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Feds Forced to Defend Cannabis Prohibition in California Court

Should
cannabis be under the same classification as LSD, heroin or ecstasy? Although
that sounds ludicrous to most of us, under federal law, cannabis is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic,
with no

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Should
cannabis be under the same classification as LSD, heroin or ecstasy? Although
that sounds ludicrous to most of us, under federal law, cannabis
is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic,
with
no recognized medicinal value, and considered as dangerous as these
other narcotics. In a promising turn of events, however, Northern California District
Judge Kimberly J. Mueller court recently became the first judge in decades to
question this arbitrary classification of cannabis when she held a five-day
hearing evaluating the constitutionality of the 1970 Act that classifies cannabis
as a schedule 1 narcotic.

Her
ruling will only apply in the specific case she is hearing, but some argue that
a first judicial ruling against the legality of the DEA’s current drug
classifications would invite a flood of similar legal challenges all over the
country.

Brief Background

This
case involves six men charged with growing cannabis on national forest land. It
dates back to three police raids in the Northern California town of Hayfork on
October 3, 2011. There were 15 people arrested, 1,000 pounds of cannabis and over
500 plants seized. Police also recovered eight firearms and $35,000 in U.S. currency.
Thereafter the men were charged and, under mandatory minimum federal sentencing
guidelines, face 10 years or more.

Arguments: The Defense argued that a cannabis case should not
fall under mandatory minimums. Furthermore, federal enforcement of the
Controlled Substances Act in states like California violates the Constitution’s
guarantee of equal protection under the law and a doctrine that gives states
equal sovereignty. Finally, cannabis is safer than most other non-regulated
substances and carries medicinal properties.

The
Federal Government raised superfluous statistics, not even worth mentioning!

Hearing Granted!

Surprisingly,
Mueller granted an evidentiary hearing on cannabis’ classification!

She
relied on a footnote in US Supreme Court case Gonzalez v. Raich, and
explained, “[T]here is new scientific and medical information raising contested
issues of fact regarding whether the continued inclusion of cannabis as a Schedule
I controlled substance . . . passes constitutional muster.”

Thereafter,
a five-day hearing ensued with testimony and evidence of the hard and soft
science behind medical cannabis from professors, doctors, scientists and
medical cannabis patients.

The
prosecution’s only witness, Dr. Bertha Madras, a Professor of Psychobiology at
Harvard Medical School and the former drug czar under George W. Bush. Madras
was subjected to two full days of cross-examination and hellfire from defense
attorneys. She argued that cannabis failed to reach the “high standards of
proof” necessary to obtain FDA approval and claimed cannabis “contains
significant amounts of toxic chemicals,” and that there is “no such thing as
medical marijuana.”

Changing of the
Tides

Now
that the hearing is officially over, Justice Mueller will review the hours and
hours of testimony, along with the hundreds of pages of relevant scientific
material. Although this case will only apply to these specific defendants, the
fact that the hearing was even granted demonstrates a true changing of the
political and judicial climate when it comes to cannabis and federal law.

Furthermore,
this hearing was granted just weeks after Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed
with Katie Couric that the option of rescheduling should be explored. Not only
that, it was weeks before the federal spending bill banned raids of legal cannabis
operations!

What if? If the judge
deems the classification of cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug as unconstitutional,
it is not only a win for the defense on this case, but it creates case law that
can be ammunition in bigger arenas to argue the re-classification of cannabis.
If the judge denies the motion, it will be appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals. If won on that level, all the western states will be affected. Either
way, this is a necessary step on the way to full federal legalization of cannabis
and a real wake-up call to the DEA.

 

Hope you find this article
helpful. Contact Meital Manzuri for further help. Meital Manzuri is a Los
Angeles-based criminal defense attorney, speaker and consultant for patients,
collectives and dispensaries. If you have questions about medical cannabis or
any other criminal defense matters, she can be contacted via phone at (310)
601-3140 or www.Manzurilaw.com.

 

 

 

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