FreeMaryJane
08-08-2007, 06:33 AM
Even though the media is blocked from patient information under federal HPPA laws, The Tribune article reports that the federal government has issued subpoenas for Oregon patient information.
The feds want personal information about patients in Oregon’s medical marijuana program, and they are also trying to gain private knowledge about the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation. The foundation employs doctors who prescribe marijuana to patients under the Oregon program.
The Tribune learned that a federal subpoena issued on April 10th demanded all medical and other documentation for 17 people in Oregon and Washington state. The identities of the specific 17 people are not known.
Now American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Graham Boyd has signed on to help quash the subpoena. It is further reported that attorneys for the state of Oregon are joining the team being assembled that will quash the federal government’s demand.
Don DuPay gained a good deal of public attention when he ran for Multnomah County sheriff against incumbent Bernie Giusto. More than 29,000 residents voted for him, making him Giusto's biggest opponent.
Now he says it is time for Oregon to lend him a hand, and in turn also help protect his patients from the questionable tactics of the federal government, "Somebody in state government better do something about this, or I’ll run for governor," he said.
One of the patients DuPay grows for is suffering from the end stages of liver disease. Another is a man whose leg was shattered and is now comprised of screws and plates. That man says the actions of the feds make him "furious" as he deals with the raw pain of his daily physical life.
Until recently, the DEA has given the Oregon program a break, but it looks like the state is now going to deal with what California patients have been dealing with for years.
The DEA is operating as a rogue group, out of place and out of line.
It is the latest, shameful behavior from an ultra right-wing presidency and administration that is bent on doing anything possible to promote big corporate business and to trample on the sick and poor.
Feds trample on other state issues
Medical marijuana isn't the only voter passed law the administration has failed to respect; the Department of Justice also challenged the constitutionality of Oregon's Assisted Suicide law in court.
In 2002, U.S. District Judge Robert Jones made this comment about federal ambitions to undermine Oregon voters, “Oregon voters decided not once, but twice to support the law and have chosen to resolve the moral, legal and ethical debate on physician-assisted suicide for themselves."
The Bush administration did not end there. Attorney General John Ashcroft who was in office at the time, appealed the case, eventually taking it in front of the Supreme Court. The rest is history for Oregon.
Sources say the president and his conservative base are so thoroughly opposed to any form of assisted suicide, that it sought any and all possible means to overturn the Oregon law.
Now we see both the rogue agents and others with a personal agenda in Oregon, attempting to end Oregon's voter approved medical marijuana program. See the Salem-News.com article by Dr. Phil Leveque for more on that: Medical Marijuana: Is Kevin Mannix a Bigot?
A number of states in the U.S. have passed medical marijuana legislation. If you live in a state that is experiencing federal intervention, write to us and tell us about it so we can keep track.
The foundation of this country was built on a citizen's right to choose, and the DEA and the Bush government that writes its paychecks has become in many people's eyes, an enemy of the citizenry.
That is a sad perspective.
For the Portland Tribune article by Nick Budnick, visit this link: http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=118609925649231700
The feds want personal information about patients in Oregon’s medical marijuana program, and they are also trying to gain private knowledge about the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation. The foundation employs doctors who prescribe marijuana to patients under the Oregon program.
The Tribune learned that a federal subpoena issued on April 10th demanded all medical and other documentation for 17 people in Oregon and Washington state. The identities of the specific 17 people are not known.
Now American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Graham Boyd has signed on to help quash the subpoena. It is further reported that attorneys for the state of Oregon are joining the team being assembled that will quash the federal government’s demand.
Don DuPay gained a good deal of public attention when he ran for Multnomah County sheriff against incumbent Bernie Giusto. More than 29,000 residents voted for him, making him Giusto's biggest opponent.
Now he says it is time for Oregon to lend him a hand, and in turn also help protect his patients from the questionable tactics of the federal government, "Somebody in state government better do something about this, or I’ll run for governor," he said.
One of the patients DuPay grows for is suffering from the end stages of liver disease. Another is a man whose leg was shattered and is now comprised of screws and plates. That man says the actions of the feds make him "furious" as he deals with the raw pain of his daily physical life.
Until recently, the DEA has given the Oregon program a break, but it looks like the state is now going to deal with what California patients have been dealing with for years.
The DEA is operating as a rogue group, out of place and out of line.
It is the latest, shameful behavior from an ultra right-wing presidency and administration that is bent on doing anything possible to promote big corporate business and to trample on the sick and poor.
Feds trample on other state issues
Medical marijuana isn't the only voter passed law the administration has failed to respect; the Department of Justice also challenged the constitutionality of Oregon's Assisted Suicide law in court.
In 2002, U.S. District Judge Robert Jones made this comment about federal ambitions to undermine Oregon voters, “Oregon voters decided not once, but twice to support the law and have chosen to resolve the moral, legal and ethical debate on physician-assisted suicide for themselves."
The Bush administration did not end there. Attorney General John Ashcroft who was in office at the time, appealed the case, eventually taking it in front of the Supreme Court. The rest is history for Oregon.
Sources say the president and his conservative base are so thoroughly opposed to any form of assisted suicide, that it sought any and all possible means to overturn the Oregon law.
Now we see both the rogue agents and others with a personal agenda in Oregon, attempting to end Oregon's voter approved medical marijuana program. See the Salem-News.com article by Dr. Phil Leveque for more on that: Medical Marijuana: Is Kevin Mannix a Bigot?
A number of states in the U.S. have passed medical marijuana legislation. If you live in a state that is experiencing federal intervention, write to us and tell us about it so we can keep track.
The foundation of this country was built on a citizen's right to choose, and the DEA and the Bush government that writes its paychecks has become in many people's eyes, an enemy of the citizenry.
That is a sad perspective.
For the Portland Tribune article by Nick Budnick, visit this link: http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=118609925649231700