Mr. Horse
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This makes me sick to the stomach
Agents raid Californian marijuana clinics
By OLIVER POOLE
LOS ANGELES
Monday 12 November 2001
Medical centres in California that provide marijuana to terminally ill patients are being raided by federal drugs officers in a move that brings the US Government into conflict with the rights of individual states to create their own laws.
California passed a law allowing the sale of marijuana for medical use after a 1996 referendum, but it breaks federal anti-narcotics laws.
Officers of the Drug Enforcement Agency have in the past month seized cannabis plants, medical records and documents from three centres in the state.
In a radical shift from the government's previously relaxed approach to the the medical use of marijuana, the Justice Department has also warned nine other states with similar laws to stop lawbreaking or face raids.
The crackdown follows a Supreme Court ruling this year that the medical dispensation of marijuana is no protection from federal law.
A protest vigil was held last week at the DEA's most recent target, the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Centre in West Hollywood. Among the crowd were many of its 960 registered patients, most of whom have cancer or AIDS. They say they use the drug to suppress some of their worst symptoms.
Captain Lynda Castro, the local sheriff, was present. She had refused to help the DEA with its raid.
Scott Imler, the president of the centre, said he had been told to expect criminal charges. He felt the government had decided to implement its more controversial social policies at a time when attention was focused on Afghanistan.
- TELEGRAPH
From The Age, link here