The Law is Clear: States Can Allow Medical Marijuana Even if the Federal
Government Disagrees, Say Groups
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
SAN DIEGO - The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Safe Access and
the Drug Policy Alliance moved today to intervene in a lawsuit brought by
several California counties that seeks to overturn the state’s Compassionate Use
Act, which makes medical marijuana legal for patients with a doctor’s
recommendation.
"These counties are putting politics over the lives of seriously ill
patients," said Allen Hopper, an attorney with the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project.
"The law is clear: federal marijuana laws do not trump California’s ability to
make medical marijuana legal under state law. County officials are thumbing
their noses at state law and in the process harming patients and creating
unnecessary chaos and confusion."
San Diego, San Bernardino and Merced counties argue in a lawsuit filed in
state court that federal laws prohibiting all use of marijuana invalidate state
laws that allow qualified patients to use medical marijuana. The ACLU, Americans
for Safe Access (ASA) and the Drug Policy Alliance (the Alliance) filed legal
papers today seeking to intervene in the proceedings on behalf of a number of
medical marijuana patients and patients’ groups, as well as their caregivers and
doctors.
The lawsuit, initially brought by San Diego County and later joined by San
Bernardino and Merced counties, challenges state laws that permit patients to
use, and doctors to recommend, medical marijuana under the explicit protection
of state law. The lawsuit further challenges the state’s Medical Marijuana
Program Act, which calls for the implementation of an identification card
program that would allow police and others to identify legitimate medical
marijuana patients.
The groups maintain that state medical marijuana laws are not preempted by
the federal ban on medical marijuana. While the federal government is free to
enforce its prohibition on medical marijuana, even in states, such as
California, that permit its use, all states remain free to adopt and implement
policies of their own design - an opinion shared by the California Attorney
General’s office.
Although the California Attorney General plans to defend the state’s medical
marijuana statutes from the counties’ challenge, the groups are intervening in
order to assure adequate representation of those most impacted: medical
marijuana patients, and their caregivers and doctors.
"The counties’ actions seriously threaten the health, well-being and in some
cases, lives of many, many Californians," said Wendy Christakes, a medical
marijuana patient and ASA member represented by the groups. "The county
supervisors are playing politics while we struggle to survive. They should be
ashamed."
In addition to Christakes, the groups represent Pamela Sakuda, William Britt
and Yvonne Westbrook, Californians who use physician-recommended marijuana to
treat medical conditions and their side-effects, including chronic pain and
sciatica, multiple sclerosis, rectal cancer, epilepsy and post-polio syndrome.
The groups also represent Sakuda’s spouse and caregiver, Norbert Litzinger, as
well as Dr. Stephen O’Brien, a physician who specializes in HIV/AIDS treatment
in Oakland, California, and believes that many of his seriously ill patients
benefit from the medical use of marijuana.
In addition to being co-counsel, ASA is also a party to the proceedings on
behalf of its membership, which includes thousands of medical marijuana
patients, caregivers and physicians residing in California. The Wo/Men’s
Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) is also represented by the groups. WAMM is
a medical marijuana collective and hospice located in Santa Cruz, California,
whose 250 members, the majority of whom are terminally ill, use marijuana to
treat a range of conditions.
In addition to entering the case, the groups are seeking a court order that
would compel the counties to abide by and implement California’s medical
marijuana laws. The groups are also asking the court to affirm that the state’s
medical marijuana laws are not preempted by contrary federal statutes.
The groups’ legal papers are available online at:
www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/medmarijuana/26090lgl20060707.html
The ACLU’s January 19, 2006 letter to the San Diego Supervisors explaining
why California’s medical marijuana laws are not preempted by federal law is
online at: www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/medmarijuana/23565lgl20060119.html
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s opinion issued to the state’s
Department of Health Services affirming the validity of the state’s medical
marijuana laws is available at:
www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/medmarijuana/21194res20050715.html
Additional background on the case can be found at:
www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/medmarijuana/23587prs20060124.html
