Pubdate: Mon, 04 Jun 2012
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2012 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Tom Howell Jr.

POT POLICIES IN CALIFORNIA CAN'T RELY ON D.C. PROGRAM

Federal Court Curtails ADA in Medical Cases

A decision by Congress in 2009 to stop blocking the District's 
medical marijuana program should not be construed as federal 
permission to grow and use the drug, according to a recent legal 
opinion from California.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals waded into the District's fragile 
relationship with Capitol Hill when it ruled that disabled users of 
medical marijuana could not rely on the Americans With Disabilities 
Act to fight local ordinances that closed dispensaries in two 
Californian cities, even though the drug's medicinal use is 
authorized by state law.

Language known as the Barr Amendment had banned the implementation of 
a medical marijuana program that D.C. voters approved in 1998. So 
four plaintiffs in the California case argued, in part, that 
Congress' decision to eventually drop the Barr language in its 
appropriations bills amounted to its approval of marijuana use for 
medical purposes.

"By allowing [the District's program] to take effect, Congress merely 
declined to stand in the way of D.C.'s efforts to suspend local 
penalties on medical marijuana use," the May 21 opinion by U.S. 
Circuit Judge Raymond C. Fisher said. "It did not affirmatively 
authorize medical marijuana use for purposes of federal law, which 
continues unambiguously to prohibit such use."

In addition, the court said, "even if Congress' actions somehow 
implicitly authorized medical marijuana use in the District of 
Columbia, Congress in no way authorized the plaintiffs' medical 
marijuana use in California."

The opinion issued nearly 3,000 miles from the nation's capital is a 
reminder of the tightrope walk the District and jurisdictions across 
the country have performed in their attempts to aid the sick and 
dying with medical marijuana. Unlike the states, the District's 
lawmakers faced the additional hurdle - as the District does with all 
its laws - of waiting for Congress to either intercede or look the 
other way during the 30-day review period of the D.C. Council's 
measure in 2010 to implement the program.

The District, which is slated to have its medical marijuana program 
up and running later this year, has tread carefully since then. Its 
recent application process forced parties interested in growing or 
selling the drug to waive the city of any liability if the federal 
government cracks down on their operations.

In March, the D.C. Department of Health approved six applicants to 
open cultivation centers in the city. Five cultivation centers will 
be in Ward 5, while a successful applicant in Ward 7 is searching for 
a new location after the council approved legislation that bans 
marijuana-related facilities on land parcels designated as a "retail 
priority area." Three firms that were rejected by the District have 
filed suit and want the city to reconsider their applications, 
claiming they met or exceeded criteria to qualify for a registration.

Health officials are scheduled to approve up to five dispensaries June 25.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom