T
The420Guy
Guest
Date: Sun, 03 Dec 2000 18:showboating:27 -0800
From: "D. Paul Stanford" <stanford@crrh.org>
To: restore@crrh.org
Subject: CA: Medical Marijuana Fight Goes to the Supreme Court
Message-ID: <5.0.0.25.2.20001203184338.04f437c0@mail.olywa.net>
Medical Marijuana Fight Goes to the Supreme Court
Posted by FoM on December 03, 2000 at 07:07:23 PT
Editorial
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Four years after California voters approved the medical use of marijuana in
defiance of federal drug laws, the pot-as-medicine controversy has
finally reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
It's high time a little judiciousness is applied to the debate over the
medical value of cannabis sativa, a versatile weed used for centuries as a folk
remedy and intoxicant.
So far, the argument has been dominated by federal anti-drug zealots who
refuse to acknowledge any difference between the dangers of medical pot and
such illegal hard drugs as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Last Monday, the high court agreed to decide whether the Oakland Cannabis
Buyers' Cooperative should be able to distribute marijuana as a "medical
necessity" for patients who have no better alternative.
The court's decision, expected next June, is likely to determine whether
patients will be able to take a few tokes legally in California and eight
other states where similar laws have been passed.
In November 1996, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 215,
a landmark initiative that allowed patients -- with a doctor's approval --
to use, grow and possess pot, even though it is outlawed by federal law
under any
circumstances.
Prop. 215 was a sloppily written law that put the state in direct conflict
with federal drug laws and the Clinton administration's hard-nosed
anti-drug policy.
But since then, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon
and Washington have joined the grassroots movement to legalize pot as medicine.
Until a federal judge halted marijuana sales in October 1998, the Oakland
Cannabis Buyers Cooperative was a model of discretion and seriousness of
purpose. The co-op required a membership card, evidence of illness and a
doctor's recommendation.
And it seemed to work.
Jeffrey Jones, director of the Oakland co-op, says none of its 7,000 card-
carrying members currently get pot there.
However, some 35 other low-profile California cannabis clubs continue to
sell it quietly, including a dozen in the Bay Area.
The Oakland co-op is located in a tidy, downtown storefront shop at 1733
Broadway that now specializes in marijuana paraphernalia, hemp products,
advice on marijuana cultivation and referrals to other cannabis clubs.
Smoking pot in the co-op is forbidden.
Jones, 26, a defendant in the Supreme Court case, is a true believer in the
efficacy of marijuana as a wonder drug useful in alleviating chronic pain
and helpful in a wide variety of ailments, ranging from migraine headaches
to glaucoma, cancer and AIDS.
He argues that cannabis has been used as a palliative for thousands of
years and should be available to seriously ill patients to ease symptoms,
stimulate appetites and give solace.
The National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine, after an 18-month
review of scientific literature on marijuana, concluded last year that pot
used as
medicine can help ease pain and nausea and recommended further research.
The institute also reported no conclusive evidence that marijuana leads to
harder drugs, contrary to drug-warrior claims.
Prestigious journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet
and New Scientist have editorialized about the strong and persuasive
evidence that marijuana works as medicine on an array of illnesses.
When the Supreme Court makes its ruling, the justices should allow
marijuana to be added to California physicians' legal pharmacopoeia that
includes all kinds of narcotics, sedatives, mood elevators, pain killers
and psychoactives that can be dangerous if improperly used and illegal if
not prescribed.
Medical marijuana should be treated like any other drug that has side
effects and the potential for abuse.
Further research is obviously needed, but in the meantime it would be
shameful for the justices to deny seriously sick people the benefits of pot
merely because the Justice Department fears the legalization of pot for any
reason "threatens the government's ability to enforce federal drug laws."
That is a fatuous argument that would deny effective medication to law-
abiding patients who prefer to bear the agonies of their illnesses rather
than break the law by buying illegal pot from a street dealer.
The Supreme Court should legalize marijuana as a prescription medicine.
Like other useful drugs with potential side-effects, let doctors prescribe
it when appropriate and allow the Oakland co-op and other cannabis clubs to
sell it until a better way of controlling and distributing it is found.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Published: Sunday, December 3, 2000
Copyright: 2000 San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: Home
Forum: https://www.sfgate.com/conferences/
Related Articles & Web Site:
Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperative
Welcome to PIDC's Home Page
Stoking The High Court
cannabisnews.com: Stoking The High Court
Medical Marijuana Case To Top Court
cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Case to Top Court
Oakland Marijuana Case Goes to US Supreme Court
cannabisnews.com: Oakland Marijuana Case Goes to US Supreme Court
U.S. Justices To Weigh Medical Marijuana Laws
cannabisnews.com: U.S. Justices To Weigh Medical Marijuana Laws
Supreme Court To Decide Medical Marijuana Case
cannabisnews.com: Supreme Court To Decide Medical Marijuana Case
From: "D. Paul Stanford" <stanford@crrh.org>
To: restore@crrh.org
Subject: CA: Medical Marijuana Fight Goes to the Supreme Court
Message-ID: <5.0.0.25.2.20001203184338.04f437c0@mail.olywa.net>
Medical Marijuana Fight Goes to the Supreme Court
Posted by FoM on December 03, 2000 at 07:07:23 PT
Editorial
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Four years after California voters approved the medical use of marijuana in
defiance of federal drug laws, the pot-as-medicine controversy has
finally reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
It's high time a little judiciousness is applied to the debate over the
medical value of cannabis sativa, a versatile weed used for centuries as a folk
remedy and intoxicant.
So far, the argument has been dominated by federal anti-drug zealots who
refuse to acknowledge any difference between the dangers of medical pot and
such illegal hard drugs as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Last Monday, the high court agreed to decide whether the Oakland Cannabis
Buyers' Cooperative should be able to distribute marijuana as a "medical
necessity" for patients who have no better alternative.
The court's decision, expected next June, is likely to determine whether
patients will be able to take a few tokes legally in California and eight
other states where similar laws have been passed.
In November 1996, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 215,
a landmark initiative that allowed patients -- with a doctor's approval --
to use, grow and possess pot, even though it is outlawed by federal law
under any
circumstances.
Prop. 215 was a sloppily written law that put the state in direct conflict
with federal drug laws and the Clinton administration's hard-nosed
anti-drug policy.
But since then, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon
and Washington have joined the grassroots movement to legalize pot as medicine.
Until a federal judge halted marijuana sales in October 1998, the Oakland
Cannabis Buyers Cooperative was a model of discretion and seriousness of
purpose. The co-op required a membership card, evidence of illness and a
doctor's recommendation.
And it seemed to work.
Jeffrey Jones, director of the Oakland co-op, says none of its 7,000 card-
carrying members currently get pot there.
However, some 35 other low-profile California cannabis clubs continue to
sell it quietly, including a dozen in the Bay Area.
The Oakland co-op is located in a tidy, downtown storefront shop at 1733
Broadway that now specializes in marijuana paraphernalia, hemp products,
advice on marijuana cultivation and referrals to other cannabis clubs.
Smoking pot in the co-op is forbidden.
Jones, 26, a defendant in the Supreme Court case, is a true believer in the
efficacy of marijuana as a wonder drug useful in alleviating chronic pain
and helpful in a wide variety of ailments, ranging from migraine headaches
to glaucoma, cancer and AIDS.
He argues that cannabis has been used as a palliative for thousands of
years and should be available to seriously ill patients to ease symptoms,
stimulate appetites and give solace.
The National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine, after an 18-month
review of scientific literature on marijuana, concluded last year that pot
used as
medicine can help ease pain and nausea and recommended further research.
The institute also reported no conclusive evidence that marijuana leads to
harder drugs, contrary to drug-warrior claims.
Prestigious journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet
and New Scientist have editorialized about the strong and persuasive
evidence that marijuana works as medicine on an array of illnesses.
When the Supreme Court makes its ruling, the justices should allow
marijuana to be added to California physicians' legal pharmacopoeia that
includes all kinds of narcotics, sedatives, mood elevators, pain killers
and psychoactives that can be dangerous if improperly used and illegal if
not prescribed.
Medical marijuana should be treated like any other drug that has side
effects and the potential for abuse.
Further research is obviously needed, but in the meantime it would be
shameful for the justices to deny seriously sick people the benefits of pot
merely because the Justice Department fears the legalization of pot for any
reason "threatens the government's ability to enforce federal drug laws."
That is a fatuous argument that would deny effective medication to law-
abiding patients who prefer to bear the agonies of their illnesses rather
than break the law by buying illegal pot from a street dealer.
The Supreme Court should legalize marijuana as a prescription medicine.
Like other useful drugs with potential side-effects, let doctors prescribe
it when appropriate and allow the Oakland co-op and other cannabis clubs to
sell it until a better way of controlling and distributing it is found.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Published: Sunday, December 3, 2000
Copyright: 2000 San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: Home
Forum: https://www.sfgate.com/conferences/
Related Articles & Web Site:
Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperative
Welcome to PIDC's Home Page
Stoking The High Court
cannabisnews.com: Stoking The High Court
Medical Marijuana Case To Top Court
cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Case to Top Court
Oakland Marijuana Case Goes to US Supreme Court
cannabisnews.com: Oakland Marijuana Case Goes to US Supreme Court
U.S. Justices To Weigh Medical Marijuana Laws
cannabisnews.com: U.S. Justices To Weigh Medical Marijuana Laws
Supreme Court To Decide Medical Marijuana Case
cannabisnews.com: Supreme Court To Decide Medical Marijuana Case
