Dec 13, 2007 11:54 am US/Pacific
Bay Area Pot Clubs Lose Possible Final Appeal
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
Three medical marijuana clubs in Oakland,
Fairfax and
Ukiah Thursday lost what appeared to be their final appeal in a long-running
battle against a federal court injunction barring them from giving marijuana to
patients.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in San Francisco
upheld a permanent injunction issued by a federal trial judge in 2002 against
the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana and Ukiah Cannabis Buyer's
Club.
The case began in 1998 when the U.S. Justice
Department filed a civil lawsuit seeking to stop the three clubs as well as
three other now-defunct dispensaries in San Francisco
and Santa Cruz
from giving marijuana to patients.
A voter-approved California law, the Compassionate Use Act of
1996, allows seriously ill patients to use marijuana with a doctor's approval,
but federal laws don't recognize the state law.
The claims decided by the appeals court today
were the only arguments left in the case after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected
other claims raised by the clubs.
In a key ruling in 2001, the high court said
federal law doesn't allow a "medical necessity" exception for distribution of
marijuana to seriously ill patients.
In another ruling in 2005 in a lawsuit filed by
medical marijuana patient Angel Raich, the high court rejected the argument
that locally grown medical marijuana is not part of interstate commerce and
thus not subject to federal laws criminalizing the drug.
In Thursday's decision, the appeals court turned
down the three clubs' argument that marijuana shouldn't be classified as a
Schedule I drug under the U.S.
Controlled Substances Act.
The category
is for drugs that have a high potential for abuse and have no accepted medical
use.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court said
the classification is constitutional and has a rational basis.
Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative executive
director Jeffrey Jones said the club is unlikely to appeal further to the
Supreme Court, but said the ruling is "just another bump in the legal road" in
the group's bid to help patients needing medical marijuana.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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