(11-30) 15:42 PST Oakland, Calif. (AP) --
A federal judge has rejected a request from medical marijuana dispensaries and patients to order an immediate halt to U.S. attorneys' efforts to shut down pot clubs in California.
Oakland U.S. District Court Judge Saundra Armstrong found that plaintiffs failed to show the crackdowns are unconstitutional or that the crackdowns would cause irreparable harm.
"The Court is sensitive to the desires of individuals to use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, as permitted by California law," Armstrong wrote in a 27-page ruling filed Monday. "Nonetheless, marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and in Congress' view, it has no medicinal value."
She concluded that pot advocates' arguments against the attempt to oust the clubs likely won't succeed in court.
Lawsuits filed three weeks ago in California's four federal court jurisdictions accuse the U.S. Justice Department of entrapping pot providers by reversing its own policy on medical marijuana, among other legal issues.
Plaintiffs' attorneys cited a Santa Cruz County medical marijuana cooperative's agreement with federal prosecutors to dismiss its case against the government because the department issued a memo telling U.S. attorneys to defer to states on medical use of the drug.
"The conduct of the government officials and their statement led the nation to believe that the government had changed its policy in 2009, ensuring that those who comply with state medical cannabis laws would not be subject to federal prosecution," according to the suits.
Armstrong found that the agreement did not constitute a statement of policy that dispensaries should have interpreted as a promise to leave them alone.
Federal prosecutors in October announced a broad effort to close pot clubs, in particular by threatening to seize the property of landlords who rented space to dispensaries.
At least two Northern California dispensaries suing the federal government already have shut down in response to threats of prosecution.
Plaintiffs next plan to argue in court for a preliminary injunction that would halt the crackdowns while the suits proceed through the courts.
"We're going to have to get in there and make our case," plaintiff spokesman P.J. Johnston said. "In the meantime, though, people are suffering. People are going out of business. Patients are either lost without their medicine or they are being pushed underground."
A federal judge has rejected a request from medical marijuana dispensaries and patients to order an immediate halt to U.S. attorneys' efforts to shut down pot clubs in California.
Oakland U.S. District Court Judge Saundra Armstrong found that plaintiffs failed to show the crackdowns are unconstitutional or that the crackdowns would cause irreparable harm.
"The Court is sensitive to the desires of individuals to use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, as permitted by California law," Armstrong wrote in a 27-page ruling filed Monday. "Nonetheless, marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and in Congress' view, it has no medicinal value."
She concluded that pot advocates' arguments against the attempt to oust the clubs likely won't succeed in court.
Lawsuits filed three weeks ago in California's four federal court jurisdictions accuse the U.S. Justice Department of entrapping pot providers by reversing its own policy on medical marijuana, among other legal issues.
Plaintiffs' attorneys cited a Santa Cruz County medical marijuana cooperative's agreement with federal prosecutors to dismiss its case against the government because the department issued a memo telling U.S. attorneys to defer to states on medical use of the drug.
"The conduct of the government officials and their statement led the nation to believe that the government had changed its policy in 2009, ensuring that those who comply with state medical cannabis laws would not be subject to federal prosecution," according to the suits.
Armstrong found that the agreement did not constitute a statement of policy that dispensaries should have interpreted as a promise to leave them alone.
Federal prosecutors in October announced a broad effort to close pot clubs, in particular by threatening to seize the property of landlords who rented space to dispensaries.
At least two Northern California dispensaries suing the federal government already have shut down in response to threats of prosecution.
Plaintiffs next plan to argue in court for a preliminary injunction that would halt the crackdowns while the suits proceed through the courts.
"We're going to have to get in there and make our case," plaintiff spokesman P.J. Johnston said. "In the meantime, though, people are suffering. People are going out of business. Patients are either lost without their medicine or they are being pushed underground."
