While DC set to vote on legalization of medical marijuana

A medical marijuana advocate holds up a sign during a protest in front of City Hall in Costa Mesa Saturday. The city is working to shut down dispensaries and collectives that they say are illegally operating. photo - Orange County Register

Costa Mesa and Lake Forest in Orange County California medical marijuana users lost their court bid to have dispensaries declared legal.A Federal judge ruled the ADA did not allow medical marijuana.

On the other side of the United States, the DC Council voted to allow medical marijuana dispensaries on April 21, 2010. Fourteen states allow medical use of marijuana.

“A patient who has HIV, glaucoma, cancer or a “chronic and lasting disease” will be able to receive a doctor’s recommendation to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana in a 30-day period.” D.C. Council unanimously backs medical marijuana in preliminary vote. Congress has 30 days to review or reject the vote but it is expected to allow the vote to pass.

Supporters of marijuana say medical marijuana is a step in the direction of full legalization.

In Canada medical marijuana is legal. A Nova Scotia judge recently ruled that the Province had to pay for a woman’s medical marijuana. Court rules NS must pay for medical marijuana

No dispensaries in parts of Orange County

The US Federal judge in California ruled that the ban on marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act supersedes the rights of the disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A 1996 Proposition made medical marijuana legal in California on a doctor’s recommendation. This conflicts with the Congressional ban on marijuana for any use.

In Mendocino County California, cultivation of marijuana has become a major industry despite the legal confusion.

The ruling only applies to Costa Mesa and Lake Forest although other cities may use it as a precedent.

The cities claimed that the ADA only protects “qualified individuals with a disability,” and that the ADA does not include “an individual who is currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs.”

Plaintiffs argued that the use of the words “illegal use of drugs” doesn’t apply to them because their use of marijuana is “recommended by doctors under the California Compassionate Use Act.

“On the other hand, defendants argue that marijuana cannot be legally prescribed under the Controlled Substances Act and thus exceptions cannot apply,” the judge wrote. The court agreed with the cities.

“Marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act,” he said, “and under that act, it currently has no medical purpose.”
Guilford continued: “Although some illegal drugs, such as opium, may be prescribed under the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana cannot be prescribed because it is a Schedule I drug.”

Guilford said for the plaintiffs’ argument to succeed, the Americans with Disability Act must authorize, “independent of the Controlled Substances Act, plaintiffs’ use of marijuana under a doctor’s supervision. But the ADA gives no such authorization.” Courthouse News

Marijuana use widespread

Despite legal prohibitions, use of marijuana is widespread. Canadian and US politicians have admitted to using it.

Federal surveys put the District among the nation’s leaders in pot consumption. More than 11 percent of Washingtonians older than 26 reported smoking marijuana in the past year — the highest percentage of any state in the nation, according to a 2007 survey by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Vermont and Rhode Island were second and third, each with more than 10 percent of respondents reporting marijuana use. D.C. set to vote on legalizing marijuana, already a widely used drug

PEI’s Premier was a user in high school and university. Some of his staff are known to toke up. It would be unusual for someone in their 30’s in Canada not to have at least tried marijuana. Use of marijuana is Canada is widespread with easy social acceptance for use among middle class professionals.

Personal possession of drugs including marijuana is largely non-starter for Canadian police who rarely lay charges. The case of high profile politician Rahim Jaffir who was not charged for possession of cocaine raises questions of class privilege in the enforcement of Canada’s anti-drug laws.