Pubdate: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 Source: Daily Democrat (CA) Copyright: 2003, Daily Democrat Contact: http://www.dailydemocrat.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3030 Author: Anne Gearan BATTLE OVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA CONTINUES SAN FRANCISCO - California and other states that want to make marijuana available to sick or dying patients are flouting federal drug laws in much the same way that Southern states defied national civil rights laws, a senior Bush administration lawyer said. California is ground zero in a long tug of war with the federal government over the medical value of marijuana and the power of state governments and voters to make exceptions for people who may benefit from the illegal drug. Five major federal lawsuits involve those who grow, use or recommend marijuana for medical use in California. The Bush administration has asked the Supreme Court to settle the latest fight by agreeing that Washington has the power to revoke medical licenses of doctors who invoke state laws and recommend pot for their patients. States cannot choose when to abide by federal law and when not to, Justice Department lawyer Mark Quinlivan said Saturday. "You cannot cherry-pick," said Quinlivan, the top federal trial lawyer in three of the pending cases and a panelist at an American Bar Association discussion of medical marijuana. California voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996, legalizing marijuana for medical use. Eight other states followed suit. Federal law recognizes no medical purpose for the drug and bans its private production, sale or use. "There is a basic question of what power does California have," said lawyer Gerald Uelman, Quinlivan's opponent in two cases. The federal law regulating drugs "is not a federal takeover of the medical system" or the duty of doctors to help the very ill, Uelman said. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens