shadowsource
A Flash In The Pain
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2001
- Posts
- 1,664
Here goes rank stupidity in the midst of a REAL national crisis....
U.S. Cracks Down on Medical Marijuana in California
By GREG WINTER
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30 — 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."
U.S. Cracks Down on Medical Marijuana in California
By GREG WINTER
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30 — 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."
