Pubdate: Tue, 22 May 2012
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Maura Dolan

DISABLED POT USERS LOSE CASE

9th Circuit Court Rules Rules Against Use of Americans With 
Disabilities Act to Keep Clinics Open.

Medical marijuana patients cannot use a federal disability law to 
prevent cities from shutting down pot dispensaries, a federal appeals 
court decided Monday.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld 
the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by severely disabled medical 
marijuana users against Costa Mesa and Lake Forest. The suit charged 
that the Orange County cities were violating the Americans With 
Disabilities Act by closing down dispensaries that distributed 
medical marijuana.

The court said the disabilities law does not protect patients who 
claim to face discrimination on the basis of medical marijuana use.

"We recognize that the federal government's views on the wisdom of 
restricting medical marijuana use may be evolving," wrote Judge 
Raymond C. Fisher. "But for now Congress has determined that, for 
purposes of federal law, marijuana is unacceptable for medical use."

Fisher, a President Clinton appointee, acknowledged that the suit was 
brought by "gravely ill" people and involved "not only their right to 
live comfortably, but also their basic human dignity." He also noted 
that California has embraced medical marijuana as an effective 
treatment for patients with debilitating pain.

The patients who sued insisted that Congress' decision not to 
interfere with a 2010 medical marijuana law in Washington, D.C., 
amounted to tacit approval of the drug. D.C. laws take effect only if 
Congress fails to pass a joint resolution of disapproval within 90 days.

But the 9th Circuit said Congress' failure to disapprove the medical 
cannabis law did not amount to an endorsement.

Judge Marsha S. Berzon, also a Clinton appointee, said in a partial 
dissent that the disabilities law, while ambiguous, may be read to 
protect the rights of medical marijuana patients. "At the same time, 
it seems most likely that Congress did not intend the ADA to require 
the cities to permit marijuana dispensaries," Berzon wrote.

Jeffrey V. Dunn, who represented Lake Forest in the case, said the 
nearly 40 dispensaries in the city have been shut down. "My take-away 
on this is no city or county or a state, for that matter, can enact 
laws or ordinances that conflict with federal law," Dunn said.

Matthew Pappas, a lawyer for the medical marijuana patients, said he 
would ask a larger panel of the 9th Circuit to review the case. He 
called the majority ruling "incorrect" and complained that patients 
must now drive long distances to obtain their medicine.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom