Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI) Copyright: 2005 Honolulu Star-Bulletin Contact: http://www.starbulletin.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/196 Note: Star-Bulletin reporter Rod Antone, the New York Times News Service andthe Associated Press contributed to this report. Cited: Gonzales v. Raich http://www.angeljustice.org Cited: Drug Policy Forum of Hawai'i http://www.dpfhi.org/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich (Angel Raich) ISLES WEIGH MARIJUANA RULING The U.S. Supreme Court upheld yesterday the power of Congress to prohibit and prosecute the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes, even in the 10 states that permit it. In Hawaii, one of those states, medicinal marijuana users and supporters noted the decision does not strike down the states' medicinal marijuana laws, but rather allows federal authorities to prosecute medical marijuana users under U.S. laws. In Honolulu, FBI Special Agent Arnold Laanui said federal authorities would enforce the law as written. "The FBI will certainly do that, as will probably the FDA and the DEA certainly," Laanui said. The state's role in facilitating any such prosecution remains unclear, however. Big Island resident Jonathan Adler, who said he smokes marijuana for religious and medicinal purposes, asked, "Is that list (of registered medicinal marijuana users) going to be shared with the federal government? The state should stand up for its own rights." Jeanne Ohta, executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, said: "It is still legal for patients under a physician's care to use marijuana to treat diseases like cancer, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis and AIDS. That choice continues to exist here and in the nine other states with similar laws. "What is unknown, though, is how the Bush administration will choose to act: Will it choose to waste your tax dollars by raiding the homes of sick and dying patients who are just following the laws of their state or city?" State Attorney General Mark Bennett said it was unclear what the state's role was in light of yesterday's decision. Since 2000 the Department of Public Safety has been responsible for certifying those with medicinal marijuana needs based upon doctors' recommendations. State public safety officials said there were 2,596 certified medicinal marijuana users as of May. "I suspect that this decision will not have a great impact on what we do as a state," Bennett said. Jack Schweigert, a Honolulu attorney who in 2002 represented marijuana permit holders arrested by Big Island police during a pot crackdown in Hilo, called the ruling "expected" but "unfortunate." Marijuana "really helps some people who are terribly sick to deal with their illness," Schweigert said. "It's their right." The 6-3 decision overturned a 2003 ruling by a federal appeals court that had shielded California's Compassionate Use Act, the medical-marijuana initiative adopted by the state's voters nine years ago, from the reach of federal drug enforcement. The appeals court had held that Congress lacked constitutional authority to regulate the noncommercial cultivation and use of marijuana that does not cross state lines. But "the regulation is squarely within Congress's commerce power," Justice John Paul Stevens said for the majority yesterday. He added that the court's precedents had clearly established "Congress's power to regulate purely local activities that are part of an economic 'class of activities' that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce." Laanui of the FBI said, "I'm inclined to agree with the justice on the bench, John Paul Stevens, who said Congress is free to change the laws. In the meantime ... we'll enforce it." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake