cannabisnews.com: Feds' Medical Pot Challenge Tossed





Feds' Medical Pot Challenge Tossed
Posted by CN Staff on August 22, 2008 at 05:29:24 PT
By Jennifer Squires, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
Santa Cruz, CA -- A federal court ruling handed down Wednesday has lifted the hopes of medical marijuana users by denying a Bush administration request to toss a lawsuit brought by Santa Cruz city and county officials and Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana members.WAMM co-founder Valerie Corral called the ruling "hopeful." WAMM had its medical marijuana seized by federal agents in a 2002 raid.
"Our lawsuit is really much more of an appeal than a lawsuit. It's an appeal for mercy from the federal government," Corral said. "We're not asking to break the law. We're asking to have another avenue for relief."The plaintiffs in the case contend that the federal government is deliberately interfering with how the state makes the distinction between legal and illegal marijuana use: the recommendation of a state-licensed physician to recommend medical marijuana to a sick patient. The plaintiffs say the federal government is seeking to disrupt California's medical marijuana law by targeting doctors who approve their patients' medical marijuana use and local governments that issue state-approved medical pot cards, among other things. That, the plaintiffs say, interferes with California's Constitutional right to make its own laws.U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled Wednesday that that portion of the case can go forward because if the plaintiffs prove their claims "they may be able to show that the federal government deliberately is seeking to frustrate the state's ability to determine whether an individual's use of marijuana is permissible under California law.""The federal government can enforce its own laws but it can't tell the states what laws they can enact," said Graham Boyd, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing WAMM. "If they can't do that, they also can't use their law enforcement to sabotage the state laws they don't like."California voters in 1996 approved Proposition 215, which gave ill people with a doctor's recommendation the right to use marijuana as a medication. In the years since, federal drug agents have targeted medicinal marijuana dispensaries and the doctors who prescribe marijuana."Those steps all make it impossible for California and its government to enforce state laws," Boyd said.Past lawsuits filed against the federal government have reached the Supreme Court, but all have failed.Boyd called this case "novel," explaining that the core claim by the plaintiffs is that it's chosen to make marijuana illegal for everyone except for patients and that it has set up mechanisms to distinguish the two, such as requiring a prescription from a doctor. "It's an unusual legal claim," Boyd said.He said he expects the federal government will appeal the ruling, but that it could also lead to a change in federal drug enforcement efforts.Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)Author: Jennifer Squires, Sentinel Staff WriterPublished: August 22, 2008Copyright: 2008 Santa Cruz SentinelContact: editorial santa-cruz.comWebsite: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/WAMMhttp://www.wamm.org/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by afterburner on August 22, 2008 at 21:19:16 PT
OT: Watch your Back: FDA OKs Pimp your Food Plan
Unlike Pimp your Ride which tricks out cars to improve their looks and functionality, pimping your food means tricking you with overblown "safety" concerns and reducing the good nutrition in food.Health alert: Your food supply is under attack. FDA okays "secret" (unlabelled) irradiation of lettuce & spinach, starting today (August 22, 2008). This will destroy health-giving phyto-nutrients. What can you do to protect you family?Excerpt from "FDA Unleashes Mass Irradiation of Spinach, Lettuce and Other Vegetables" 
Friday, August 22, 2008 by: Mike Adams (see all articles by this author)
Key concepts: Food, The FDA and Irradiation
http://www.naturalnews.com/023945.html{
What you can do right now to fight this latest transgression by the FDAFor starters, you can:1) Grow your own food. A little gardening is good. Grow whatever you can, even if it's just a few kitchen herbs.2) Buy your food at farmer's markets, coops and CSAs. See http://www.localharvest.org/csa3) Ask your grocery store if they are buying irradiated spinach. If they don't know, demand they find out!4) Raise hell with your Senators and Congresspeople, demanding they pass new laws protecting consumers from the FDA and its plot to destroy the nutritional value of the food supply.
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Comment #7 posted by OverwhelmSam on August 22, 2008 at 12:19:06 PT
Elvis Has Left The Building...
Thanks runruff, I was going for the ONDCP standing on the stage of an empty auditorium visual, ergo... crickets, chirping cheerfully into the darkness of the hollow auditorium. lol
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on August 22, 2008 at 10:40:45 PT
MMJ Employment Rights Bill Passes Senate
August 22, 2008http://www.nbc11.com/health/17265537/detail.html
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on August 22, 2008 at 08:21:04 PT
afterburner
I thought this is cool.Music: David Crosby Not Shy About Which Side He's OnExcerpt: "I think he's a very encouraging guy, a very intelligent man — which is, of course, a complete 180 degree shift from where we've been the last eight years," Crosby said. "The idea of having a guy who can speak in complete sentences is extremely attractive Barack has dignity and moral values, and I believe he loves his country." http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_10268772
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 22, 2008 at 07:44:47 PT
afterburner
I agree with you. This is so darn exciting. Just to be a little silly the future's so bright I gotta to wear shades. LOL!Timbuk3 - The Futures So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvIAyxpjEuc
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on August 22, 2008 at 07:31:23 PT
Wonderful Timing
With the start of the Democratic National Convention now only 3 days away, this ruling on August 20th couldn't have coming at a better time: "We can change! We can change! We can change!" Hope is in the air.Plus, that arrogant Denver police Lieutenant saying that the police "would have more pressing duties than rounding up pot smokers." Well, duh! That's the point Safer and other anti-Prohibition activists have been trying to get them to see for years!
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on August 22, 2008 at 07:04:54 PT
Sam,
"The crickets are sounding off loud and clear though. lol"That's funny!
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Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on August 22, 2008 at 06:07:02 PT
Interesting Blanket of Silence
Hardly any news about this extraordinary ruling. Not a peep out of the DoJ, DEA or ONDCP. One would think that they have something to say about the ruling, and nothing... The crickets are sounding off loud and clear though. lol
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