Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2005
Source: Great Falls Tribune (MT)
Copyright: 2005 Great Falls Tribune
Contact: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2502
Author: Mike Dennison, Tribune Capitol Bureau
Cited: Gonzales v. Raich ( www.angeljustice.org/ )
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )
Cited: Drug Enforcement Administration ( www.dea.gov )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich (Angel Raich)

COURT CUFFS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

HELENA -- Montanans or other Americans who use "medical marijuana"
under the protection of state law still can be prosecuted for
violations of federal drug laws, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.

But Montana's new law allowing medical-marijuana use remains on the
books, preventing state arrest or prosecution of anyone legally
registered to use marijuana for medical purposes.

"A person can get a prescription, sign up on the (state) registry and
theoretically use marijuana for medical purposes," said Attorney
General Mike McGrath.

"The conundrum is, if you do that, you run the risk of being
prosecuted by the federal government," he added.

The state's top federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer, said
his office will review its drug-enforcement policies, in light of the
Supreme Court decision.

However, he indicated the ruling might not change the focus of federal
marijuana investigations in Montana, which is on drug traffickers
rather than "personal-use amounts" of the drug.

"We've got a limited amount of resources, and we simply cannot charge
every single violation of federal narcotic laws," Mercer said.

When asked if federal prosecutors would ask to see the state's list of
people registered to receive medical marijuana, Mercer repeated that
his office is concentrating more on marijuana dealers and traffickers
than personal users.

Last November, Montanans voted to approve Initiative 148, which says
people can register with the state to use marijuana for medicinal
purposes, such as relieving chronic pain or slowing the effects of
glaucoma, which causes blindness. It passed with 62 percent of the
voters in favor.

Patients need approval from a doctor before they can be on the state
registry, which exempts them from being prosecuted by the state for
possessing marijuana.

The registry had 119 people on Monday, said Roy Kemp of the state
Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Ten states have similar laws.

A 6-3 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday on California's
law, overturning a lower-court ruling that said federal drug laws
don't apply to the "non-commercial, intrastate cultivation" of
marijuana for medical-use purposes.

Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Medical Marijuana Project, said the
ruling "puts the ball in Congress's court," and that the issue may be
on the U.S. House floor later this month.

The Justice Department's budget is within a larger appropriations bill
coming to the House floor, and a bipartisan amendment will be offered
to bar the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from prosecuting
medical marijuana-users in any states like Montana that have passed
protection laws, he said.

"There is an increasing consensus in the medical community that
marijuana has medical value, and that it makes no sense to arrest and
jail sick people for trying to relieve some of their suffering,"
Mirken said.

A legislative analyst for Mirken's group also said the issue still
could be won before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, because the
U.S. Supreme Court did not rule on the question of medical necessity
or due process of law.

Karen O'Keefe said the U.S. Supreme Court sent the issue back to the
9th Circuit "for further proceeding consistent with this opinion," and
that medical marijuana proponents could ask for a positive ruling on
different grounds.

McGrath said he'd probably support changing federal law to exempt
medical-marijuana users from federal prosecution in states that have
passed laws like Montana's -- although he'd want to review the bill
first.

McGrath also said he believes federal drug agents have been too
aggressive in prosecuting physicians or other medical professionals
for prescribing other pain medications for dying patients.

"There are a lot of attorneys general, me included, who think the DEA
has overstepped its bounds," he said. "I think that is a fine line." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake