Patients Sue Hutchinson, Ashcroft, Federal Government

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA In a historic lawsuit to be filed in the U.S. District Court in Oakland Oct. 9, 2002, two seriously ill medical marijuana patients charge the federal government, Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson, and Attorney General John Ashcroft with violating the Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution in their ongoing attacks on medical cannabis patients and providers. The Justice Department has insisted that the federal Controlled Substances Act bars any medical use of marijuana.

Attorneys Robert Raich and David Michael, plaintiffs Angel McClary Raich and Diane Monson, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, Dr. Frank Lucido Angel's doctor will held a press conference at the California State Building in Oakland at 10:15 a.m. PDT. Robert Raich read a statement from Michell Katz, MD San Francisco, Director of Health.

"The United States Government is waging a civil war against California medical cannabis patients like me. I am not willing to lie down and die on the battlefield," said Angel McClary Raich, who suffers from life-threatening wasting syndrome, nausea, an inoperable brain tumor, endometriosis, scoliosis, and numerous other disorders that cause severe, chronic pain and seizures. "I am violently allergic to most pharmaceutical drugs. Nothing else relieves my pain and allows me to eat and maintain my weight. My doctors agree that without medical cannabis I will die."

"These patients and their caregivers grow and consume medical cannabis entirely within California, using only equipment and supplies from within California," noted attorney Robert Raich. "For the federal government to attack patients and caregivers for activities that never cross state lines is an absolute violation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution." The suit, which also cites the Constitution's Ninth and Tenth Amendments, the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the issue of medical necessity, asks for an injunction preventing the federal government from enforcing the Controlled Substances Act to bar the plaintiffs from growing or possessing marijuana for medical purposes, as allowed by California law.

"These two terribly ill patients are showing incredible courage by daring to publicly challenge the federal government," said Robert Kampia, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project. "The public is revolted by these cruel attacks on the sick. We believe the courts will uphold the Constitution, the right of states to protect the health of their citizens, and the right of citizens to protect themselves from pain, suffering, and death."