MEDICAL-MARIJUANA FIGHT RETURNS TO COURT

SANTA CRUZ -- Members of an area medical-marijuana cooperative return to
federal court today seeking an end to drug raids like the one that
decimated their pot garden in September 2002.

Joining the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana as plaintiffs in the
suit are the city and county of Santa Cruz.

They will, once more, ask U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel to outlaw future
raids.

"We have a lot of reason for optimism," said Mike Corral, who along with
his wife, Valerie, is a co-founder of the collective.

Fogel rejected WAMM's arguments last August, but held the ruling in
abeyance until a separate suit brought by the cooperative seeking return of
property was decided, said Gerald Uelmen, one of WAMM's attorneys.

Meanwhile, a ruling last December in an unrelated case, Raich v. Ashcroft,
gave medical-marijuana advocates new hope. A U.S. 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals panel ruled that a congressional act outlawing marijuana may not
apply to sick people with a doctor's recommendation in states that have
approved medical-marijuana laws.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that prosecuting such
medical-marijuana users under a 1970 federal law is unconstitutional if the
marijuana isn't sold, transported across state lines or used for
non-medicinal purposes.

While that ruling applied to individuals and WAMM is a collective, Uelmen
said that decision gives the area group some added legal firepower this
time around.

Today, the group will seek a preliminary injunction from future raids and
argue for the constitutional right of chronically ill people to use medical
marijuana.

"We think ... the Raich case solves the issue in our favor," Uelmen said
Tuesday. "We're simply asking Judge Fogel to revisit his prior ruling in
light of the Raich decision."

Like the individuals in the Raich case, WAMM does not exchange money for
pot; they are all ill and grow it for each other, and there is no
interstate commerce.

Groups around the state and even the country are keeping an eye on the
case, said Bill Piper of the Drug Policy Alliance. A victory for WAMM could
force elected officials to take notice, he said.

"It would bring home to Congress and others there is a serious conflict
between states and the federal bureaucracy," Piper said. "Eventually,
Congress will have to act."

Attempts Tuesday to contact the U.S. Office of Drug Control Policy, known
as the Drug Czar, were unsuccessful. Earlier this year, a spokesman for
that agency declined comment on the specifics of the suit, but told the
Sentinel that federal drug laws would continue to be enforced until they
are changed or the Federal Drug Administration approves use of medical
marijuana, regardless of what voters in individual states say.

California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, which made
medical-marijuana use legal with a doctor's recommendation under state law.

The suit to be debated in court today stems from a September 2002 raid at
WAMM's Davenport garden in which federal agents uprooted about 167 plants.

Valerie and Mike Corral, who co-founded the group in the early 1990s, were
briefly jailed but have yet to be charged.

A separate suit seeking return of property from the raid is pending before
the U.S. 9th Circuit.

WAMM continues to operate on a scaled-back level, Mike Corral said. Some 22
members have died since the raid.

"We're still operating a little leaner," Corral said. "We only admit new
members when another member passes away."