U.S. District Judge Rules That Federal Drug Laws Prevail in Medical Marijuana Case

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose last week said that medical marijuana can alleviate pain but ruled that federal drug laws prevail over Proposition 215, the 1996 ballot initiative allowing state physicians to recommend marijuana to sick patients, the San Jose Mercury News reports. In what could be a "devastating blow" to medical marijuana advocates and a "key win" for the federal government, Fogel ruled denied a petition to bar U.S. drug agents from raiding the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz County (Carreon, San Jose Mercury News, 8/29). During a Drug Enforcement Administration raid last September, agents seized 167 plants that patients were growing and arrested the collective's founders, Valerie and Michael Corral. The group said patients' medicine has been substantially decreased since the raid, causing pain and suffering and hastening the deaths of some of the collective's members (California Healthline, 7/8). Valerie Corral, a plaintiff in the case, said her group would likely appeal Fogel's ruling (San Jose Mercury News, 8/29).