Merced County Man Faces a Three-Count Case in Federal Court. Testimony began Wednesday in Dustin Costa's trial, with prosecutors portraying the Merced marijuana activist as a drug dealer who violated federal law. Costa, 60, is facing a three-count indictment charging him with growing more than 100 marijuana plants with the intent to distribute. He also faces a charge of possession of a firearm "in furtherance of drug-trafficking crime." In opening statements in U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii's courtroom, prosecutor Karen Escobar told jurors Costa had a "relatively sophisticated marijuana operation" at his Merced County home. She said Costa was robbed 13 times, but never called police because he knew he was in violation of the law. [continues 481 words]
A jury has been selected and opening arguments will begin today in the federal trial of Merced marijuana activist Dustin Costa, but it is unlikely there will be any debate on the hotly disputed issue of the drug's medicinal value. Before his arrest, Costa was president of the Merced Patients Group, a private cannabis club that claimed 230 members. The club helped connect people with doctors who give recommendations for marijuana and those who supply the drug. Costa, 60, is facing a three-count indictment charging him with with growing more than 100 marijuana plants, equivalent to nearly 9 pounds, in February 2004 with the intent to distribute. Costa also faces a charge of possession of a firearm "in furtherance of drug trafficking crime." [continues 420 words]
Have you heard the news? There is now a low-cost drug proven to ease a cancer patient's suffering. Not only does this drug reduce the physical and psychological pain of cancer, but, more importantly, it restores a chemotherapy patient's appetite. The drug, of course, is marijuana. Unfortunately, in a 6-3 ruling last year, the U.S. Supreme Court turned thumbs down on the drug, overturning laws in 11 states which allowed doctors to prescribe the medication to their cancer patients. [continues 524 words]
Is "Medical" Image A Turn-Off? Every year the federal Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) conducts a survey on Drug Use and Health (DUH) and releases reports on perceived trends. If the survey finds that drug use is down, government officials say "Our approach is working, give us more funding." If drug use is up, they say "We're in an epidemic, we need more funding." This year they get to make both pitches because drug use was found to be up in some age brackets and down in others. [continues 1050 words]
To the Editor: All three branches of the federal government ignore their Constitutionally mandated limits so frequently that when they step outside the bounds it's no longer news, and you have to search for coverage among the man-bites-dog stories to keep track of how individual rights and states rights continue to be infringed by the feds. Take, for example, the Supreme Court decision in Ashcroft v. Raich, which was recently announced. You probably didn't see it on the evening news, so allow me to report on it. [continues 209 words]
Eight days after accepting a systems administration job with Sacramento's RagingWire Telecommunications Inc. in 2001, Gary Ross was fired for testing positive for marijuana. The 43-year-old father of two admitted he smoked pot at home for back pain, but explained it was legally prescribed by his doctor under the state's Compassionate Use Act. His new bosses backed their decision, however, by citing federal law that still criminalizes marijuana. Five years later, the dispute shows no sign of losing steam as an employment discrimination suit filed by Ross awaits a full hearing by the California Supreme Court. Although oral arguments haven't been set, a host of high-powered amici curiae have already stoked expectations with hard-hitting briefs on both sides of the issue. [continues 772 words]
EL MONTE - In an effort to allow time for inconsistencies between state and federal laws to be reconciled, the City Council has extend a moratorium for a year on medical marijuana dispensaries. City Attorney Clarke Moseley said the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 is at the root of the city's decision to extend the moratorium, which will begin Saturday. "What we have known is there is a big disagreement between the federal and state governments over Proposition 215 and that's one reason for us to extend the moratorium," Moseley told the council Tuesday. [continues 194 words]
For 15 years, Joe Fortt has lived with the human immunodeficiency virus, staying healthy, he says, with a self-prescribed combination of garlic, walnut, wormwood, ginseng, ginko, aloe vera, multivitamins - and marijuana. Fortt, 43, has spent the last 11 months locked up in the Fresno County Jail, slowly dying from the ravages of the HIV virus, he said, because he has been denied his herbal treatment. "I can tell by the way I feel I'm not getting any better," he said in a jailhouse interview. "In another six months, I won't have an immune system left anymore." [continues 1126 words]
On the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision allowing the federal government to overrule state medical-marijuana laws, a new lobbying group is trying to persuade some of the House's most conservative members to protect the terminally ill's right to use the drug. Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a nonprofit group funded by patients, doctors and researchers who support exploring marijuana's therapeutic potential, opened its Washington office last month and completed its first grassroots lobbying visits yesterday. [continues 413 words]
The "therapeutic ratio" of a drug compares the amount required to produce harmful effects with the amount required to provide benefit. The therapeutic ratio of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, is about 2:1 -and even lower if your liver has been compromised by hepatitis or alcohol. An Extra-Strength Tylenol contains 500 milligrams of acetaminophen. The recommended daily maximum is eight pills -4,000 mg, or four grams. A person taking twice that much can incur severe liver damage -and people in pain sometimes lose perspective and gulp a handful. "Seven to eight grams a day for three or four days can be fatal," according to William M. Lee, MD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. [continues 2036 words]
Has Medical Marijuana Burned Out? The Ouster Of A Popular Medical Marijuana Dispensary By Its San Francisco Neighbors Signals Growing Disillusionment With The Medical Marijuana Initiative. The unmistakable scent of burning marijuana lingered on the front steps of San Francisco's City Hall one cool night last September. Inside, more than 75 citizens murmured and jostled their way into the Board of Appeals chambers, there to decide the fate of the most popular medical marijuana dispensary in the city. At issue was the Green Cross-by all accounts a model pot club-which had operated for a little more than a year at the outer edge of the liberal, dog-and-stroller neighborhood of Noe Valley. Now, it appeared that the dispensary on 22nd Street had worn out its welcome. [continues 4600 words]
A Palm Desert medical marijuana dispensary is being required to turn clients' names over to authorities, and client advocates say that violates their privacy rights. Palm Desert city attorney David Erwin said the deal between the city and the CannaHelp dispensary on El Paseo, is merely meant to ensure that the dispensary is obeying state law. The agreement, negotiated by Erwin and James Warner of San Diego, a lawyer for the CannaHelp dispensary, requires the dispensary to turn over clients' names and state ID card numbers to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. [continues 1125 words]
No one laughed when Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers opened on April Fool's Day. But of course, it wasn't a joke. People are serious about their right to use medical marijuana, and with the opening of SLO County's first and only city-sanctioned cannabis dispensary, Morro Bay City Officials have unequivocally stated that they're not playing around. Yes, this is the same dispensary that was run out of Atascadero in February, shortly after owner Charles C. Lynch opened up shop there. This time, though, CCCC is being welcomed with (mostly) open arms. Is this a medical triumph or a terrible mistake? Some people may already have their minds made up about this, but it looks like the rest of us will just have to wait and see. [continues 4011 words]
Consistency Ordinance Would Effectively Outlaw Medical Marijuana Dispensaries UNION CITY -- With a yearlong moratorium to expire in July, city leaders are set to slam the door on medical marijuana dispensaries for the foreseeable future. Today, the City Council will consider a law that would require any permit, authorization or license issued by the city to "be consistent with both state and federal law." Because federal drug laws prohibit medical marijuana, the city ordinance effectively would outlaw dispensaries -- the most common way licensed marijuana users obtain the drug. [continues 373 words]
TABLE OF CONTENTS: * This Just In http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2006/ds06.n443.html#sec1 (1) Mexico Criticises US Drug-War Efforts (2) Syndicates Shift Shabu Production (3) Life Sentences Upheld In Record LSD Case (4) Anti-Snitch Campaign Riles Police, Prosecutors * Weekly News in Review http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2006/ds06.n443.html#sec2 Drug Policy (5) Anti-Snitch Campaign Riles Police, Prosecutors (6) Editorial: Tobacco Smoke Will Clear, Drugs Won't (7) Sewage Tested For Signs Of Cocaine [continues 259 words]
Drug Enforcement Administration narcos picked up where they left off just before Christmas, descending upon the small medi-pot growers collective run by Palm Desert, Calif., medi-mari patient Gary Silva in a March 14, early morning raid, seizing 80 pot plants and a cache of patient records, and sending Silva to the hospital with a dislocated shoulder. The feds reportedly burst through the door before Silva could get it open, knocking the medi-pot patient, who suffers from a degenerative disc disorder, tumbling to the ground. [continues 574 words]
Judges' Questions Hint They Won't Protect Medicinal Use. PASADENA - A frail medicinal pot user from Oakland took the federal government to court again Monday but left with little encouragement. Judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who had ruled in favor of Angel Raich in an earlier phase of the same case, sounded skeptical this time. They questioned repeatedly why she was seeking their protection when she's never been prosecuted for using marijuana, which her doctor swears she needs to stay alive. [continues 548 words]
Less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against her, Oakland medical marijuana patient and advocate Angel Raich will go back before a federal appeals court today with a different legal argument. Her lawyers will try to persuade a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in Pasadena, that keeping her from using marijuana as medicine unduly burdens her fundamental rights to life and freedom from pain, as protected by the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause and the Ninth Amendment. [continues 659 words]
Oakland Cancer Patient Who Lost Last Year to Try Again With New Argument Less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against her, Oakland medical marijuana patient and advocate Angel Raich will go back before a federal appeals court Monday with a different legal argument. Her lawyers will try to persuade a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in Pasadena, that keeping her from using marijuana as medicine unduly burdens her fundamental rights to life and freedom from pain, as protected by the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause and the Ninth Amendment. [continues 652 words]
Feds Arrest 12, Seize Marijuana Plants, Cash And Weapons From Massive East Bay Operation OAKLAND - It looks like candy, but check the label on the Keef Kat or the Pot Tarts: "This product contains cannabis and is for medical purposes only." Hundreds of boxes of such pot-laced candy, treats and soda pop - all with labels mimicking name-brand products - plus thousands of marijuana plants, $150,000 in cash and several weapons were seized Thursday in five simultaneous Drug Enforcement Administration raids in Oakland, Emeryville and Lafayette. Authorities called it the largest West Coast manufacturing and distribution operation of its type. Twelve people were arrested without incident, DEA Special Agent Javier Pena said as he displayed samples of the candy and sodas in DEA offices in the federal building in downtown Oakland. Suspect Kenneth Affolter, 39, of Lafayette was identified as the head of the candy-making operation. All 12 suspects will be arraigned today in San Francisco federal court on charges of distribution of marijuana. [continues 414 words]
