Pubdate: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 Source: Collegiate Times (VA Tech, Edu) Copyright: 2005 Collegiate Times Contact: http://www.collegiatetimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/699 Author: Michael Krawitz ote: Michael Krawitz is a regular columnist for the Collegiate Times. Cited: Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis www.drugscience.org Cited: American Alliance for Medical Cannabis www.letfreedomgrow.com Cited: Americans for Safe Access www.safeaccessnow.org Cited: California NORML www.canorml.org Cited: Drug Policy Forum of Texas www.dpft.org Cited: National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws www.norml.org Cited: Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative www.rxcbc.org Cited: Patients Out of Time www.medicalcannabis.com Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich (Gonzales v. Raich) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) MEDICAL CANNABIS USE TAKES A BLOW FROM CONGRESS The United States Supreme Court decides medical marijuana case. In case No. 03-1454. Argued November 29, 2004--Decided June 6, 2005 From the United States Supreme Court Syllabus that comes along with it's ruling: "California's Compassionate Use Act authorizes limited marijuana use for medicinal purposes. Respondents Raich and Monson are California residents who both use doctor-recommended marijuana for serious medical conditions. After federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents seized and destroyed all six of Monson's cannabis plants, respondents brought this action seeking injunctive and declaratory relief prohibiting the enforcement of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to the extent it prevents them from possessing, obtaining, or manufacturing cannabis for their personal medical use. Respondents claim that enforcing the CSA against them would violate the Commerce Clause and other constitutional provisions. The District Court denied respondents' motion for a preliminary injunction, but the Ninth Circuit reversed, finding that they had demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the claim that the CSA is an unconstitutional exercise of Congress' Commerce Clause authority as applied to the intrastate, noncommercial cultivation and possession of cannabis for personal medical purposes as recommended by a patient's physician pursuant to valid California state law. The court relied heavily on United States v. Lopez, U.S. 549, and United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 20 598, to hold that this separate class of purely local activities was beyond the reach of federal power. Held: Congress' Commerce Clause authority includes the power to prohibit the local cultivation and use of marijuana in compliance with California law. Pp. 6-31." The reform community is in a defensive posture after a ruling is handed down confirming the far-reaching ability of the federal drug police given them by acts of congress. It is a foregone conclusion that this loss has hit many very hard. I refer you to my previous column where I list individuals who may face immediate negative effects from this ruling. But is this loss a bad thing for the overall efforts to remove criminal penalties for medicinal use of Cannabis or against efforts to make Cannabis more available to those patients who need it? I don't think so. There is an old saying in law that the best way to get rid of a bad law is to enforce it. Perhaps with a clear defeat here the United States Congress will finally get off it's high horse and correct the injustice that was created in 1970 when the "new" law called the CSA would, for the first time ever, outlaw the medicinal use of Cannabis. There are other avenues that must be explored as well. A coalition of thousands of patients finds its headquarters right here in Virginia near Charlottesville. This coalition has as one of its leaders a renowned researcher, who also calls Virginia home, Jon Gettman. Jon made the following report in High Times magazine on October 8, 2002, "The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, the largest coalition in the history of drug policy reform, has launched an extensive legal and scientific challenge to the Drug Enforcement Administration's prohibition of medical cannabis use in the United States. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) asserts that cannabis has no medical value and that public support for medical marijuana use is based on misperceptions about its safety and effectiveness. The DEA also asserts that cannabis has a high potential for abuse similar to that of cocaine and heroin. The DEA makes these claims not only to justify their refusal to let cannabis be used medically, but also to justify the arrest and harassment of patients and caregivers, both in states that have given legal approval to marijuana's medical use and in the rest of the nation." The DEA has never provided comprehensive scientific evidence to support their self-serving accusations about the medical use of cannabis; they claim these assertions are true simply because they, the DEA, say they are true, as if the laws of the United States gives them the exclusive power to dictate what are and what are not the true findings of scientific research. The tool with which to force the DEA to recognize and fulfill their statutory obligation to facilitate medical access to cannabis is an obscure administrative regulatory process know as "rescheduling". The process requires the DEA to re-evaluate, and if it can, re-justify its prohibition on medical access to cannabis. The administrative petition being filed by the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis is a comprehensive review of recent scientific literature regarding each of these important issues. Numerous patient advocacy and drug policy reform organizations, along with this author and HIGH TIMES, have joined together in this Coalition to mount a sustained and comprehensive challenge to the DEA's prohibition on access to medical cannabis and refute the federal government's ongoing misinformation campaign about cannabis and the scientific record. Participating in the Coalition are the American Alliance for Medical Cannabis, Americans for Safe Access, California NORML, the Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Iowans for Medical Cannabis, the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Cooperative, the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, New Mexicans for Compassionate Use, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, Patients Out of Time as well as other interested individuals. As of this writing Jon's petition has passed DEA scrutiny and has been passed on to HHS where it now sits awaiting divine intervention. One of the organizations leading this effort, Patients Out of Time, out of Howardsville, Virginia has conducted three college level courses at US universities with the last here in Charlottesville last year. They have never had one person come forward to ever dispute the truth of any of the hundred or so Lectures conducted at their bi-annual conferences. Patients Out of Times next conference will be in Santa Barbara, California in 2006 and there is an effort being conducted to bring in state law makers from around the country to learn the truth about Cannabis as medicine. Please suggest attendance to your legislator and contact Patients Out of Time as well. You can find more information about the next conference at their website: http://www.medicalcannabis.com/ Tonite I will pray that we quickly find a way out of this dark time. I have spent a great deal of time volunteering with very, very sick individuals and I have seen Cannabis remove dozens of lines of pain from a struggling patients face in seconds. The DEA has a powerful weapon in their hands and I think their future perhaps even their soul is on the line in how they wield it. Dear Lord I pray that you guide the DEA to act responsibly and with compassion and I pray you watch over those in pain tonite so they know they are not alone. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake