Judge throws out medical pot suit against the feds

[alp227]

Source: SF Chronicle

When federal prosecutors in California announced a crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries last fall, pot suppliers and their advocates claimed in a series of lawsuits that the Obama administration was breaking a promise to leave them alone if they complied with state law.

The suits have gotten a chilly reception in court, and now a federal judge in Sacramento has become the first to dismiss one of them, saying the Justice Department remains free to enforce federal drug laws.

Tuesday's ruling allows federal prosecutors to continue a campaign that has shut down a number of dispensaries in California, including the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax and several in San Francisco. A lawyer for a Sacramento collective and one of its patients said they would appeal.

The suits were filed in November by marijuana suppliers and patients in each of the state's four federal judicial districts. They relied on the Justice Department's October 2009 memo to federal prosecutors that said they should concentrate on drug trafficking networks, and "should not focus federal resources" on individuals who followed their state's medical marijuana law.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/29/BAM21NE3JL.DTL

[tech_smythe]

1. so much for the ballyhooed states rights

it was a valiant effort.

[Occulus]

2. They need to alter the grounds of their suit to address the equal protection question

The Federal government has been running its own medical cannabis 'dispensary' as an apparent result of a previous lawsuit against them (that the feds lost) even into Obama's Presidency.

If justice can be unequal for everyone else vs a very select few, there is no justice.

[Uncle Joe]

15. I believe that would be a good strategy, Occulus. n/t

[lonestarnot]

3. How is that California town whose economy is built on marijuana fairing? I can't remember which

town. Tried to look it up and couldn't find it, too many stores.

[alp227]

4. I think it's in Humboldt County.

This LA Times article profiled cannabis cultivation in Trinity Pines. I also saw this KQED special about a crackdown on pot farms in Mendocino County.

[Tunkamerica]

6. From everything I've heard Humboldt and the surrounding areas are against

legalization in any form since it would take away all of their income. They do better when prices, risks, and demand are high.

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. They are not going to win this in the federal courts.

The federal Controlled Substances Act trumps anything the state does, even, since Raich v. Ashcroft, growing a plant for your own use. The feds don't believe in medical marijuana. In their eyes, they're being nice guys by not going after patients, just people who appear to be growing or selling a lot of it.

This needs political work. The Obama administration earlier had a more reasonable position, but shifted gears back to repression last year. It's hurting them in the medical marijuana community here; maybe they can be shifted back.

In the meantime, Congress could pass a medical marijuana bill, but I'm not holding my breath.

[99th_Monkey]

7. Pot-haters + Big Pharma + Private Prison Corps. are teaming up

to oppress and criminalize anyone audacious enough to believe
that their state's laws, passed by voters of that state, would be
respected, or at least honored enough to avoid turning regular
"citizens" into criminals due to their compliance w/ known state
laws.

Not hard for me to decide which side I'm on.

[harmonicon]

8. I'm on the side of the Feds.

I'm not on their side because I'm against the legalization of Marijuana - I'm all for it. I'm on their side because I'm against the idea of states making laws which ignore federal laws and expecting to get away with it. I'm pretty sure, for instance, that Arizona and Alabama wouldn't mind getting rid of the voter's rights act.

[99th_Monkey]

10. So light up a "Fatty" and call it good for tonight.

lot's of peeps are on the proverbial fence on these issues (legalizing substances, by voter
decree, cuz of eclipsing "state's rights" with an ill-conceived "War on Drugs" that is incarcerating
more US citizens per-capita than ANY NATION ON EARTH .... i.e. "Feeding" more and more detainees
into private for-profit prisons ,,, for getting $32, 000 + per year payment from Fed and/or State.

It is so utterly sick,

[harmonicon]

12. I just think the federal government should legalize it.

I guess that I'm on one far extreme in that I think all drugs should be decriminalized.

For the larger fed vs. states' rights, think of capital punishment. I think that should be outlawed, and if the federal government rightly did so, I wouldn't think it would be ok for Texas to keep on executing people because they thought it was a sates' rights issue.

It's important to remember that court cases don't only pertain to the specific case at hand but also set precedent for larger issues.

[99th_Monkey]

13. I couldn't agree more - legalize pot and the whole lot of them (drugs)

you make an excellent point about Texas & executions.

Thanks for your reply

[harmonicon]

9. I'm amazed that "but you promised!!" isn't a successful legal defense. Who would have guessed? nt.

[BigDemVoter]

11. From someone who has a prescription

and who uses one of the dispensaries in San Francisco FREQUENTLY, this really PISSES me off to no end.

At the dispensary I use, one sees an incredible variety of people. The dispensary is discrete and is on a quiet block in the lower Haight. EVERYBODY I talk to who goes there is very concerned that this effective treatment is about to be yanked, simply because the Feds have a corn cob up their ass regarding "DRUGS" (of course NOT a peep about the "evils of alcohol!).




On edit:
On 2nd thought, it really is just a question of time before it's legal everywhere. The tide has turned so much in the past 30 years, it's incredible. I did see an opinion recently and cannot remember where, but it was just pointing out these trends. I certainly hope it won't be 30 years before it's treated as alcohol is today.

[ieoeja]

14. "NOT a peep about the 'evils of alcohol'"

Actually, there has been an undeclared War on Alcohol since Reagan forced states to raise the drinking age to 21.

1. Reagan forced states to raise the drinking age.
2. DUI was elevated from moving violation to a form of attempted murder.
3. High option insurance was approved as part of punishment.
4. Legal Blood Alcohol Content was standardized at 0.15 nationwide.
5. "Papers please" Roadblocks established and approved by Supreme Court.
6. Legal BAC lowered to 0.12 qualifying more people for high option insurance.
7. Legal BAC lowered to 0.10 qualifying more people for high option insurance.
8. Legal BAC lowered to 0.08 qualifying more people for high option insurance.
9. Legal BAC lowered to 0.05 qualifying more people for high option insurance.

For purely coincidental reasons, the insurance lobby provides funding for the overtime pay to police for those holiday roadblocks.

[BigDemVoter]

16. Still

Alcohol is LEGAL and pot is NOT per the Federal Government-- big difference.