A federal judge has dismissed an effort by Drug Policy Alliance on behalf of the city and county of Santa Cruz and a medical marijuana cooperative to halt federal raids against California's medical marijuana clubs.

On August 28th, Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose’s Federal District Court dismissed the unprecedented lawsuit filed by the city and county of Santa Cruz, seven terminally and chronically ill patients and the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM). The suit was prompted by a raid that received national attention last September, in which armed agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration stormed WAMM, terrorizing residents and patients. WAMM, which provides medical marijuana under California’s 1996 Compassionate Use Act (Prop. 215), was shut down and several members were detained.

This case is historic in that it represents the first time a public entity (the City and County of Santa Cruz) has ever joined a petitioner in suing the federal government over a medical marijuana issue. The City and County of Santa Cruz had argued that several provisions of the federal Constitution prohibited the federal government from depriving state patients of their needed medicine. The court rejected these claims, ruling that the federal government retained the statutory power to interdict and destroy controlled substances such as marijuana, regardless of its medical efficacy.

In light of the ongoing tension between state and federal governments regarding the right of sick and dying patients to use medical marijuana, this decision thwarts the will of California’s electorate, who voted in favor of medical marijuana by passing the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.  Nine other states have also passed similar laws, including Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

The Drug Policy Alliance, together with the prestigious law firm Bingham McCutchen, criminal defense attorney Gerald Uelmen, and Santa Cruz attorney Ben Rice, represented the city and county of Santa Cruz in this case. The legal team will appeal the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.