JUSTICE ASKS FOR REHEARING OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEFENSE

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday asked a
federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling that could allow
seriously ill patients to use marijuana without being prosecuted.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month told a federal judge
to rethink his order of last year that closed down some Northern
California medical marijuana clubs, and consider an exemption for
patients who face imminent harm without the drug and have no effective
legal alternative.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who has vowed to uphold a
successful state initiative allowing patients to use pot, had asked
the Justice Department not to appeal the ruling.

"They're real scared of this decision. They want to slow it down,"
said William Panzer, an attorney for a pot club in Marin county. "It
really calls into question a lot of the government's policies."

Robert Raich, attorney for the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative,
criticized the Clinton administration.

"I think this shows how the Clinton administration is simply trying to
appear to be tough on drugs to combat Bill Clinton's comment in 1991
that he didn't inhale, even if it means Californians are going to
needlessly suffer," said Raich, referring to Clinton's comment that he
smoked marijuana but did not inhale.

Federal prosecutors have repeatedly argued that Congress has declared
pot to be among the most dangerous controlled substances and has no
medical purpose, thus invalidating the medical necessity argument the
court said should be considered.

"A court may not, under the rubric of 'medical necessity' set aside
that judgment, re-balance the factors already weighed by Congress, and
conclude that the public interest exempts a class of persons from
federal law," they wrote in their petition.

"The doctrine of 'necessity' does not permit a court to prospectively
license a class of persons to violate federal law and undermine the
comprehensive statutory scheme for controlling illegal drugs,"
prosecutors said.

In its ruling, a three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit said the
government has offered nothing to contradict "evidence that cannabis
is the only effective treatment for a large group of seriously ill
individuals." Prosecutors now want an 11-judge panel to reconsider
that ruling.

If it stands, it would affect California and four other states in the
9th Circuit - Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Alaska - that have laws
protecting medical marijuana users against state prosecution.

After Californians approved a medical marijuana initiative in 1996,
the U.S. Justice Department sued six Northern California pot clubs,
saying the absolute federal ban on marijuana distribution overrode
Proposition 215.

Three of the clubs closed last year after U.S. District Judge Charles
Breyer issued his injunction against marijuana distribution.