RULING LETS ACLU, OTHERS JOIN SUIT

Groups Back Use of Medical Marijuana

The ACLU and other groups backing medical marijuana use are joining
the defense against the county's lawsuit challenging the Compassionate Use Act.

The county filed suit in San Diego Superior Court contending that
state laws allowing medicinal use of marijuana are superseded by
federal laws banning drug use and possession. The suit was filed in
February against San Diego NORML - the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws - after the county Board of Supervisors
refused to implement part of the state law requiring counties to
issue identification cards to medical marijuana users that could
protect them from prosecution.

The counties of San Bernardino and Merced later joined in the suit,
on the county's side.

Superior Court Judge William R. Nevitt Jr. ruled yesterday that the
American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Safe Access and the
Drug Policy Alliance may join the suit on behalf of medical marijuana users.

Nevitt found the groups do have a direct interest in the lawsuit and
will be allowed to intervene as long as they don't raise any new
legal issues or seek to delay the case.

The next hearing on the case, a motion for judgment, is scheduled for Nov. 16.

"We look forward to the opportunity to stand together with patients
in defense of the rights of states to allow medicine to those in
need," ACLU lawyer David Blair-Loy said in a statement in response to
the ruling. "We are heartened that the court recognized the necessity
of giving voice to those truly at risk from the counties'
ill-conceived actions."

The Compassionate Use Act, allowing use of marijuana for pain relief
and other medical reasons, was passed by California voters in 1996.
The state Legislature later added provisions requiring counties to
keep a database of users and issue identification cards.