JUDGE ALLOWS MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATES TO OPPOSE SAN DIEGO SUIT

SAN DIEGO -- Medical marijuana advocates and patients will be allowed
to oppose a lawsuit filed by San Diego County seeking to overturn a
state law legalizing medicinal use of the drug, a state court judge
ruled Friday.

The county sued the state of California and its director of health
services in San Diego Superior Court in February, saying federal laws
prohibiting marijuana use trump the state law permitting individuals
to use the drug with a physician's approval.

The San Diego chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws is also named in the suit.

California approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes with
the passage of Proposition 215, which won 55 percent of votes cast in 1996.

The ruling by Superior Court Judge William R. Nevitt, Jr. permits six
California patients and caregivers -- represented by the American
Civil Liberties Union and the Drug Policy Alliance -- and the
advocacy groups Americans for Safe Access and the Wo/Men's Alliance
for Medical Marijuana to intervene in the case on the side of the defendants.

"Medical marijuana patients deserve a place at the table in this
litigation," said Allen Hopper, an attorney with the ACLU's Drug
Reform Project who is working on the case. "We're confident that the
state will be there to defend its own laws, but we want to make sure
that patients will be represented."

Two other California counties, San Bernardino and Merced, have joined
San Diego as plaintiffs in the suit. All three counties have refused
to comply with a state requirement that counties issue identification
cards for medical marijuana users and maintain a registry of people
who apply for the cards.

Hearings on the suit are scheduled for November.