Pubdate: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA) Copyright: 2003 Santa Cruz Sentinel Contact: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/394 MEDICAL POT GETS ITS DAY IN COURT Marijuana:A Federal Suit Will Be Fascinating To Watch, But Those Who Need Medical Marijuana Don't Need The Intrusion. The legality of medical marijuana is now in the courts, and we think the matter will climb all the way to the Supreme Court before it's over. A federal court trial in San Jose is under way. The city and county of Santa Cruz have filed suit against Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Drug Enforcement Administration over a raid on a Davenport-area marijuana farm. At issue is the legality of growing marijuana to help those who are seriously ill or dying. These people -- as well as some doctors -- say marijuana use helps ease symptoms of serious diseases and chronic conditions. But federal law holds marijuana use is illegal. We agree marijuana ought to be illegal to the general public, but like a majority of Californians, we also believe its use ought to be allowed for those in need of symptom relief. Many other drugs are illegal for general use -- like morphine -- but are in wide use as part of medical treatment. Many residents of Santa Cruz County are frustrated by the insistence of federal agents to go after those growing marijuana for medical use, like Valerie and Michael Corral, operators of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana. It was their farm that was raided in September. But this lawsuit may end up winning approval for medical marijuana. Even with the passage of a state ballot measure legalizing medical marijuana, federal law still holds that using and possessing the drug is illegal. Attorney Gerald Uelmen, a law professor at Santa Clara University and renowned trial lawyer, is heading up a legal team that's taking the issue to the federal courts. The team's lawyers are arguing the legal issues are more complicated than the federal government has argued: that federal law trumps local and state laws. But Uelmen has cited a number of other legal arguments, including that the U.S. Constitution could allow medical marijuana under two sections: the 10th Amendment, which grants states powers not exercised by the federal government, and the 14th Amendment, which provides the right of due process. Also, the federal government should not be allowed to take from a medical patient the right to "control the circumstances of their own deaths," in the words of Uelmen. The federal government has said it's acting in patients' behalf, because it is protecting them from hucksters touting marijuana as an alternative to medical treatment. But Uelmen says that argument doesn't fly because terminal patients don't use marijuana as an alternative. Rather, it's a supplement to standard treatment. Indeed, marijuana use cuts the suffering caused by chemotherapy. The case is a fascinating one. And it's an important one. We see no reason for the federal government to increase the suffering of sick people. Unfortunately, by the time the case runs its course, some of those sick people will have died. And the shame of it is that they were harassed at a time when they were most vulnerable.