PATIENTS TO FEDS: "Hands off our medical marijuana."
The Court agrees — it's up to the states.
On September 23, 2002, Mike and Valerie Corral's medical marijuana
hospice near Santa Cruz, California, was raided just before dawn by
federal agents. They were held at gunpoint while their co-op garden was
destroyed.
The raid sparked outrage from Santa Cruz officials because the co-op
was a text book example of what California's medical marijuana
laws were supposed to allow: a safe place for the sick and
dying, with a common garden, where the patients could care for each
other. The city, county, and the co-op sued the federal government.
On April 21, US Circuit Court Judge Jeremy Fogel barred the Justice
Department from interfering with the Corrals, their 250 fellow
patients, or their marijuana garden.1 Judge Fogel
cited Raich v. Ashcroft, the recent Ninth Circuit decision that
found the federal government has no jurisdiction over patients
who grow their own plants.2
The latest government study says, "cannabinoid drugs might
offer broad spectrum relief not found in any other single
medication."3 A Time-CNN poll shows that
80 percent of Americans support medical marijuana for the
seriously ill.4 Isn't it time for the
federal government to catch up with science and the
people?5
