Judge Denies Cancer
Patient McCormick "Any Form Of Marijuana," --
Marinol, Even "Hemp Seed Oil."
March 7, 1998
See Medical Marijuana Patient Todd
McCormick Asks Federal Judge to Allow Pot Use while on Bail
and
My Comments on Todd
McCormick and the Challenge His Case Presents to the Prohibitionists.
and
IRS
Joins DEA in Suppressing Medical Marijuana Writer and Publisher Peter McWilliams(Ed. note: Because Todd is a good friend, my first reaction to this
ruling is naturally just simple outrage. When I was at NORML, there was a running
"joke" at the office. Wherever the government would do something like this, I
would say, "Just when we thought they couldn’t get any stupider or any
crueler…" Literally, every week, they would outdo themselves. Once again…
The fact that this ruling is by a federal magistrate, not a DEA or HHS nark,
demonstrates the degree of systemic corruption caused by marijuana prohibition. Obviously,
the rationale behind this ruling is to be sure that McCormick is not masking the use of
natural marijuana by taking it a legal form. The government acknowledges that THC has
medical value and claims no jurisdiction over hempseed oil, but it has to prohibit him
from taking either, in order to be sure that he is not taking the plant that provides them
and other therapeutically valuable ingredients -- which are also not prohibited. In other
words, he is denied the legally approved ingredients of the plant in order to prevent him
from consuming other legal ingredients of the plant. Don’t even try to make sense of
this.
It is important to note that there is no question about McCormick having a serious
medical problem, and he is not accused of trafficking. What is happening here is clear
proof that the government really will stop at nothing to suppress medical marijuana. Why?
This site is about the answer to – and importance of -- that question.)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Federal Judge Denies Cancer Patient Prescription Medication Marinol®
Los Angeles
In a precedent-setting ruling, a federal judge denied cancer
patient Todd McCormick access to "any form of marijuana," including the
prescription medication Marinol®, "marijuana derivatives," and even "hemp
seed oil."
McCormick, who had cancer nine times before he was ten, was
arrested on July 29, 1997, at the fabled "Marijuana Mansion" for medical
marijuana cultivation. His bail was set at $500,000, posted by actor Woody Harrelson.
On Tuesday, however, federal Magistrate Judge James McMahon added
to McCormick’s Terms of Bail Release the instruction "not use any form of
marijuana, including any synthetic marijuana, any products that contain marijuana
derivatives including but not limited to hemp seed oil, marinol [sic], or any other
product containing cannabinoid derivatives, either with or without prescription."
McCormick recently obtained a prescription for Marinol® from his
California physician. McCormick reported this to his federal Pre-Trial Services
officer and to the technician performing McCormick’s
twice-weekly urine tests. As expected, McCormick tested positive to THC. The words
"prescription, Marinol" were added to all lab reports. McCormick’s
attorney, David Michael, discussed the situation with McCormick’s Pre-Trail Services
officer. Nevertheless, McCormick was called before federal Magistrate Judge James McMahon
on Tuesday where the ruling was made.
The ruling greatly concerned McCormick’s attorney, David Michael. "This is an inappropriate interference with the right of a physician
to prescribe and the right of a patient to be treated," Michael said. "To deny
Mr. McCormick Marinol®, an FDA- and DEA-approved Schedule II prescription medication, or
any other prescription medication, is a dangerous precedent. The judiciary is ill equipped
to take the place of a physician in deciding what medication a patient needs."
After more than six months of chronic cancer-induced pain and reduced appetite because
he could not use medical marijuana, McCormick was recently finding some relief in
Marinol®, a synthetic form of THC, one of marijuana’s active ingredients.
"This ruling means I go back to pain, sleepless nights, no
appetite, depression,"
McCormick said, noticeably shaken by the ruling.
"The government won’t let me use a legal prescription drug to ease my suffering.
One side of the federal government, the DEA and the FDA, say
Marinol® is okay, a medicine. Another side, this court, says I can’t use it. I
don’t understand."
The inconsistency continues in the "Medical Instructions" given McCormick, a
set of 35 federal rules for urine testing, one of which reads:
28. Nothing in the above instructions is meant to interfere with legitimate medical
treatment. Appropriate medical treatment is encouraged.
Just last week the California Supreme Court decided to let stand a lower court decision
to narrowly restrict medical marijuana access under Proposition 215, now the Compassionate
Use Act of 1996. The ruling dictates that cultivation is the only way in which California
medical patients can legally obtain medical marijuana-no buying; no transporting over
public roads.
McCormick is charged by the federal government only with
marijuana cultivation-not selling, not even intent to sell.
To contact Todd McCormick: 213-650-4906 (home number)
To contact David Michael, McCormick’s attorney: 415-986-5591
Supported