Pubdate: Wed, 23 May 2001 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 16 Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Author: Compiled from Chronicle staff reports Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) PSYCHIATRIST SUES OVER MEDICINAL POT A Berkeley psychiatrist who has recommended marijuana use to more than 5,000 patients sued the Medical Board of California yesterday for damages and to prevent it from prying into his records. Dr. Tod Mikuriya, whose peripatetic practice has made him the physician of last resort for patients throughout California who say marijuana eases their suffering, accused the board of invading his privacy and that of his patients. The Medical Board has filed an accusation against Mikuriya that could result in the suspension or revocation of his license to practice medicine. Mikuriya's complaint, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, accuses the Medical Board of retaliatory discrimination because of his attempt to practice medicine in accordance with Proposition 215, the 1996 initiative approved by California voters that legalized medical marijuana. And it contends that in subpoenaing the records of 46 of his patients, the board is engaged in an unconstitutional fishing expedition whose goal was to frighten physicians away from recommending marijuana use for seriously ill patients. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager