"The laws are what the laws are.
If people want the laws changed, there has to be a sound basis in science.
We haven't changed our position. Users could be prosecuted."
"Justice" Department Defiant In Philadelphia Class Action.

November 12-18, 1999
From The Philadelphia Gay News
http://www.epgn.com/
By Timothy Cwiek tihey@epgn.com

MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWSUIT FACES ANOTHER CHALLEGE

Advocates of medical marijuana hope a federal class-action lawsuit will survive another attempt by the federal government to have it dismissed.
See
Update on Philadelphia Class Action Case
and
http://www.fairlaw.org/

The lawsuit, filed in July 1997 in Philadelphia, seeks the legalization of medical marijuana. It was filed by 170 co-plaintiffs who maintain they represent about 97 million people nationwide who could potentially benefit from medical marijuana.

Smoking marijuana is prohibited by federal law. Participants face hefty fines and lengthy prison sentences, according to court documents.

But supporters say medical marijuana would benefit many people suffering from a wide range of illnesses, including AIDS, glaucoma and premenstrual syndrome.

In March, U.S. District Judge Marvin Katz dismissed many of the plaintiffs' claims. But Katz kept alive the plaintiffs' claim that they are "arbitrarily and irrationally" being denied access to marijuana through a compassionate-use program.

Currently, seven people nationwide can participate in the program, according to court documents.

It is this remaining claim by the plaintiffs that the U.S. Justice Department is asking Katz to dismiss, according to court documents.

The government claims there is no proof that marijuana is beneficial, and contends that authorities rightfully stopped accepting new participants into the program in 1992, according to court documents.

Katz will not rule on the Justice Department's request to dismiss the remaining claim until after Nov. 15, according to court documents.

Lawrence Elliott Hirsch, plaintiffs' attorney, is confident that Katz will not dismiss the remaining claim, he said.

"It [ban against marijuana] is killing people every day," he said. "It forces people to be criminals to save their lives. But government officials are the real criminals -- not my clients. They should be put in jail. Their [marijuana] policy is hateful, mean-spirited and discriminatory."

But Gretchen Michaels, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Justice Department, said the department has no intention of relaxing its enforcement of the ban on marijuana.

She said the U.S. Controlled Substances Act of 1984 prohibits the use of smoked marijuana for medical and/or recreational purposes.

"The laws are what the laws are. If people want the laws changed, there has to be a sound basis in science," she told PGN this week. "We haven't changed our position [on medical marijuana]. Users could be prosecuted."
(Marijuananews note: Although this is simply a reiteration of what the Czar’s office has been saying I think that it is important for the people od DEAland to understand that it is the policy of their government to prosecute the sick and dying.)