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Oakland tackles fed marijuana busters

October 11, 2012

While community leaders in this county exploit every possible method to shutter medical marijuana dispensaries and delivery systems, the city of Oakland is setting legal precedent by suing federal pot enforcers for their aggressive repression. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The action centers around a raid in July of the Harborside Health Center, one of the largest dispensary outlets in the state.

It appears to be the first time a city has sided with a marijuana dispensary in legal action against the federal government.

Federal drug cops have vigorously stepped up their efforts during the Obama administration despite promises to the contrary.

Oakland officials said they constructed a regulatory scheme in compliance with federal law but their efforts were ignored. The case is being handled pro bono by the law firm Morrison & Foerster. There has been no response yet by federal authorities to the lawsuit’s filing.


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The other day my cardiologist (sp?) ask me why I didn’t smoke mj instead of eating it? I told him I quit smoking 2 years ago after 54 years of 4 and 5 packs a day and didn’t want to begin smoking anything again. He said well mj does not cause cancer that anyone has proven so have at it. I asked him if he’d like to have a laced piece of fudge but he said he was busy trying to save lives right then but maybe after he got off. I gave him one and told him to take a very small bite and find a nice place to sit and be quiet. Ah the good life at last. Took me 68 years to find my way.


I say God Bless Morrison & Foerster for their pro bono work for us needy seniors and others.


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Huge reefer outlet up there named Oaksterdam paying big taxes, so do the growers….. Or could it be just very concerned caregivers fighting to keep this “wonderful” medicine available to the needy? Nahhh.


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This battle will be fought until we do away with the law enforcement unions, private prison lobby folks and of course the jealous big pharma pigs. These people have a seriously vested interest to keep this illegal. Our days of a government by the people and for the people has been eroded to the point we have a puppet in the white house with another idiot trying to get in. Someone like Gary Johnson would change this overnight.


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Good for Oakland, it’s time that the citizens start taking on the nanny gov. We voted and we the people have (should have) the final say. Just think about that……….


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wow, don’t know the theory or how it’ll make it through court and I have my doubts, but if they came up with a theory that flies this will be incredible.


There are so many health benefits to cannabinoids that doctors and users know about and that are much safer and more effective than prescription drugs and here we are stuck between communities that want it and federal agents being told to arrest the doctors, sellers and even users.


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Wow! What a concept: a city government that supports people with legitimate health issues. Maybe SLO county and local governments can find it within their hearts to do the same.


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Thank goodness for the City of Oakland going ahead with this lawsuit; perhaps the United States can finally move away from the self-imposed “panic” about a non-existent drug problem concerning MJ. Our founding fathers grew MJ back in the day, our country harvested quite a bit of hemp over the time between the start of our nation and the 1930s when three powerful men got together and changed our society forever with regards to MJ. William Randolph Hurst, the wealthy newspaper owner who also owned quite a few lumber forests, Henry DuPont, whose company was making more and more drugs focusing on pain relief and Harry J. Anslinger the Secretary of Agriculture at the time pushed for the criminalization of marijuana for their own agendas, mostly all about profit above all else.

The laws prohibiting the cultivation of hemp were “set aside” during WWII so our country could have enough hemp rope for various uses, mostly concerning the Navy, I believe. We could grow our way clear of Mid East oil by growing hemp for the production of oil from hemp; look it up if you have any questions about that.

My hope about this lawsuit between the City of Oakland and the federal government is that it eventually ends up in the Supreme Court and is finally decided on the side of reason, not fear. Marijuana has to be reclassified away from a “Schedule 1” drug; it is a plant. If you were to juice the leaves and buds, you could obtain all of the health benefits without any sort of “high”; it is only by heating it up that one gets a “high”. The medicinal properties cannot be ignored nor duplicated by a laboratory.


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A relative just passed away from cancer. He used MJ from a dispensary for both pain and appetite enhancement. He used it as a tincture because he had respiratory problems and the dosage is more reliable.in that situation.


Also:


“Sativex is the brand name for a drug derived from cannabis sativa. It’s an extract from the whole plant cannabis, not a synthetic compound. Even GW defines the drug (.pdf) as marijuana.”

Raw Story (http://s.tt/1d89e)


In 2007, GW Pharmaceuticals announced that it partnered with Otsuka to bring “Sativex” — or liquefied marijuana — to the U.S. The companies recently completed Phase II efficacy and safety trials testing and began discussion with the FDA for Phase III testing. Phase III is generally thought to be the final step before the drug can be marketed in the U.S.


“GW Pharmaceuticals plc (AIM: GWP) today announces the initiation of the Phase III clinical trials programme of Sativex in the treatment of pain in patients with advanced cancer, who experience inadequate analgesia during optimized chronic opioid therapy,” GW said in a statement. “This indication represents the initial target indication for Sativex in the United States.

Sativex is the brand name for a drug derived from cannabis sativa. It’s an extract from the whole plant cannabis, not a synthetic compound. Even GW defines the drug (.pdf) as marijuana.”


Raw Story (http://s.tt/1d89e)


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Mary; thank you for the link, the story was very educational. I also enjoyed reading the comment section also; a suggestion was made there to stop using the word “marijuana” and always use either hemp or cannabis only. The suggestion apparently is founded on how the word marijuana came to be in our vernacular; apparently when Hearst, DuPont and Anslinger got together to outlaw hemp use, production and cultivation, marijuana was a slang term being used in Mexico and they wanted to “amp up” some kind of fear for the public to clamor to be “protected” from the evils of “the devil’s weed”. Seriously. I’m in, from now on, it’s hemp or cannabis only.

I also learned that Harry J. Anslinger wasn’t the Secretary of Agriculture, but was put in charge of the DEA at that time.

Thanks again.


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