Pubdate: Wed, 30 Aug 2000
Source: Salon.com (US Web)
Copyright: 2000 Salon.com
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Author: David Tuller

STRIKING DOWN MEDICAL MARIJUANA

San Francisco's pro-pot district attorney discusses the long-term 
implications of the Supreme Court's ruling.

Tuesday's Supreme Court decision temporarily barring the distribution of 
marijuana for medical purposes by an Oakland, Calif., cannabis club was 
just the latest twist in a long-running legal battle between pot supporters 
in California and the federal government. The conflict stems from the 
state's passage in 1996 of Proposition 215, a ballot initiative that 
permitted patients with AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other illnesses to use 
marijuana with a doctor's approval. In the wake of the initiative's 
passage, pot dispensaries sprang up throughout the state, although federal 
authorities forced some of them to close up shop.

Several other states have passed similar measures. Advocates say the drug 
relieves pain, helps patients keep medications down and maintains their 
strength by boosting their appetite. But marijuana is classified under U.S. 
law as a drug that offers no medical benefits. And federal authorities, led 
by drug czar Barry McCaffrey, have aggressively opposed the measures, 
arguing that loosening the laws on pot will weaken the country's efforts to 
fight drug abuse.

The decision Tuesday arose out of the federal government's efforts to shut 
down the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, along with several other 
clubs. After the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that 
medical necessity could be a valid defense for the use of marijuana, a 
lower-court judge determined in July that the Oakland club could once again 
dispense marijuana to seriously ill patients. The Justice Department asked 
the Supreme Court to issue a stay of that ruling until the case is heard 
again on appeal before the 9th Circuit -- after which it will likely end up 
right back in front of the justices in Washington.

In a parallel development yesterday, the University of California announced 
that it was launching the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research to conduct 
studies on the efficacy and safety of the drug. The center is a joint 
project of the university's San Diego and San Francisco campuses. The state 
has allocated $3 million for the center's first year of operation. The 
funds stem from a bill sponsored by state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa 
Clara, who is a longtime proponent of the use of medical marijuana.

Like Vasconcellos, San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan has 
also been supportive of the issue. He has worked closely with local health 
and law enforcement authorities to keep the city's cannabis clubs open so 
they can distribute pot to those with a doctor's letter or prescription. In 
an interview with Salon this morning, he said that he hopes the federal 
government will eventually reclassify marijuana as a drug with medical 
potential.

What exactly does this decision mean?

Hopefully it's just a bump in the road, but it seems like a bad omen. They 
granted a stay pending a hearing at the Court of Appeals to see where we go 
from here. They grant those stays when they feel that something will end up 
being decided that way. So it seems that they might reverse the 9th Circuit 
and rule that medical necessity is not a defense.

Do you think the federal authorities will now move to shut down the clubs 
currently dispensing marijuana?

In the long run this might be tough on the dispensaries you're talking 
about. But I think it's premature for the federal government to take some 
steps to get them to close down because this is all in process. Hopefully, 
everybody will just defer until we get a final decision out of the Supreme 
Court. I assume that will take more than a year.

Why do you think the administration is so aggressively opposed to the use 
of medical marijuana?

Well, I've tried to talk to [drug czar Barry] McCaffrey about it a couple 
of times, and he doesn't even want to hear about it. They just seem adamant 
to maintain the status quo in the drug war. And medical marijuana is a 
serious challenge to the status quo, in that maybe things are not just 
black and white, maybe this is really a medical issue and not a legal 
issue. I just think there's a mind-set, the "just-say-no" mentality. And 
when you begin to say "maybe," it gets much more complex. What role, if 
any, do you see this issue playing in the presidential campaign?

I guess I'll have to wait and see what Gore is going to say, but as far as 
anything I've seen, both the Democrats and the Republicans agree with the 
present classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug (a drug that has 
no medical value). I don't think Gore has made any statements about it. He 
has a background. He inhaled, right? Hopefully, he will take a more 
enlightened view and position, but of course it's kind of a hot potato, and 
politicians don't like hot potatoes. Perhaps he'll avoid making it an issue 
during the campaign, but of course it's in the nature of campaigns that 
they make people take positions. So keep your fingers crossed.

You've had a good reputation with the advocates of medical marijuana. You 
even recently received an award from some of them for your support.

I believe in this. Marijuana has medical properties. I think just about 
anybody in San Francisco knows somebody who swears that it has alleviated 
their suffering. When I was a member of the Board of Supervisors, I passed 
legislation making medical marijuana very low as a priority for law 
enforcement, so police officers could turn their back on it when it was a 
clear medical case. The local police are well aware of my position and I 
think for the most part are in agreement, or at least defer to my position 
on it.

Have you received much support from other district attorneys around the state?

Not a lot of support. I think basically people have spent so many years 
treating marijuana as a criminal drug that it's difficult for them to 
switch their view of it and see that it might have a medical purpose. 
They'd have to look back at all the people they've arrested and put in 
prison and wonder if they did the right thing. So it's a Catch-22 for most 
police officers and prosecutors. If they say now it's legitimate, how do 
they justify what they've done in the past?

What about critics who argue that medical marijuana is just a stalking 
horse for attempts to legalize it completely?

I don't see it that way. You could say that of any prescribed drug. Medical 
marijuana is about making marijuana available to people who have legitimate 
medical conditions that a doctor says are alleviated by use of marijuana. 
The concern is that the clubs don't just dispense it to people to make 
money or for recreational purposes, but that they're doing it on the basis 
of a doctor's recommendations. I try my best to encourage them to run the 
clubs carefully, and most of them do run it pretty strictly. They're not a 
bunch of hippies smoking marijuana. Anytime I have been in one of those 
clubs, there's no question in my mind that those are sick people.

Have you found the constituency for medical marijuana to be broader than 
just young people?

It's a constituency of sick people. I would say when I visit any of these 
clubs to determine how they're operating, it's basically people who have 
AIDS and old people who have arthritis or cancer or glaucoma. I've had 
numerous people in their 70s and in their 80s say that this works, that it 
alleviates the pain. These are people who are certainly not potheads and 
would not be expected to use it. To my mind that's the best argument for it.

The University of California on Tuesday announced the creation of a new 
research center for studying the effects of medical marijuana. Some 
advocates say that there's already enough evidence of its usefulness. 
What's your position?

I think more study is needed, because most of the indications now are 
aphoristic -- people saying, "It helps me." We don't know medically how 
that works. Although I know there are numerous doctors and scientists and 
research people who say that it does have these medical qualities, I don't 
think they understand exactly what they are yet. And to have a legitimate 
medical usage, you should understand how it works. If it alleviates 
suffering for people who are seriously ill, with the minimal side effects 
that it has, and a doctor supervising it, I think that's fine. But I also 
encourage more study.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens