MEDICAL MARIJUANA BACKERS STAGE PROTESTS ACROSS US

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - Activists criticizing the US
government's partial crackdown on the medical use of marijuana
launched a nationwide string of protests at Drug Enforcement Agency
(DEA) offices Thursday.

Federal police arrested 10 protesters who had chained themselves
together here outside of Justice Department headquarters, federal
police confirmed.

Activists said they were protesting DEA plans to crack down on
"cannabis clubs" in California, cooperatives that grow marijuana and
distribute it to patients with AIDS, cancer and other ailments.

Protests were also planned for Thursday afternoon outside of DEA
headquarters in Arlington, Virginia and at 55 other DEA offices around
the country, according to activists.

A federal district judge in San Francisco is expected to issue a
permanent injunction early next week against the Oakland Cannabis
Buyers' Cooperative and four other similar organizations in
California. Judge Charles Breyer already issued a temporary injunction
against the cooperatives in October 1998 and ordered federal marshals
to occupy the Oakland club when members defied his order in May 1998.

Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said
in an interview that DEA officials have raided five "buying clubs" in
California since October.

"Instead of five raids since October we might see five in the next
week" after the court issues its ruling, he said. As many as 20
similar clubs currently operate in the state, he said.

Parts of the case went before the US Supreme Court earlier this year,
which ruled 5 to 3 that medical necessity is not an allowable defense
against federal drug charges. Cooperatives brought their case back to
federal court in California arguing that federal officials were
violating states' rights and individual doctor-patient relationships
by cracking down on the clubs.

"The federal government for political reasons having nothing to do
with healthcare has been blocking patients' access to medical
marijuana," said Robert Raich, an attorney representing the cannabis
clubs.

California is one of eight states that allow individuals to grow or
use small amounts of marijuana for medical purposes as long as the use
is ordered and supervised by a doctor. California's cannabis clubs,
while not legal under state laws, have largely been ignored by state
and local authorities there.

But federal drug officials have vowed to take further action against
the clubs.

"Cannabis is illegal under federal law," said Thomas Hinojosa, a DEA
spokesman. The cannabis clubs "are actually marijuana distribution
centers. We will enforce the Controlled Substances Act," he said.

Hinojosa said that the DEA views state medical marijuana laws as
"lacking scientific basis." But the agency has largely ignored
individuals in those states who grow and use marijuana for their own
medical use.

While the agency does consider such users criminals, "that appears to
be a local law enforcement issue. We target organizations," Hinojosa
said.