Pubdate: Thu, 02 Feb 2006
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2006 The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper.
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: The Associated Press

CALIF. CITY SEEKS RIGHT TO DISTRIBUTE POT

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The city of Santa Cruz has asked a federal judge 
to approve its plan to distribute medical marijuana directly to sick 
and dying patients through a new Office of Compassionate Use.

The city, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and the 
advocacy group Drug Policy Alliance, filed a federal complaint 
Tuesday urging the government to allow the newly created city 
department to provide the drug to patients.

City officials said they will not distribute marijuana unless Santa 
Cruz wins the legal battle. Several California cities and counties 
already have programs to dispense medical marijuana to thousands of 
registered users.

California law has allowed medical marijuana use since voters 
approved Proposition 215 in 1996, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 
over the summer that the federal government can continue to prosecute users.

California is one of 12 states where medical marijuana is legal. The 
court complaint argues that the U.S. Constitution leaves it up to 
states -- not the federal government -- to decide whether cities can 
distribute marijuana to sick patients.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman