Feds Argue For Preemption Of State Law In Medical Pot Suit. The Daily Review

http://www.dailyreviewonline.com/Stories/0,1413,88%257E10975%257E1059700,00
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(12/18, Richman) reports in San Francisco, “Lawyers argued Tuesday over whether a federal judge can or should bar U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and DEA chief Asa Hutchinson from treating medical marijuana patients as criminals. U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins didn't rule Tuesday, but indicated he'll do so no later than mid-January. Patients sued the government officials in October, claiming their civil rights are being violated by federal crackdowns on medical marijuana. Jenkins peppered the patients' attorneys -- Robert Raich of Oakland, David Michael of San Francisco and Boston University Law Professor Randy Barnett -- and Justice Department trial lawyer Mark Quinlivan with questions Tuesday. Some questions concerned whether Jenkins even has the authority under 9th Circuit case law to issue an injunction in a case such as this. Quinlivan argued he doesn't, while the patients' attorneys said he does. The lawyers also sparred on whether the federal Controlled Substances Act, which Ashcroft and Hutchinson use as authority to go after medical marijuana patients, should be applied to medical marijuana. Barnett argued Congress' constitutional authority extends only to interstate commerce, while medical marijuana in California is an issue contained wholly within the state's own borders,
involving no money changing hands. Quinlivan noted case law has found marijuana use for any purpose can't be considered wholly intrastate and non-economic. Raich argued for the 9th Amendment right of plaintiff Angel McClary Raich, his wife, to be free from pain and prolong her life by using marijuana.”

(This story also appeared in the Oakland Tribune, the Alameda Times Star)