Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 Source: Republican, The (Springfield, MA) Copyright: 2005 The Republican Contact: http://www.masslive.com/republican/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3075 Author: Azell Murphy Cavaan Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Craker Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich (Angel Raich) UMASS PROFESSOR 'DISAPPOINTED' The Supreme Court ruling yesterday to outlaw use of medical marijuana came just weeks before a local plant scientist is expected to appear in court, accusing the federal government of obstructing his research on the topic. Lyle E. Craker, a professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, said yesterday's high court decision "certainly does not help our case." "On behalf of society, I am disappointed," said Craker, who is a professor of plant and soil sciences. "People who are ill and can benefit from use of marijuana are going to be denied a medicine that could help them in their suffering." In a 6-3 decision, the high court decided yesterday that state medical marijuana laws do not protect users from a federal ban on the drug. But Craker said while the court's decision may have come at a bad time, it does not render the merits of his case null and void. Last year, Craker filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals after the federal Drug Enforcement Administration failed to answer his application to establish a campus facility where he could grow marijuana for U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved research. The case could go to court sometime in July, Craker said yesterday. "We are always looking for medicines that will help ill people. The only way we can demonstrate whether (marijuana) is effective medicine is to have valid scientific tests," Craker said. Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote yesterday's decision, said that Congress could change the law to allow medical use of marijuana. Stevens said there are other legal options for patients, "but perhaps even more important than these legal avenues is the democratic process, in which the voices of voters allied with these respondents may one day be heard in the halls of Congress." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake