FEDS INSIST ON PENALIZING PRO-POT M.D.S

In Appeals Court, DEA Also Argues For Ban On Hemp In Food

SAN FRANCISCO -- The government fought a two-pronged battle in its drug war
Monday, arguing in separate cases before a federal appeals court that it can
strip doctors of their licenses for recommending marijuana and ban foods
containing hemp.

The U.S. Department of Justice asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
to lift a 2000 order prohibiting the government from threatening to revoke
doctors' federal licenses to dispense medication if they recommend marijuana
to sick patients.

Justice Department attorney Michael Stern said doctors are interfering with
the drug war and circumventing the government's judgment that marijuana has
no medical benefits. Doctors who recommend marijuana in the eight states
that have medical marijuana laws "will make it easier to obtain marijuana in
violation of federal law," he said.

Graham Boyd, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, told the court that
the government was trying to stifle doctor-patient interactions.

"That is speech that is protected by the First Amendment," he argued.

The case stems from an order by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who
prohibited the Justice Department from revoking doctors' licenses to
dispense medication "merely because the doctor recommends medical marijuana
to a patient based on a sincere medical judgment." Alsup's order also
prevents federal agents "from initiating any investigation solely on that
ground."

The case is an outgrowth of Proposition 215, which California voters
approved in 1996. It allows patients lawfully to use marijuana with a
doctor's recommendation. After the measure passed, the Clinton
administration said doctors recommending marijuana would lose their federal
licenses to prescribe medicine, would be excluded from Medicare and Medicaid
and could face criminal charges.

Other states with medical marijuana laws include Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii,
Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

In the other case argued Monday, the Drug Enforcement Administration asked
the appellate court to let it outlaw food products containing hemp. The
court last month blocked the DEA from enforcing a ban it imposed in October,
pending the outcome of the case.

Hemp is an industrial plant related to marijuana. Its oil is found in a host
of foods, including energy bars, waffles, milk-free cheese, veggie burgers
and bread.

DEA attorney Daniel Dormont said the government banned food made with hemp
because "there's no way of knowing" whether some products may get consumers
high.

Hemp food sellers say their products are full of nutrition, not drugs. They
say the food contains such a small amount of the active ingredient in
marijuana that it's impossible to get high.

In October the DEA declared that food products containing even trace amounts
of tetrahydrocannabinol -- the psychoactive chemical known as THC found in
marijuana and sometimes in hemp -- were banned under the Controlled
Substances Act.

The DEA ordered a halt in the production and distribution of all goods
containing THC that were intended for human consumption. The DEA also
ordered all such products destroyed or removed from the United States by
March 18, but the 9th Circuit suspended that order so it could decide
whether federal law may classify hemp food as an illegal controlled
substance such as heroin.

The court did not indicate when it would rule on either case.