluff this out...and waste God alone knows how much taxpayer's money in doing so, like they did with the Rosenthal trials.
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Comment #5 posted by aolbites on September 12, 2007 at 23:07:53 PT
Stop Yelling all the time
SHUT UP!ok, now .. calmly type the same without shouting at us all the time.
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Comment #4 posted by Richard Zuckerman on September 12, 2007 at 09:51:49 PT:
LAWSUIT WORTHWHILE FOR APPEAL PURPOSES:
"Probable cause need only exist as to any offense that could be charged under the circumstances", 
Barna v. City Of Perth Amboy, 42 F.3d 809, 819 (3rd Cir. 1997); See also: Owaki v. City Of Miami, 491 F.Supp.2d 1140, 1155 (S.D. Fla. 2007), headnotes 8 and 9. Unfortunately, it seems to me that at first blush, the lawsuit does not have merit. THE ISSUES I WOULD LIKE TO SEE PRESSED ON APPEAL IN THIS CASE IS:[1] THE CRITICISM OF EXPANSIVE INCLUSION OF FEDERAL COURT JURISDICTION OSTENSIBLY THROUGH THE INTERSTATE COMMERCISE CLAUSE, AS DESCRIBED IN DISSENTING OPINIONS AND LEGAL PERIODICALS ON THE SUBJECT; AND [2] THAT FEDERAL STATUTE ON JURISDICTION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHICH THE LATE COLORADO MEDICAL POT ACTIVIST KEN GORMAN TOLD ME ABOUT DURING A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO; AND[3] STATES RIGHTS UNDER THE 9TH AND/OR 10TH AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION IN REGARDS TO THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA, AS DESCRIBED BY AT LEAST A COUPLE OF LAW REVIEW ARTICLES...I HAVE SEEN AT LEAST ONE SUCH LAW REVIEW ARTICLE!Richard Paul Zuckerman, Box 159, Metuchen, N.J., 08840-0159, richardzuckerman2002 yahoo.com, www.RonPaul2008.com;
Diploma in Paralegal, New York University, 2003;
Diploma in Truck Driving, www.smithsolomon.com, 1995;
B.A. in Political Science, Kean College of New Jersey [Kean University], 1987; www.norml.org.
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Comment #3 posted by dongenero on September 12, 2007 at 08:51:31 PT
our tax dollars are tough to fight.....
when used against us.So, the DEA, The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Redding Police Department; Shasta County Sheriff's Office; and county District Attorney Jerry Benito, will all be sucking up tax dollars to defend their illegal activities.How broken is this system of government? Control has been handed over to the Federal Government. Checks and balances?...nearly gone. These judiciaries must stand up to help save this country.
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Comment #2 posted by sam adams on September 12, 2007 at 08:25:38 PT
this just in.....
FDA data: Prescription drug deaths, injuries soarCHICAGO - Reports of dangerous side effects and deaths from widely used medicines almost tripled between 1998 and 2005, an analysis of US drug data found.The number of deaths and serious injuries from prescription and over-the-counter drugs climbed from 34,966 to 89,842 during the study of reports to the Food and Drug Administrationhttp://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/09/12/fda_data_prescription_drug_deaths_injuries_soar/
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Comment #1 posted by Treeanna on September 12, 2007 at 07:01:24 PT
Typical
So, anyone else notice that this paper waited a MONTH to publish a story on this? Cant get in the way of all the "Operation whateverthehell" hype, right?
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