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."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake