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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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US HI: Editorial: Medical Marijuana Win
ccguide Thursday 14 Sep 2000 Pubdate: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI) Copyright: 2000 Honolulu Star-Bulletin Contact: Fax: (808) 523-8509 Address: P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802 Feedback: http://starbulletin.com/forms/letterform.html Website: http://www.starbulletin.com/ MEDICAL MARIJUANA WIN * The Issue: A Federal Judge Has Issued An Order Barring The U.S. Government From Punishing California Doctors For Recommending Marijuana To Their Patients. * Our View: The Ruling Could Have Implications For Hawaii, Which Has A New Medical Marijuana Law. SUPPORTERS of the use of marijuana for medical purposes won a victory in a federal court in San Francisco when a district judge issued a permanent injunction forbidding the U.S. government from punishing California doctors for recommending marijuana to their patients, as permitted under state law. The action could have significance for Hawaii in view of the enactment this year of a medical marijuana law. Seven other states have passed similar laws. The Clinton administration had argued that doctors who recommend the drug should lose their authority to prescribe legal medicines because marijuana has been found unsafe by Congress and the Food and Drug Administration. A 1996 California initiative allowed patients to use marijuana, based on a doctor's recommendation, without risking prosecution under state drug laws. The Clinton administration's drug policy chief, Barry McCaffrey, announced after the initiative's passage that any doctors who prescribed or recommended marijuana would lose their federal licenses to prescribe drugs, would be excluded from Medicare and could face criminal prosecution. That prompted a lawsuit by a group of doctors and their patients, who said the government was violating their freedom of speech. Another federal judge issued a temporary injunction protecting doctors, which has now been made permanent by Judge William Alsup. The plaintiffs' freedom of speech argument prevailed. However, the judge noted that Congress had not addressed the question of revoking a doctor's license for recommending marijuana and the drug agencies had not issued rules regarding doctors' recommendations. This suggests that Alsup might have ruled otherwise if the law was more specific. The Justice Department has not announced whether it will appeal. If the ruling is reviewed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has Hawaii in its jurisdiction, its decision will apply here. Freedom of speech is an essential principle of democracy and must be respected. There may be justifiable limits regarding a doctor's advice to patients, but under this ruling no such limits restrict advice about the use of marijuana. However, the federal ban on such use and the conflict it creates with state laws sanctioning use produce an uncomfortably ambiguous situation for doctors and their patients -- and problems for law enforcement. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk
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