 |
Please help to fight for your rights! |
We
are a 501(c)3 tax- deductible nonprofit corporation. |
 |
|
See
Video of Cannabis Freedom Day 2003 in S.F. broadband courtesy of R. Mott 
|
|
home>>>
Medical Marijuana Patients Get Day in Court to Challenge Counties’ Refusal to Follow California Medical Marijuana Laws
ACLU, Americans for Safe Access, and the Drug Policy Alliance to Represent Patients in Major Court Hearing
San Diego, CA Nov 16, 2006 -- The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Safe Access and the Drug Policy Alliance will appear in San Diego Superior Court tomorrow to represent medical marijuana patients and their caregivers and doctors in a lawsuit brought by three California counties seeking to thwart the state’s Compassionate Use Act. The ten-year-old Compassionate Use Act exempts from state criminal penalties the small group of seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana based on a doctor’s recommendation.
A press conference will be held outside in front of the courthouse immediately after the hearing. Attorneys for the ACLU, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), as well as their clients, will be available for comment.
San Diego, San Bernardino and Merced counties filed a lawsuit in state court earlier this year, arguing that federal laws prohibiting all use of marijuana invalidate state laws that exempt from state criminal penalties a small group of qualified patients who use medical marijuana. At issue is the counties’ refusal to implement a state-mandated identification card program for medical marijuana patients and caregivers that would allow law enforcement to identify such individuals.
Along with the California Attorney General’s office, the ACLU, ASA and DPA will argue that while the federal government is free to enforce its ban on medical marijuana, even in states such as California that do not criminalize its use, all states remain free to exempt medical marijuana patients from criminal penalties under state law.
Additional information on the case is available at: http://aclu.org/drugpolicy/medmarijuana/26388prs20060804.html
The group’s latest legal papers are online at: http://aclu.org/drugpolicy/medmarijuana/27396lgl20061103.html
