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Protest planned Tues. Oct. 18 at Civic Center
By Jeremy Los
Oct. 16, 2011– A medical marijuana advocate stricken with scoliosis threatened to jump off an overpass above State Route 163 on Friday night after the U.S. Department of Justice announced plans to raid and shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state.
The man is one of thousands of Californians who may now be forced to go without medicines that relieve pain or ease debilitating conditions.
On Tuesday, medical marijuana patients and supporters will fight back, staging a rally outside the City Attorney’s office at the Civic Center and a march to the U.S. Attorney’s office from 12-2 p.m. to protest the federal crackdown on dispensaries.
The unidentified homeless man who threatened to jump is in his 40s and has said he isa former general manager of three medical marijuana collectives. He also suffers from scoliosis – a painful sideways curvature of the spine. He took to the ledge to protest the views of District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, offering up a list of “demands” to police in order to step down. After hours on the ledge he was eventually taken into custody, and has since been taken to a mental hospital for evaluation.
While Friday was an extreme case, thousands of Californians are frustrated or outraged regarding the new federal crack down on medical marijuana. According to on report by the Associated Press, the decision by the Department of Justice, handed down on October 6, aims initially at shutting down dispensaries that are located near schools, parks and other places where there are a lot of children, significant commercial operations, and farmlands where marijuana is grown. A contrasting report by KPBS states that U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy and other U.S. Attorneys in California will seek to close all of the state’s medical marijuana establishments. (ECM has placed a call into Duffy’s office to clarify the issue, and to see if any collective is safe from closure.)
The decision has left many marijuana activists fuming.
“We (California NORML) are urging everyone to contact their Congress member and the President to stop this attack,” said Dale Gieringer, co-author of the original prop. 215 bill (which was passed in 1996), “They are wasting tax payer money to put people in jail.” (To contact your Congressional members and express your views, visit http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/0809soundoff)
Gieringer went on to add that he expects to see hundreds of lawsuits on the matter.
“Regardless of how anyone feels about this, nothing verifies that medicinal access is a target,” says Joe Kasper, spokesman for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine). “All we can do is judge based on the facts according to the position of the Justice Department that it won’t tolerate backdoor legalization.”
California state law addresses cultivation and medical use, but does not address zoning and business licensing – a fact that local and federal lawmakers have capitalized on while cracking down on collectives around the state. According to the Union-Tribune, on Thursday, the city of San Diego announced 16 more lawsuits against collectives for allegedly violating the cities zoning ordinances.
An ordinance was passed back in April that outlined where dispensaries were permitted to be located; however, it was repealed three months later after a successful signature drive.
The County Board of Supervisors asked the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve the clash between state and federal law regarding medical marijuana. The Court declined to take the case,” said County Supervisor Diane Jacob. “Never let it be said the County did not try to resolve the legal quagmire that exists today."
According to KPBS, the County Board of Supervisors filed a lawsuit in 2006 seeking to overturn California’s medical marijuana law; they claimed that the federal law should take precedent over state law. In 2009, the U.S. Supreme court refused to hear the case.
California is one of 16 states to have laws on the books legalizing marijuana usage for medicinal purposes, and it is thus far the only one currently being targeted by the United States Government. But the other 15 states that have legalized medical marijuana may follow, a fact that does not sit well with marijuana activists.
This is a state rights issue,” said marijuana activist and city council nominee Rudy Reyes. “If it was something illegal why didn’t they do this 15 years ago when Prop 215 was passed…these are just a handful of politicians trying to stop an idea, the problem is you can’t fight an idea.”
Reyes, the worst-burned victim in the Cedar fire, has relied in the past on medical marijuana cream to alleviate the intense pain from being burned over 70% of his body while running through a wall of flames after first saving his family. He was named a Cedar Fire “hero” by the Smithsonian Institute. Reyes lost a finger, part of an ear, was left temporarily blinded and in a coma for weeks. To date, he has had 28 surgeries as a result of his ordeal.
Activists point to medical research to enhance their stance that marijuana has legitimate medical purposes. According to Gieringer, the state of California spent several millions of dollars for studies on medical marijuana, which all showed that marijuana has medical benefits; however, “the federal government closed their eyes to this.”
On Friday, the Trustees of the California Medical Association, which represents more than 35,000 physicians nationwide, adopted a position calling for the legalization of marijuana. However, the organization stopped short of labeling marijuana as medically viable.
"It is an open question whether cannabis is useful or not. That question can only be answered once it is legalized and more research is done,” said Dr. Donald Lyman, the Sacramento physician who wrote the group's new policy. “Then, and only then, can we know what it is useful for.”
The health care controversy has been polarizing debate in the political arena, and with millions of Americans uninsured, marijuana activists believe now is not the time to take medicine out of the hands of the people who need it.
“One dispensary recently raided provided free marijuana to its low-income patients,” said Gieringer. “Now, those people have no other access to the medicine they need to deal with their pain on a daily basis…this is not in the best interest of the American public.”
“The federal government is under the control of prohibitionist drug companies that tell people what they need,” said Gieringer. “If Obama can’t find ways to get people medicine, I don’t see how he can lead on health care.”
As the raids continue, activists point to Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-Mass.) bill H.R. 1983, “States Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act,” which would exempt people complying with state laws from federal arrest and prosecution as well as call for the rescheduling of marijuana under the Controlled Substance Act.
Frank’s bill is currently in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Health. One member of San Diego’s Congressional delegation, Brian Bilbray, is a member of the subcommittee.
“If they can’t do this it shows how out of touch they are with the American public,” said Gieringer.
According to Kasper, there is no legislative movement in the Senate and no legislation on the House floor regarding medical marijuana.
ECM also contacted the offices of Congressional members Bob Filner, Brian Bilbray and Susan Davis as well as Senator Barbara Boxer. As of press deadline none had responded.
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