[ OUR OPINION ]
Let patients grow
their own pakaloloANOTHER court victory by patients seeking relief from pain by smoking marijuana has brought them closer to gaining legal access to the cannabis. While the U.S. Supreme Court considers the government's appeal of a ruling that forbids federal prosecution of patients using marijuana, a judge in California has temporarily blocked the government from raiding gardens where medicinal marijuana is grown. The ruling eventually should be made permanent and extend to Hawaii.
THE ISSUE
A federal judge in California has ordered the federal government not to raid a farm where marijuana is grown for medicinal purposes.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose follows a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that federal agencies cannot prosecute medical marijuana users in states where it is legal. The appellate court's ruling is applicable in seven Western states, including California and Hawaii, that have legalized medical marijuana and are within the 9th Circuit's jurisdiction. The Justice Department appealed the 9th Circuit ruling to the Supreme Court earlier this month.
Federal narcotics agents raided a marijuana farm operated by the 250-member Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz in September 2002, seizing 167 plants and arresting founders Valerie and Michael Corral. The collective sued the government, but Fogel refused in August to block further raids while the Wo/Men's Alliance case is pending.
Fogel agreed to impose such an order based on the 9th Circuit's December ruling forbidding federal prosecution of two Oakland users of medical marijuana as long as they grow their own or get it for free from other growers. The Supreme Court earlier last year upheld a 9th Circuit ruling that the federal government could not revoke prescription rights of physicians recommending marijuana for their patients.
Like the 1996 California law, a Hawaii statute allows patients with doctors' recommendations to grow, smoke or obtain marijuana for their medical needs. However, many patients on Oahu don't know how to obtain seeds or how to cultivate it, or they don't have land on which to grow it, according to Thomas Mountain, who runs a cooperative of medical marijuana patients.
Fogel's decision is temporary and applies only to members of the Santa Cruz collective. However, if the Supreme Court upholds the appellate court ruling, the government would be remiss in trying to keep medical marijuana users from growing it in a garden operated by a collective of medical marijuana users.
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Sea problems need
integrated solutionsA SOMBER report on the condition of the nation's oceans acknowledges a simple principle that Hawaiians have known all along -- that the health of the waters surrounding the islands is tied closely to the health of the land and that natural systems are complex and inseparable.
THE ISSUE
A commission has issued a troubling report about the health of the oceans.
The preliminary report is the federal government's first such analysis of the oceans in 35 years. Its recommendations, if adopted, would significantly affect Hawaii, a state uniquely dependent on the sea for its economy and lifestyle.
As such, the report should be examined by residents and by Governor Lingle, whose observations are being sought before it is finalized and submitted to Congress and the Bush administration.
While hearings were conducted in Hawaii to help gather information, the report's recommendations need scrutiny to determine their possible effects. For example, a proposal to require licensing for all recreational fishing might conflict with native gathering rights or with the common practice of casually fishing for food.
The report by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, a body authorized by Congress, paints a grim picture of coastlines and wetlands spoiled or damaged by development, fish stocks depleted by commercial taking, seafood contaminated by bacteria and toxic chemicals, pollution from runoff full of human waste, garbage and oil, agricultural runoff that kills coral and a host of other troubles.
Some of the commission's 250 proposals are certain to meet stiff resistance. One of the most controversial would strip the power of fisheries management groups, largely run by the fishing industry, to set commercial limits. Another is the call for the United States to ratify the U.N. Law of the Sea, which would let our nation participate in worldwide efforts to govern ocean issues, a pivotal need since the seas, and thus their problems, have no real boundaries.
Particularly relevant to Hawaii is the plan for national regulation of aquaculture development to avoid problems that have plagued foreign fish farms, such as pollution, disease and escaped fish.
Establishing a trust fund garnered from $4 billion a year in offshore oil and gas drilling royalties would require political backbone from an industry-friendly administration, but the funds would be well used for National Ocean Council that would oversee what is now an ineffective hodge-podge of federal and local agencies.
The commission recognizes that mitigation of ocean damage involves a coordinated effort. Now our nation's political leaders will have to swim with it.
