Fed: Court Ruling Kills Hawaii Medical Marijuana Program June 8, 2005
News Summary
A state medical-marijuana program in Hawaii has been declared dead by a local federal official after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state laws don't protect medical users, dealers, or doctors from federal drug prosecution, the Honolulu Advertiser reported June 7."The U.S. Supreme Court decision this morning is the death knell to the medical-marijuana issue," said Honolulu based U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo. "I would advise all physicians and anyone who is involved in distributing or helping in the distribution of any illegal narcotic to be very, very leery." Kubo added, however, that his office would not prosecute medical-marijuana users.
The ruling seemed to have a chilling effect on some of the 116 Hawaiian doctors who had been issuing medical-marijuana certificates to patients. "If it could become something I could be prosecuted for, I certainly would want to stay away from that," said optometrist Joyce Cassen.
Public defender Peter Wolff agreed that the court ruling was having a big impact. "I don't think I could be counseling anyone to continue their marijuana use, especially if it's a federal crime," he said. "I think the Hawaii program is essentially dead, unless doctors are willing to take a huge risk to their ability to practice medicine, and why would they do that?"
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