In a decision with far-reaching implications, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case of Raich v. Ashcroft back to the district court for the issuing of an injunction against any further arrests or prosecutions of medical marijuana patients and their providers.
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LOS ANGELES -- Despite attempts by federal prosecutors to portray three former directors of a West Hollywood medical marijuana dispensary as common drug dealers, a federal judge showed leniency today and sentenced them each to one year of probation.
“I don’t know why the federal government is allocating resources to prosecuting medical marijuana cases,” said U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz, in sentencing the three officers of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center (LACRC).
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LOS ANGELES -- West Hollywood’s mayor and city council have asked the federal judge for leniency in a high-profile medical marijuana case. Three directors of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, a West Hollywood medical marijuana dispensary that was a model for openness and co-operation with local law enforcement and elected officials, are to be sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.
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For the first time, a medical marijuana advocacy group is going after Congressmen where they live. Beginning today, every registered voter in four House Congressional districts will receive a phone call about their Representative’s vote against the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, which would have stopped federal medical marijuana raids.
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Medical marijuana patients and activists are giving the nation’s drug czar another chance to debate them today, by taking their Town Hall Meeting to him at Moscone Center, where he is addressing the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting.
John Walters, the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, yesterday refused a challenge from Steph Sherer, Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access, to explain what she called “his myths and misinformation.” Mr.
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When the nation’s drug czar arrives in San Francisco today to take on medical marijuana and its supporters, he’ll be facing a tough crowd. As the leading spokesman for the federal government’s stated policy that there is no such thing as medical marijuana, the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, John Walters, will be met by an array of community leaders and activists protesting his position.
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DETROIT – Talk show host Montel Williams was cited and fined $100 Monday night in the Detroit Metro Airport after baggage screeners found paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana related to his Multiple Sclerosis. Mr. Williams suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and has a doctor’s recommendation to use medical marijuana to control his chronic pain. Airport officials decided to cite him only for the paraphernalia possession, saying 'We don't want to damage his reputation. Montel Williams may or may not have broken any law.'
A spokesperson for Mr.
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SAN FRANCISCO – A coalition of medical marijuana patients, doctors and supporters have today launched a statewide ad campaign aimed at California’s two senators. Americans for Safe Access is asking Senators Boxer and Feinstein to add their names to new federal legislation that would allow a medical defense in some federal marijuana trials.
The fullpage ads appear beginning today in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, LA Weekly, Sacramento News and Review, the San Diego Reader and the Santa Barbara Independent.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected an attempt by the Bush Administration to punish physicians who talk with their patients about medical use of marijuana. The Supreme Court has upheld lower court rulings that the First Amendment rights of doctors would be violated by the Administration’s plan to strip doctors of their licenses if they recommend marijuana to patients who might be helped by it.
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SANTA MONICA – Tomorrow morning at 10:00am, medical marijuana patients and their supporters will be at California Governor-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Santa Monica office. After a press conference out front, they will ask him to use his meeting with President Bush later this week to help put an end to the federal attacks on patients and doctors.
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