Washington Citizens for
Medical Rights Hails Ruling In Oakland Case
See
Oregon
And Washington State Medical Marijuana Laws Go Into Effect – 2 Articles
and
Washington
State Medical Association Betrays Its Patients And Shows Its Collective Incompetence
and
"DON’T
GUT MARIJUANA LAW," Says Seattle Times
Washington State Medical Marijuana Law Defended Against Prohibitionist Attacks;
– 2 Articles
and
Washington
State Prosecutors Seek To Nullify State’s New Medical Marijuana Law
By "Fine-Tuning" It. They would "Require physicians to notify the state
every time they advise a patient to try marijuana as a medicine."
and
Patients
In Eastern Washington State Continue To Live In Fear; "We’re all scared."
September 15, 1999
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Washington Citizens for Medical Rights
Federal Appeals Court Opens Door to Legal Use of Medical Marijuana - Washington
State Doctors and Patients Gain Needed Security
SEATTLE, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Washington State Doctors and Medical Marijuana
Patients are better protected from federal harassment following a court ruling from the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. For the first time ever, the Court has held
that there exists a medical necessity argument for the medical use of marijuana for some
patients. This ruling could supercede the controlled substances act which prohibits the
medical use of marijuana on a federal level.
In a strong blow to the federal government's crackdown on medical marijuana, the Ninth
Circuit Court ordered a lower court judge to reconsider his 1998 injunction closing down
California's so-called ``cannabis clubs.'' As a result of the appeals court's action,
Judge Charles Breyer must now consider allowing some medical marijuana patients to
organize distribution facilities for themselves and other patients.
Dr. Rob Killian, spokesman for Washington Citizens for Medical Rights, the group that
campaigned for Initiative 692, the Washington State Medical Marijuana Act, said: ``This
could be the first step in overcoming the conflict between state and federal laws
regarding the medical use of marijuana.'' Killian continued, ``This opinion discredits the
inhumane federal ban on medical marijuana, and allows Doctor's and patients to breath
easier.''
Dave Fratello, spokesman for Americans For Medical Rights which sponsored Proposition
215, the California Medical Marijuana Initiative, stated ``these new state laws passed by
voter initiative cry out for recognition on a federal level that marijuana has a place in
medicine -- we may now see that there is a way for this activity to be done legally under
federal law. If so, the greatest obstacle to patients having legal access to marijuana
could begin to crumble.''
Washington voters passed Initiative 692 into law by a margin of
nearly 60 to 40. To date, five states in the Ninth Circuit have passed new medical
marijuana laws by voter initiative (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona).
The voters of a sixth, Nevada, are poised to give final approval in November 2000 to such
a law, after passing the initiative by a 60-40 margin at its first vote in November 1998.
SOURCE: Washington Citizens for Medical Rights
See
AMR: Every Place We
Have Been on the Ballot We’ve Won. One Fifth of America Has Now Voted for
Medical Marijuana. It Is Time For The Drug Establishment to Listen to Common
Sense.
and
Americans
For Medical Rights Issues Press Release Praising New NIH Policy
That Will Supposedly Make Marijuana Available For Research On Its Medical Use:
"Feds Begin to Bend on Medical Marijuana."
Supported