Pubdate: Thu, 05 May 2005
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2005 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.uniontrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Does not print LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Jeff McDonald, Union-Tribune Staff Writer
Cited: Americans for Safe Access ( www.safeaccessnow.org )
Cited: Raich v. Ashcroft ( www.angeljustice.org/ )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

POT ACTIVIST LOSES ROUND IN COURT

Dismissal Of Lawsuit Against S.D. Upheld

A state appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by
medical marijuana activist Steven McWilliams against the city of San Diego.

McWilliams sued San Diego after federal drug agents raided his Normal
Heights home in 2002 and destroyed a marijuana garden in his front yard.
City police officers served on the task force that conducted the raid.

The longtime activist claimed he was operating legally under Proposition
215, the 1996 voter-approved initiative that permits sick and dying
patients to grow and use marijuana in California.

Despite the state law, marijuana remains illegal under federal drug rules,
which categorize it as a dangerous drug.

In his lawsuit, McWilliams said San Diego police should not have
participated in the raid because he was acting in accordance with city and
state guidelines.

The San Diego Superior Court dismissed the case and McWilliams appealed.

The 4th District Court of Appeal ruled last week that the Superior Court
correctly dismissed the case.

The appellate judges noted that the city officers had been deputized as
federal agents. They also said the state law "creates a limited immunity
from prosecution under the drug laws for certain marijuana use, but there
is nothing in the statute's operative provisions that creates an
unqualified 'right' to use medical marijuana."

After the raid, McWilliams was facing 40 or more years in prison. In a plea
agreement, he pleaded guilty to felony cultivation and received a six-month
sentence. The jail term was stayed while his criminal conviction is on appeal.

McWilliams criticized the appeals court for relying on what he called the
narrowest possible interpretation of the state's medical marijuana law in
upholding the Superior Court decision.

"There's no restraint on police now to obey Proposition 215," he said. "The
courts are basically having a negative view of 215."

Joseph Elford, staff attorney for Americans for Safe Access, an activist
group in Oakland, said he disagreed with the ruling in McWilliams' lawsuit.

"The court appears to have been ideologically motivated to have dismissed
this suit," he said. "This is a state law, but it's being applied very
differently based on whatever locality you're part of."

In a related case, ASA sued the California Highway Patrol in February,
alleging that state law enforcement officials routinely fail to recognize
Proposition 215.

Medical marijuana supporters and law enforcement officials across the
country are awaiting a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that may
finally resolve the years-old conflicts between state and federal drug
laws. A ruling in that case, Ashcroft v. Raich, is due any time.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom