no. 03-1454 in the supreme court of the united states...petition for a writ of certiorari filed:...

No. 03-1454

PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI FILED: APR. 20, 2004

CERTIORARI GRANTED: JUNE 28, 2004

In the Supreme Court of the United States

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL, ET AL.,PETITIONERS

v.ANGEL MCCLARY RAICH, ET AL.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TOTHE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

JOINT APPENDIX

PAUL D. CLEMENT*Acting Solicitor GeneralDepartment of JusticeWashington, D.C. 20530-0001(202) 514-2217

*Counsel of Recordfor Petitioner

ROBERT A. LONG, JR.*HEIDI C. DOERHOFFJOSHUA D. GREENBERGCovington & Burling1201 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.Washington, D.C. 20004(202) 662-6000

ROBERT A. RAICH1970 Broadway, Suite 1200Oakland, CA 94612(510) 338-0700

DAVID M. MICHAELThe DeMartini Historical

Landmark Building294 Page StreetSan Francisco, CA 94102(415) 621-4500

RANDY E. BARNETTBoston University School of LawBoston, MA 02215(617) 353-3099

*Counsel of Recordfor Respondents

(I)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Court of appeals docket entries ........................................ 1District court docket entries ............................................. 8Complaint for declaratory relief and for prelim-

inary and permanent injunctive relief ..................... 22Declaration of Frank Henry Lucido, M.D. ..................... 47Declaration of Dr. John Rose ............................................ 52Declaration of Diane Monson ............................................ 55Declaration of Angel McClary Raich ............................... 60

(1)

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALSFOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

Docket No. 03-15481

ANGEL MCCLARY RAICH, DIANE MONSON, JOHN DOE(NUMBER ONE), JOHN DOE (NUMBER TWO),

PLAINTIFFS-APPELLEES

v.

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL, AS UNITEDSTATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, ASA HUTCHINSON, AS

ADMINISTRATOR OF THE DRUG ENFORCEMENTADMINISTRATION, DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS

DOCKET ENTRIES

________________________________________________

DATE PROCEEDINGS________________________________________________3/21/03 DOCKETED CAUSE AND ENTERED AP-

PEARANCES OF COUNSEL. CADS SENT(Y/N): yes. Preliminary Injunction appeal,Moatt will set briefing schedule. [03-15481](dg) [03-15481]

3/21/03 Filed Civil Appeals Docketing Statementserved on (to CONFATT) [03-15481] [03-15481] (dg) [03-15481]

3/31/03 Filed order MOATT (JES) within 7 calendardays of the filing date of this order, the par-ties shall make arrangements parties to

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________________________________________________

DATE PROCEEDINGS________________________________________________

obtain from the ctr an official rt of pro-ceedings in the DC which will be included inthe roa. The brfing schedule is set as follows:the opening brf is due not later than 4/9/03;the answering brf is due 5/7/03, or 28 daysafter service of the opening brf, whichever isearlier; and the optional rpy brf is due within14 days of service of the answering brf. Ifaplts fail to file an opening brf, this appealwill be dismissed automatically by the clk forfailure to prosecute. This appeal and anymotions pending when brfing is completedshall be referred to the next available mo-tions panel for disposition. [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

3/31/03 Rec’d aplts ntc of designation of reporter’stranscript. RTs already filed and paid for.[03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

4/15/03 Filed order MOATT ( JES) This is apreliminary injunction appeal. Aplt’s mtn foran extension of time to file the opn brief isgranted. The opn breif is due not later than4/23/03; the ans brief is due 5/21/03 or 28 daysafter service of the opn brief, whichever isearlier; and the opt rpy brief is due within 14days of service of the ans brief. This appealand any mtns pending when briefing iscompleted shall be referred to the nextavailable mtns panel for disposition. [03-15481] (kkw) [03-15481]

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4/23/03 Filed original and 15 copies aplts’ opening brf(Informal: no) of 62 pages and five excerpts ofrecord in 1 volume; served on 4/23/03. [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

4/23/03 Filed aplts’ request for oral argument [03-15481]; served on 4/23/03 to (MOATT).[4718373] [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

4/30/03 Rec’d State of California, County of Alameda& City of Oakland’s brf as amicus in 15 copiesonly of 17 pages (originally filed in 02-16335,02-16534 & 02-16715) to MOATT w/copy of ltrrequesting permission to file. [03-15481] (jr)[03-15481]

4/30/03 Filed Marijuana Policy, Rick Doblin & EthanRusso’s motion for leave to file amicus curiaebrf in support of aplts; served on 4/30/03 to(MOATT w/copy of brf). [4724483] [03-15481](jr) [03-15481]

4/30/03 Rec’d Marijuana Policy, Rick Doblin & EthanRusso’s amicus curiae brf in 15 copies of 18pages; served on 4/30/03 to (MOATT w/motionto file). [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

5/5/03 Filed original and 15 copies CA MedicalAssoc. & CA Nurses Assoc.’s amicus curiaebrf of 21 pages; served on 4/30/03. [03-15481](jr) [03-15481]

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5/6/03 Filed order MOATT (JES) aplts’ request fororal argument and the request for leave tofile an amicus brf are referred to the panelassigned to hear the merits of this appeal.The brfing schedule established previouslyremains in effect. [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

5/16/03 7-day oral extension of time by phone to fileaples’ brf per (JES/MOATT). [03-15481] Aples’brf due 5/28/03. (jr) [03-15481]

5/29/03 Filed original and 15 copies aples’ 62 page brf;served on 5/28/03. [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

6/10/03 Rec’d errata to brf of aples; served 6/9/03.[03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

6/11/03 Filed original and 15 copies aplts’ rpy brf(Inforamal: no) of 32 pages; served on 6/11/03.[03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

6/18/03 Rec’d County of Butte’s ltr dated 6/17/03joining in the legal arguments of aplts Raich,Monson and amici State of CA, Cty ofAlamed and City of Oakland. [03-15481] (jr)[03-15481]

7/10/03 Filed Angel McClary Raich, Diane Monson,John Doe, John Doe additional citations,served on 7/7/03. RECORDS FOR MERITSPANEL [03-15481] (gar) [03-15481]

* * * * *

5

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7/25/03 Filed order (Edward LEAVY & Michael D.HAWKINS) this appeal from the denial of arequest for a preliminary injunction isreferred to the next available merits panelfor disposition. The appeal shall be placed onthe calendar during the week of 10/6/03, inS.F.. [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

* * * * *

8/1/03 CALENDARED: San Francisco Oct 7 20039:00 a.m. Courtroom 3 [03-15481] (th) [03-15481]

8/12/03 Filed aplts’ motion to hear this case beforethe panel which will hear case 02-16534, 02-16335, 02-16715 & 03-15062; [03-15481] servedon 8/12/03 FAXED to (PANEL for this caseand related cases). [4815286] [03-15481] (jr)[03-15481]

* * * * *

9/11/03 Filed order (Deputy Clerk: CAC) aplt’smotion to assign related cases for oralargument on the same date and before thesame panel but to be argued separately withappeal #s 02-16335, 02-16534, 02-16715 & 03-15062 set for oral argument on 9/17/03, isDENIED. [4815286-1] in 03-15481. The clk

6

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will serve copies of the order in case #s 02-163335, 02-16524, 02-16715 & 03-15062. [03-15481, 02-16335, 02-16534, 02-16715, 03-15062](jr) [02-16335 02-16534, 02-16715 03-15062 03-15481]

9/11/03 Filed order (Deputy Clerk: rr) the motion forleave to file amicus curiae brf of MarijuanaPolicy Project; Rick Doblin, PH.D.; andEthan Russo, M.D. is granted. [4724483-1]The amicus curiae brf shall be filed forthwith.[03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

9/11/03 Filed original and 15 copies Marijuana Policy,Rick Doblin & Ethan Russo amicus brf of 18pages; served on 4/30/03. [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

* * * * *

10/7/03 ARGUED AND SUBMITTED TO HarryPREGERSON, C. A. Beam, Richard A. PAEZ[03-15481] (tu) [03-15481]

* * * * *

12/16/03 FILED OPINION: REVERSED AND RE-MANDED. (Terminated on the Merits afterOral Hearing; Reversed; Written, Signed,Published. Harry PREGERSON, author; C.A. Beam, dissenting; Richard A. PAEZ)FILED AND ENTERED JUDGMENT. [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

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* * * * *

1/26/04 [4957169] Filed original and 50 copies aples’petition for panel rehearing and petition forrehearing en banc 17 pages; served on 1/23/04to (PANEL & ALL ACTIVE JUDGES). [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

1/26/04 Rec’d ntc of appearance of Mark B. Stern andAlisa B. Klein as csl for aples. [03-15481] (jr)[03-15481]

2/25/04 Filed order (Harry PREGERSON, C.A.Beam, Richard A. PAEZ) the petition for re-hearing and for rehearing en banc isDENIED. [4957169-1] [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

3/5/04 MANDATE ISSUED [03-15481] (jr) [03-15481]

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THECALIFORNIA NORTHERN DISTRICT

CIVIL DOCKET No. 3:02-CV-04872

ANGEL MCCLARY RAICH, PLAINTIFF

v.

JOHN ASHCROFT, AS UNITED STATESATTORNEY GENERAL

DOCKET ENTRIES

_______________________________________________ _DOCKET

DATE NUMBER PROCEEDINGS

10/09/2002 1 COMPLAINT (Summons Issued)against John Ashcroft, AsaHutchinson (Filing fee $150receipt number 4406599). Filedby John Doe Number One, JohnDoe Number Two, Diane Mon-son, Angel McClary Raich. (tn, )(Entered: 10/15/2002)

10/09/2002 Summons Issued as to JohnAshcroft ; Asa Hutchinson (tn, )(Entered: 10/15/2002)

10/09/2002 2 ADR SCHEDULING ORDER:Case Management Statementdue by 2/12/2003. Initial CaseManagement Conference set for1:30 p.m. on 2/19/2003. (tn)(Entered: 10/15/2002)

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


10/30/2002 3 Consent to Proceed Before aU.S. Magistrate Judge by JohnDoe Number One, John DoeNumber Two, Diane Monson,Angel McClary Raich. (tn,)(Entered: 10/31/2002)

* * * * *

10/30/2002 Received Order re [4]: [Pro-posed] Order granting motion toexceed page limitation by JohnDoe Number One, John DoeNumber Two, Diane Monson,Angel McClary Raich. (tn,)(Entered: 10/31/2002)

10/30/2002 5 MOTION for Preliminary Injunc-tion filed by John Doe NumberOne, John Doe Number Two,Diane Monson, Angel McClaryRaich. Motion Hearing set for12/4/2002 02:30 PM. (tn,)(Entered: 10/31/2002)

10/30/2002 Received Document re [5]: [28Pages] Memorandum of Law insupport of motion for prelimi-nary injunction by John DoeNumber One, John Doe NumberTwo, Diane Monson, AngelMcClary Raich. (tn, ) (Entered:10/31/2002)

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


10/30/2002 6 DECLARATION in Support re[5]: Of Frank Henry Lucido,M.D. in support of motion forpreliminary injunction filed byJohn Doe Number One, JohnDoe Number Two, Diane Mon-son, Angel McClary Raich. (Re-lated document(s)[5]) (tn,) (En-tered: 10/31/2002)

10/30/2002 7 DECLARATION in Support re[5]: Of Diane Monson in sup-port of motion for preliminaryinjunction filed by John DoeNumber One, John Doe NumberTwo, Diane Monson, AngelMcClary Raich. (Related docu-ment(s)[5]) (tn,) (Entered:10/31/2002)

10/30/2002 8 DECLARATION in Support re[5]: Of Dr. John Rose in supportof motion for preliminary in-junction filed by John DoeNumber One, John Doe NumberTwo, Diane Monson, AngelMcClary Raich. (Related docu-ment(s)[5]) (tn,) (Entered:10/31/2002)

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


10/30/2002 9 DECLARATION in Support re[5]: Of Angel McClary Raich insupport of preliminary injunc-tion filed by John Doe NumberOne, John Doe Number Two,Diane Monson, Angel McClaryRaich. (Related document(s) [5])(tn,) (Entered: 10/31/2002)

10/30/2002 Received Order re [5]: [Pro-posed] Order Granting Motionfor Preliminary Injunction byJohn Doe Number One, JohnDoe Number Two, Diane Mon-son, Angel McClary Raich. (tn, )(Entered: 10/31/2002)

* * * * *

11/08/2002 11 Declination to Proceed Before aU.S. Magistrate Judge by JohnAshcroft, Asa Hutchinson & Re-quest for Reassignment to aUnited States District Judge.(tn,) (Entered: 11/12/2002)

* * * * *

12

_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


11/12/2002 Received Order Order GrantingApplication for Admission ofAttorney Pro Hac Vice of RandyE. Barnett by John Doe NumberOne, John Doe Number Two,Diane Monson, Angel McClaryRaich. (ci,) (Entered: 11/18/2002)

11/13/2002 13 ORDER REASSIGNING C A S E.Case reassigned to Judge MartinJ. Jenkins for all further pro-ceedings. . Signed by The Execu-tive Committee on 11/13/02.(rcs) (Entered: 11/15/2002)

* * * * *

11/19/2002 18 Memorandum in Opposition re[5] filed by John Ashcroft, AsaHutchinson. (vlh, ) (Entered:11/20/2002)

* * * * *

11/26/2002 22 Request for Judicial Notice filedby John Doe Number One, JohnDoe Number Two, Diane Mon-son, Angel McClary Raich. (slh,)(Entered: 11/27/2002)

* * * * *

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


12/05/2002 25 Request for Judicial Notice filedby John Doe Number One, JohnDoe Number Two, Diane Mon-son, Angel McClary Raich. (vlh,)(Entered: 12/06/2002)

12/09/2002 26 MOTION to Dismiss filed byJohn Ashcroft, Asa Hutchinson.Motion Hearing set for 1/14/200309:30 AM. (slh,) (Entered:12/09/2002)

* * * * *

12/17/2002 29 Minute Entry: Motion Hearingheld on 12/17/2002 before JudgeJenkins; that plaintiff ’s Motionfor Preliminary Injunction [5] issubmitted; defendant to prepareOrder. (Court Reporter - SaharDemos . ) (slh) (Entered:12/18/2002)

12/18/2002 30 ORDER by Judge Martin J. Jen-kins vacating the 1/14/03 hearingon defendant’s Motion to Dis-miss [26]. (slh) (Entered:12/19/2002)

* * * * *

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


* * * * *

03/03/2003 35 JOINT CASE MANAGEMENTSTATEMENT filed by John DoeNumber One, John Doe NumberTwo, Diane Monson, AngelMcClary Raich. (slh, ) (Entered:03/04/2003)

* * * * *

03/05/2003 38 ORDER by Judge Martin J.Jenkins DENYING plaintiffs’Motion for Preliminary Injunc-tion [5] . (slh) (Entered:03/07/2003)

* * * * *

03/12/2003 40 NOTICE OF APPEAL re [38] byJohn Doe Number One, JohnDoe Number Two, Diane Mon-son, Angel McClary Raich.(Filing fee $105; receipt number3345249) (slh,) (Entered:03/13/2003)

03/12/2003 Transmission of Notice of Ap-peal and Docket Sheet to USCourt of Appeals re appeal [40](slh,) (Entered: 03/13/2003)

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


03/17/2003 41 CLERK’S NOTICE vacating the3/25/03 hearing re: Motion toStrike and and the 4/8/03 hearingre: defendant’s Cross-Motionfor Leave to file statement ofrecent decision. (slh) (Entered:03/19/2003)

03/18/2003 42 Minute Entry: Case Manage-ment Conference held on3/18/2003 before Judge Jenkins.Matter stayed pending decisionre: Interlocutory Appeal. (CourtReporter - NOT reported.) (slh)(Entered: 03/25/2003)

* * * * *

03/19/2003 44 ORDER by Judge Martin J.Jenkins that this action isSTAYED, pending resolution ofthe interlocutory appeal; allhearings and conferences in thismatter are vacated; (Entered:03/25/2003)

03/19/2003 45 ORDER by Judge Martin J.Jenkins that the part of footnotenine of the Court’s 3/5/03 Order[38] shall be amended to read

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


“Judge Kozinski, in his concur-ring opinion in Conant v. Wal-ters, 309 F.3d 629 (9th Cir.2 0 0 2 ) . ” (s lh) (Entered:03/25/2003)

03/26/2003 USCA Case Number re appeal[40]. USCA Case #03-15481(slh,) (Entered: 04/01/2003)

03/28/2003 46 TRANSCRIPT DESIGNATIONand Ordering Form for dates12/17/02 (C/R: Sahar McVickar)by John Doe Number One, JohnDoe Number Two, Diane Mon-son, Angel McClary Raich. (slh, )(Entered: 04/02/2003)

* * * * *

04/16/2003 48 TRANSCRIPT for dates 12/17/02(C/R: Sahar McVickar). (slh,)(Entered: 04/17/2003)

03/08/2004 49 USCA JUDGMENT reversingand remanding the decision ofthe District Court (re: Appeal[40]). (slh, COURT STAFF)(Filed on 3/8/2004) (Entered:03/09/2004)

03/08/2004 50 CLERKS Letter Spreading Man-date to Counsel. (slh, COURTSTAFF) (Filed on 3/8/2004)(Entered: 03/09/2004)

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


03/11/2004 51 CLERK’S NOTICE: StatusConference set for 4/6/2004 02:00PM. (slh, COURT STAFF) (Filedon 3/11/2004) (Entered:03/12/2004)

* * * * *

04/06/2004 53 M i n u t e E n t r y : S t a t u sConference held 4/6/2004 beforeJudge Jenkins; parties shallsubmit a form of order(s) re:preliminary injunction by4/30/04. (Court Reporter - NOTreported.) (slh, COURT STAFF)(Date Filed: 4/6/2004) (Entered:04/08/2004)

04/14/2004 55 Letter dated 4/14/01 fromRobert A. Raich re: proposedpreliminary injunctions. (slh,COURT STAFF) (Filed on4/14/2004) (Entered: 04/16/2004)

04/15/2004 54 Letter Brief filed by Karen P.Tandy, John Ashcroft. (Attach-ments: # 1 Proposed form of In-junction) (Quinlivan, Mark)(Filed on 4/15/2004) (Entered:04/15/2004)

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


04/20/2004 56 Minute Entry: Telephone StatusConference held 4/20/04 beforeJudge Jenkins; parties shall sub-mit draft alternate descriptiveproposals regarding the JohnDoes. (Court Reporter - NOTreported.) (slh, COURT STAFF)(Date Filed: 4/20/2004)(Entered: 04/21/2004)

04/23/2004 57 Letter Brief re [56] form ofpreliminary injunction orderfiled by John Ashcroft, Karen P.Tandy. (Related document(s)[56]) (Quinlivan, Mark) (Filed on4/23/2004) (Entered: 04/23/2004)

* * * * *

05/04/2004 59 Minute Entry: Telephone StatusConference held before JudgeJenkins; Telephone Status Con-ference set for 5/7/2004 03:00 PMif necessary.(Court Reporter -NOT reported.) (slh, COURTSTAFF) (Date Filed: 5/4/2004)(Entered: 05/12/2004)

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


05/14/2004 60 Letter Brief re [59] Proposedform of Preliminary InjunctionOrder filed by John Ashcroft,Karen P. Tandy. ( Attachments:# 1 Proposed Order Proposedform of Preliminary InjunctionOrder # 2Exhibit Exhibit A)(Related document(s) [59])(Quinlivan, Mark) (Filed on5/14/2004) (Entered: 05/14/2004)

05/14/2004 61 PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIONORDER. Signed by JudgeMartin J. Jenkins on 5/14/2004.(mat, COURT STAFF) (Filed on5/14/2004) (Entered: 05/14/2004)

05/14/2004 62 Minute Entry: Telephone StatusConference held 5/14/04 beforeJudge Jenkins; letter brief andproposed Form of PreliminaryInjunction Order e-filed todayfor Court’s review and approval.(Court Reporter - NOT re-ported.) (slh, COURT STAFF)(Date Filed: 5/14/2004) (Entered:05/18/2004)

06/02/2004 63 Declaration of Robert Raichpursuant to Preliminary Injunc-tion Order 61 (filed UNDER

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


SEAL) filed by John Doe Num-ber One, John Doe Number Two,Diane Monson, Angel McClaryRaich. (Related document(s) 61)(slh, COURT STAFF) (Filed on6/2/2004) (Entered: 06/04/2004)

06/23/2004 64 NOTICE OF INTERLOCUTORYAPPEAL as to 61 PreliminaryInjunction by John Ashcroft,Karen P. Tandy. Filing fee $exempt. Appeal Record due by7/23/2004. (Quinlivan, Mark)(Filed on 6/23/2004) Modified on6/24/2004 (slh, COURT STAFF).(Entered: 06/23/2004)

06/24/2004 Transmission of Notice ofAppeal and Docket Sheet to USCourt of Appeals re 64 Notice ofInterlocutory Appeal. (slh,COURT STAFF) (Filed on6/24/2004) (Entered: 06/24/2004)

06/24/2004 Copy of Notice of Appeal andDocket sheet mailed to allcounsel. (slh, COURT STAFF)(Filed on 6/24/2004) (Entered:06/24/2004)

06/24/2004 Certificate of Record Mailed toUSCA re appeal 64. (slh, COURTSTAFF) (Filed on 6/24/2004)(Entered: 06/24/2004)

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_______________________________________________ _DOCKET


06/30/2004 65 USCA Case Number 04-16296:RECEIPT OF ACKNOWLEDG-MENT from the 9th CircuitCourt of Appeals for 64 Notice ofInterlocutory Appeal filed byJohn Ashcroft, Karen P. Tandy.(aaa, Court Staff) (Filed on6/30/2004) (Entered: 07/06/2004)

22

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTFOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

No. 02-4872 EMC

ANGEL MCCLARY RAICH, DIANE MONSON, JOHN DOENUMBER ONE, AND JOHN DOE NUMBER TWO,

PLAINTIFFS

v.

JOHN ASHCROFT, AS UNITED STATES ATTORNEYGENERAL, AND ASA HUTCHINSON, AS ADMINISTRATOR

OF THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION,DEFENDANTS

[Filed: Oct. 9, 2002]

COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY RELIEF AND

FOR PRELIMINARY AND PERMANENT

INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

Plaintiffs ANGEL MCCLARY RAICH, DIANE MON-SON, JOHN DOE NUMBER ONE, and JOHN DOE NUM-BER TWO bring this action for declaratory, injunctive,and other relief, and on information and belief, herebyallege:

INTRODUCTION

1. The Defendants are unconstitutionally exceedingtheir authority by embarking on a campaign of seizingor forfeiting privately-grown wholly intrastate medical

23

cannabis from California patients and caregivers, ar-resting or prosecuting such patients and caregivers,mounting paramilitary raids against such patients andcaregivers, harassing such patients and caregivers, andtaking other civil or administrative actions againstthem. The Defendants purport to have authority forthose actions under the Controlled Substances Act, 21U.S.C. § 801 et seq.

2. On November 5, 1996, the sovereign State ofCalifornia and the People of the State of California, ex-ercising their reserved powers and expressly retainingcertain rights, duly enacted through the initiativeprocess the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, Cal. Health& Safety Code § 11362.5. The purposes of the Com-passionate Use Act are “[t]o ensure that seriously illCalifornians have the right to obtain and use marijuanafor medical purposes” and “[t]o ensure that patients andtheir primary caregivers who obtain and use marijuanafor medical purposes . . . are not subject to criminalprosecution or sanction.” Cal. Health & Safety Code§ 11362.5(b)(1)(A), (B). (Emphasis added.) All of Plain-tiffs’ conduct is lawful under the Compassionate UseAct.

3. Defendants’ actions are effectively preventingimplementation of the Compassionate Use Act, therebyabrogating the powers and rights constitutionally re-served and retained by the sovereign State of Cali-fornia and the People of California under the Ninth andTenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. More-over, Defendants’ actions are infringing on Plaintiffs’rights guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of theFifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Addition-ally, to the extent that Defendants purport to take theiractions pursuant to an act of Congress, then such act

24

exceeds the powers of Congress granted under theCommerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Further-more, the doctrine of Medical Necessity precludesDefendants’ actions against Plaintiffs.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

4. This Court has jurisdiction over this case pur-suant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 2201.

5. Venue is proper in this Court under 28 U.S.C.§§ 1391 (e) and 1402(a)(1).

PARTIES

Plaintiffs

6. Plaintiff ANGEL MCCLARY RAICH (“ANGEL”)is a seriously ill patient who would likely be dead todaywere it not for her use of medical cannabis. ANGELsuffers from numerous severe debilitating medical con-ditions for which cannabis uniquely provides relief.ANGEL’s primary care physician, and all of her numer-ous specialist physicians, support ANGEL’s use ofmedical cannabis. ANGEL is a Medical Necessitypatient-member of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’Cooperative, from which she used to obtain her medi-cine. Because ANGEL cannot cultivate her own canna-bis, she now relies on two caregivers who provide can-nabis to her without charge. ANGEL resides in Oak-land, California.

7. Plaintiff DIANE MONSON of Butte County, Cali-fornia is a patient who uses medical cannabis on herdoctor’s recommendation to treat Severe Chronic BackPain and Spasms. On August 15, 2002, following athree-hour standoff in MONSON’s front yard, federalagents raided her home and seized her six (6) medicalcannabis plants, in defiance of an urgent telephone plea

25

by Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey toU.S. Attorney John K. Vincent imploring him to spareMONSON’s medicine.

8. Plaintiff JOHN DOE NUMBER ONE, of Oakland,California, cultivates cannabis on ANGEL’s behalf,which he supplies to ANGEL free of charge, withoutany cost or remuneration whatsoever. In order to pro-tect ANGEL’s supply of medical cannabis, JOHN DOENUMBER ONE sues in an anonymous capacity. In thecultivation of ANGEL’s medical cannabis, JOHN DOENUMBER ONE uses only water and nutrients originat-ing from within the borders of the State of California.Further, JOHN DOE NUMBER ONE uses exclusivelygrowing equipment, supplies, and materials manufac-tured within the borders of the State of California.JOHN DOE NUMBER ONE cultivates for ANGELmedical-grade cannabis free of mold, fungus, pesticideresidue, and other contaminates in the particularstrains and potencies that ANGEL has found to be mosteffective in treating her specific medical conditions.

9. Plaintiff JOHN DOE NUMBER TWO, of Oakland,California, cultivates cannabis on ANGEL’s behalf,which he supplies to ANGEL free of charge, withoutany cost or remuneration whatsoever. In order to pro-tect ANGEL’s supply of medical cannabis, JOHN DOENUMBER TWO sues in an anonymous capacity. In thecultivation of ANGEL’s medical cannabis, JOHN DOENUMBER TWO uses only water and nutrients originat-ing from within the borders of the State of California.Further, JOHN DOE NUMBER TWO uses exclusivelygrowing equipment, supplies, and materials manufac-tured within the borders of the State of California.JOHN DOE NUMBER TWO cultivates for ANGELmedical-grade cannabis free of mold, fungus, pesticide

26

residue, and other contaminates in the particularstrains and potencies that ANGEL has found to be mosteffective in treating her specific medical conditions.

Defendants

10. Defendant JOHN ASHCROFT is sued in his offi-cial capacity as the Attorney General of the UnitedStates of America, which is one of the sovereigns in ourfederal system of Dual Sovereignty.

11. Defendant ASA HUTCHINSON is sued in his offi-cial capacity as the Administrator of the Drug En-forcement Administration (DEA), an agency of theUnited States of America, which is one of the sover-eigns in our federal system of Dual Sovereignty.

MEDICAL BACKGROUND

12. As a mother of two children, Plaintiff ANGELopposed all illegal drug use, including the recreationaluse of marijuana, until the benefits of cannabis becameunmistakable for the treatment of ANGEL’s ownmedical conditions.

13. ANGEL suffers from the following, often inter-related, medical conditions: a) Life-Threatening WeightLoss, Malnutrition, Cachexia, and Starvation; b)Chronic Nausea; c) numerous Severe Chronic Painafflictions from: Scoliosis, Temporomandibular JointDysfunction Syndrome (TMJ), Endometriosis, Head-aches, Rotator Cuff Syndrome, and Uterine FibroidTumor; d) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.); e)Non-Epileptic Seizures; f ) Fibromyalgia; and g) aninoperable Brain Tumor. Moreover, ANGEL enduredfour years of Paralysis, which confined her to a Wheel-chair; her doctors said she would never walk again, butshe then discovered cannabis as the only treatment thatbrought her Paralysis into complete remission.

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14. ANGEL’s doctors now recommend that she me-dicate with cannabis every two hours. She medicatesby ingesting, smoking, and vaporizing cannabis. Herphysicians emphatically insist that ANGEL “cannot bewithout this medicine” because severe Weight Loss andflare-ups of her Chronic Pain conditions would quicklydevelop. When ANGEL’s Pain levels are elevated she isprone to having Seizures.

15. The Appendix hereto, supra, is a description ofANGEL’s numerous complex medical conditions, and anexplanation of how medical cannabis is the onlyeffective treatment for her medical conditions. Plain-tiffs reallege and incorporate by reference all para-graphs of the Appendix hereto as if set forth fully in thebody herein.

16. Without access to medical cannabis, ANGELwould experience horrible pain, suffering, and death.Horrible pain suffering, and death constitute irrepara-ble harm.

17. ANGEL requires over two and one-half ounces ofcannabis per week, or in excess of eight pounds of can-nabis per year, for her personal medical consumption.Angel is a member of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’Cooperative (OCBC), and used to obtain her medicinethere, but cannot now obtain her medicine from OCBCbecause of Defendant UNITED STATES OF AMER-ICA’s actions against the OCBC starting in 1998. AN-GEL lives in fear that her home will be raided, hermedical cannabis will be seized, she or her caregiverswill be arrested, or her property will be forfeited byDefendants’ actions, whether or not the Defendantsever file criminal charges against her. Stress from thatfear is further exacerbating ANGEL’s already precari-ous medical conditions.

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18. If Defendants were to take ANGEL into custodyand deny her access to medical cannabis, she wouldsuffer serious medical consequences within a matter ofhours. Because of ANGEL’s already fragile medicalcondition, even a raid by Defendants on ANGEL wouldtrigger severe medical repercussions.

19. ANGEL is at particular risk of being targeted bythe Defendants: ANGEL has been quoted in electronicand print media locally, nationally, and internationallyas a medical cannabis patient, and has defiantly statedthat, faced with the alternative of an agonizing death,she would continue to use medical cannabis notwith-standing the federal war on cannabis patients. Con-trary to claims by Defendant HUTCHINSON, the De-fendants are engaging in a campaign of selective pro-secution targeting medical cannabis patients, especiallythe ones who have been most outspoken publicly.

20. ANGEL is a Medical Necessity Patient. She isone (1) of only fourteen (14) members designated asbeing a Medical Necessity Patient by the OCBC fol-lowing rigorous and meticulous evaluations by theOCBC’s medical and administrative staff. As discussedmore thoroughly herein, ANGEL suffers from numer-ous serious medical conditions. She would suffer immi-nent harm if she did not have access to cannabis. Sheneeds cannabis to treat her medical conditions or theirsymptoms. She has no reasonable alternative tocannabis because she is violently allergic to virtually allpharmaceutical medications.

21. Plaintiff DIANE MONSON has suffered fromSevere Chronic Back Pain and Spasms since 1989. Shefirst tried medical cannabis in 1998, and uses it on therecommendation of her doctors in light of its remark-able efficacy at controlling her symptoms. MONSON’s

29

Spasms are an extremely painful experience in theirown right, comparable in intensity to an uncontrollablecramp. Medical cannabis completely eliminates herSpasms. Even with medical cannabis, MONSON stillexperiences discomfort, but cannabis greatly relievesher Chronic Pain. Without cannabis, her spasms wouldreturn and she would be subjected to intense pain thatcannot be relieved any other way. MONSON has triedvarious combinations of prescription pharmaceuticalmedications, but they are often ineffective and theyalways disrupt her quality of life by interfering withher ability to function. In contrast, MONSON has foundcannabis to be both effective and free of undesirableside-effects.

LEGAL BACKGROUND

The Commerce Clause

22. Wholly intrastate activity is beyond the power ofCongress “to regulate Commerce . . . among theseveral States,” U.S. Const. Art. 1, sec. 8. See TheFederalist 42 (J. Madison) (referring to the power “toregulate between State and State”). Protecting whollyintrastate commerce from the reach of Congress is aconstitutional imperative in our federal system. To theextent the Controlled Substances Act purports to grantDefendants’ authority to conduct the activities com-plained of herein, such Act exceeds the authoritygranted to Congress under the Commerce Clause.Plaintiffs seek protection for conduct that has no effectwhatsoever on interstate commerce; indeed, Plaintiffs’conduct is not commerce at all.

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State Sovereignty as Confirmed in the Tenth Amend-

ment

23. The Tenth Amendment confirms that the powerof the Federal Government is subject to limits thatmay, in a given instance, reserve power to the States.Although the Constitution delegates to Congress thepower over interstate commerce and other nationalconcerns, the States are primarily responsible for thehealth and safety of their citizens, a power known asthe “police power.” Traditionally, no power is morecentral to the sovereignty of the States, and Congresslacks such a power. State governments have authorityto enact measures reasonably necessary to protectpublic health. Congress cannot exercise its power overinterstate commerce to interfere with a State’s policepower by prohibiting wholly intrastate conduct that theState mandates in the interest of health or safety.Respect for the sovereign States that comprise ourFederal Union imposes a duty on federal courts, when-ever possible, to avoid or minimize conflict betweenfederal and state law, particularly in situations in whichthe citizens of a State have chosen to “serve as alaboratory” in the trial of “novel social and economicexperiments without risk to the rest of the country.”The only doctrine preventing federal usurpation oftraditionally State regulated activities is that suchfederal actions would violate the principles of federal-ism. To the extent the Controlled Substances Actpurports to grant authority for Defendants to prohibitthe conduct for which Plaintiffs herein seek protection,the Act exceeds Congress’s constitutional authority byabrogating powers reserved to the State of California.

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Fundamental Constitutional Rights Protected by The

Fifth and Ninth Amendments

24. The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amend-ment provides protection of unenumerated libertiesagainst the federal government. The Ninth Amend-ment also provides protection under its express injunc-tion that: “The enumeration in the Constitution of cer-tain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparageothers retained by the people.” U.S. Const. Amend. IX.To receive constitutional protection, an unenumeratedliberty must have roots in “our Nation’s history, legaltraditions, and practices.” Infringements upon funda-mental liberties call for heightened scrutiny of themeans by which Congress exercises its enumeratedpowers.

25. The rights to bodily integrity, to ameliorate pain,and to prolong life are closely related. They are distinctrights or specific aspects of the famous trinity of “life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declarationof Independence. These rights, with deep roots in ourNation’s history, legal tradition and practice, permitdecisions about one’s body to be made free from gov-ernmental intervention. In the absence of a compellinginterest that would be furthered by such a proscription,the government cannot, consistent with the Constitu-tion, abridge these rights of Plaintiffs, who are seri-ously ill patients. No such compelling governmentalinterest exists.

26. The right to consult with one’s doctor aboutone’s medical condition is also a fundamental rightdeeply rooted in our history, legal traditions, and prac-tices. Moreover, imperatives established by the sanctityof the physician-patient relationship prevent Defen-

32

dants’ interference with Plaintiffs’ ability to act on theirdoctors’ treatment recommendations.

27. Plaintiffs herein are entitled to heightened pro-tection against Defendants’ interference with Plaintiffs’exercise of their fundamental rights and liberty inter-ests. The Constitution does not allow Congress toauthorize Defendants to deny or disparage the activi-ties for which Plaintiffs seek protection herein.

The Medical Necessity Doctrine

28. The law in the Ninth Circuit specifically and ex-pressly applies the medical necessity doctrine to thosesuffering patients who require medical cannabis. Thereis a class of people with serious medical conditions; forwhom the use of cannabis is necessary in order to treator alleviate those conditions or their symptoms; whowill suffer serious harm if they are denied cannabis; andfor whom there is no legal alternative to cannabis forthe effective treatment of their medical conditionsbecause they have tried other alternatives and havefound that they are ineffective, or that they result inintolerable side effects. Although the Supreme Courthas determined the doctrine is not available to amedical cannabis distribution cooperative, the appli-cability of the doctrine for seriously ill patients was notbefore the Court, and was notably preserved by theCourt’s concurrence in United States v. Oakland Can-nabis Buyers’ Cooperative, 532 U.S. 483 (2001).

29. Plaintiffs ANGEL and MONSON are seriously illpatients for whom there is no alternative means ofavoiding starvation or extraordinary suffering withoutthe benefits of medical cannabis. The medical necessitydoctrine is available to these seriously ill patients to use

33

and obtain medical cannabis for their own personalmedical treatment.

Credible Threat of Actual Harm

30. Plaintiffs’ fears of being victimized by Defen-dants are not merely theoretical. Defendants are con-tinuing, indeed in the past year have escalated, theirattacks on medical cannabis patients protected by Statelaw in California and other States. Since September 11,2001, Defendants have terrorized more than 35 Cali-fornians because of medical cannabis, including manyindividual patients for merely their own personalcannabis medication—involving amounts as small asone (1) cannabis plant or one (1) ounce of medicine.During that same period, nearly half of all the federalmarijuana cases filed in the Northern District ofCalifornia have involved medical cannabis. In a publicspeech on February 12, 2002, Defendant HUTCHINSONasserted that enforcement of federal laws againstmedical cannabis was a “responsibility” of his agency.HUTCHINSON reiterated that sentiment in a Septem-ber 30, 2002, letter to California Attorney General BillLockyer, claiming the DEA is “legally mandated” toenforce such laws. With particular reference to PlaintiffMONSON’s six medical cannabis plants, HUTCHINSONpraised their seizure, claiming such action was Defen-dants’ “duty under Federal law”. Defendants’ tacticscommonly involve commando-style raids against sickpatients in their homes, the pointing of high-poweredautomatic weapons at patients, and traumatizing pa-tients and their loved ones. The Defendants frequentlytarget those patients who are the most outspokencritics of federal policy. Being victimized by Defen-dants once provides no security for patients: TheDefendants have raided several patients on more than

34

one occasion—always seizing medical cannabis, andsometimes initiating prosecutions or forfeiture actionsagainst patients’ property. Defendants’ threats tomedical cannabis patients are not confined to California,but extend as well to patients in various other Statesthat permit medical cannabis. Plaintiffs reasonably fearfurther victimization by Defendants if the Court doesnot grant the relief sought herein.

FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION

31. Plaintiffs reallege and incorporate by referenceParagraphs I through 30 as if set forth fully herein.

32. The Commerce Clause, Article 1, Section 8, ofthe U.S. Constitution provides that “Congress shallhave Power . . . To regulate Commerce with foreignNations, and among the several States, and with theIndian Tribes . . . .”

33. Defendants’ actions to raid, arrest, prosecute,punish, seize medical cannabis of, forfeit property of, orseek civil or administrative sanctions against anyPlaintiff herein for intrastate noncommercial activitiesinvolving the personal medical cannabis of PlaintiffsANGEL or MONSON would violate the CommerceClause as applied to Plaintiffs.

SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION

34. Plaintiffs realize and incorporate by referenceParagraphs 1 through 30 as if set forth fully herein.

35. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitutionprovides that “No person shall be . . . deprived of life,liberty, or property, without due process of law . . . .”

36. Defendants’ actions to raid, arrest, prosecute,punish, seize medical cannabis of, forfeit property of, orseek civil or administrative sanctions against any

35

Plaintiff herein for activities involving the personalmedical cannabis of Plaintiffs ANGEL or MONSONwould violate the Fifth Amendment as applied toPlaintiffs.

THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION

37. Plaintiffs reallege and incorporate by referenceParagraphs 1 through 30 as if set forth fully herein.

38. The Ninth Amendment to the U.S. Constitutionprovides that “The enumeration in the Constitution, ofcertain rights, shall not be construed to deny ordisparage others retained by the people.”

39. Defendants’ actions to raid, arrest, prosecute,punish, seize medical cannabis of, forfeit property of, orseek civil or administrative sanctions against anyPlaintiff herein for activities involving the personalmedical cannabis of Plaintiffs ANGEL or M O N S O Nwould violate the Ninth Amendment as applied toPlaintiffs.

FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION


41. The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitutionprovides that “The powers not delegated to the UnitedStates by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to theStates, are reserved to the States respectively, or tothe people.”

42. Defendants’ actions to raid, arrest, prosecute,punish, seize medical cannabis of, forfeit property of, orseek civil or administrative sanctions against any Plain-tiff herein for activities within the State of Californiainvolving the personal medical cannabis of Plaintiffs

36

ANGEL or MONSON would violate the Tenth Amend-ment as applied to Plaintiffs.

FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION


44. Under the doctrine of medical necessity, indi-vidual patients who (1) suffer from a serious medicalcondition, (2) will suffer imminent harm without accessto cannabis, (3) need cannabis for the treatment of theirmedical condition or need cannabis to alleviate themedical condition or symptoms associated with themedical condition, and (4) have no reasonable legalalternative to cannabis for the effective treatment oralleviation of their medical condition or symptomsassociated with the medical condition because theyhave tried all other legal alternatives to cannabis andthe alternatives have been ineffective or result inintolerable side effects, may use and obtain medicalcannabis for their own personal medical treatment.

45. Plaintiff ANGEL suffers from numerous seriousmedical conditions, would suffer imminent harm with-out access to cannabis, needs cannabis for the treat-ment of her medical conditions and to alleviate symp-toms associated with the medical conditions, and hastried all other reasonable legal alternatives to cannabisand found them to be ineffective or to result inintolerable side effects.

46. Plaintiff MONSON suffers from a serious medicalcondition, would suffer imminent harm without accessto cannabis, needs cannabis for the treatment of hermedical condition and to alleviate symptoms associatedwith the medical condition, and has tried all otherreasonable legal alternatives to cannabis and found

37

them to be ineffective or to result in intolerable sideeffects.

47. The doctrine of medical necessity permitsPlaintiffs ANGEL and MONSON to use and obtaincannabis for their personal medical treatment free fromthe threat of Defendants’ actions to raid, arrest, pro-secute, punish, seize medical cannabis of, forfeit prop-erty of, or seek civil or administrative sanctions againstthem.

IRREPARABLE HARM

48. Plaintiffs have suffered and will continue tosuffer irreparable harm due to Defendant’s challengedactions and practices described in this Complaint.

49. Plaintiffs face, or treat, serious or life-threaten-ing medical conditions requiring therapy with cannabisto alleviate increased suffering, illness, or death. Defen-dants’ interference with Plaintiff patients’ treatment,and the resulting increased risk of suffering, illness, anddeath, constitute irreparable harm.

50. Plaintiff patients have constitutional rights toobtain treatment to alleviate their suffering. Defen-dants’ actions are creating well-founded fear by Plain-tiffs that Defendants will attack Plaintiffs’ persons,medicine, health, or property, thus exacerbating Plain-tiff patients’ already serious medical conditions andconstituting irreparable harm.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray that this Court enterjudgment as follows:

A. Issue a Preliminary Injunction during the pen-dency of this action and a Permanent Injunction en-joining Defendants from arresting or prosecuting

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Plaintiffs, seizing their medical cannabis, forfeitingtheir property, or seeking civil or administrative sanc-tions against them for their activities with respect toany of the following:

(1) The possession of medical cannabis by Plain-tiffs Angel McClary Raich and Diane Monson fortheir personal medical use;

(2) The ability of Plaintiff Angel McClary Raichto obtain medical cannabis from her Plaintiff care-givers, John Doe Number One and John Doe Num-ber Two, for her personal medical use;

(3) The ability of Plaintiffs John Doe Number Oneand John Doe Number Two to cultivate and providemedical cannabis to Plaintiff Angel McClary Raichfor her personal medical use;

(4) The processing of medical cannabis by Plain-tiff Angel McClary Raich for her personal medicaluse; and

(5) The cultivation of medical cannabis by Plain-tiff Diane Monson for her personal medical use.

B. Declare that enforcement of the Controlled Sub-stances Act is unconstitutional to the extent it purportsto prevent Plaintiffs from possessing, obtaining, manu-facturing, or providing cannabis for Plaintiff patients’personal medical use.

C. Declare that the doctrine of Medical Necessityprecludes enforcement of the Controlled SubstancesAct to the extent it purports to prevent ANGEL frompossessing, obtaining, or manufacturing cannabis forher personal medical use.

D. Declare that the doctrine of Medical Necessityprecludes enforcement of the Controlled Substances

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Act to the extent it purports to prevent MONSON frompossessing, obtaining, or manufacturing cannabis forher personal medical use.

E. Award Plaintiffs their reasonable attorneys’ feesand costs.

F. Grant Plaintiffs such other and further relief asthe Court deems just and proper.

Dated: October 9 , 2002

Respectfully submitted,

ROBERT A. RAICHDAVID M. MICHAELRANDY E. BARNETT

By: /s/ ROBERT A. RAICH ROBERT A. RAICH

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

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APPENDIX

MEDICAL CONDITIONS OF PLAINTIFF ANGELMcCLARY RAICH

51. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference all para-graphs in this Appendix as if set forth fully in the bodyof this document.

52. Life-Threatening Weight Loss, Malnutrition,Cachexia, and Starvation: ANGEL experiences greatdifficulty maintaining a healthy weight. ANGEL’s phy-sicians, including her gastroenterologist, are unable todiagnose the root cause of her weight problems or toprescribe an effective course of treatment. One fact,however, is clear: ANGEL literally cannot eat without asufficiently high level of cannabis in her system. With-out cnnabis, ANGEL’s weight can drop precipitouslyand she runs the very real risk of Malnutrition andStarvation. One result of Starvation is death. Deathconstitutes irreparable harm.

53. Nausea: ANGEL experiences chronic Nausea,which makes eating and drinking difficult, and exacer-bates her wasting weight loss conditions. Even thesmell, sight, or taste of food can trigger the nausea, andeating can cause stomach cramps leaving ANGEL inwrenching pain. Pharmaceutical anti-nausea medica-tions are ineffective, but cannabis is the only medicinethat provides relief.

54. Severe Chronic Pain: Every second that she isawake, ANGEL experiences Pain from one or more ofthe Chronic Pain conditions from which she suffers.She suffers greatly from Pain every single day. Sleepprovides meager escape from the everpresent [sic] Painshe experiences. Her pervasive Pain and other condi-

41

tions have made ANGEL permanently disabled. Theprolonged Pain and suffering from her medical con-ditions significantly interferes with the quality of herlife. Because ANGEL has an extremely high pain thre-shold, she is occasionally able to function when goingabout her life. On frequent occasions, however, thePain becomes so great that ANGEL experiences diffi-culty performing everyday activities, or the Pain is sooverpowering that she becomes completely debilitatedand cannot get out of bed. When her nervous systembecomes too overloaded with Pain, ANGEL experiencesMuscle Spasms and Seizures. ANGEL’s treatment iscomplicated by the fact that she is violently allergic toalmost all pharmaceutical medicines. Cannabis, how-ever, has the effect of making it easier for ANGEL totolerate her constant Pain, although it does not makethe Pain go away. Without cannabis, ANGEL’s Painwould be torturous. On one occasion shortly before shediscovered the benefits of cannabis, ANGEL’s Painlevels were so high for such a prolonged period of timethat, her body and soul racked with agony, ANGELattempted suicide—as a desperate attempt at the onlyescape she could perceive from her torment.

A. ANGEL’s numerous Pain conditions, as with allher medical conditions, exhibit a complicated interplaybetween each other, whose exacerbation presents thepotential of a vicious spiral. Those Pain conditionsinclude:

B. Scoliosis: ANGEL is plagued with abnormalcurvatures and a rotation of the spine in her upper backand neck. She will be afflicted with Scoliosis until theday she dies. Scoliosis causes Chronic Pain in thevertebrae and muscles around her spine. The constantPain ANGEL experiences from Scoliosis also causes or

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exacerbates other medical conditions by affecting themusculoskeletal system of the arms, ribs, shoulder,clavicle, neck, and jaw. In addition, the painful site of arecent neck and back injury causes excruciating burn-ing Pain in her vertebrae, nerve problems going downboth arms, and difficulties with her thumbs. The injuryalso caused several of ANGEL’s other Pain conditions toworsen. The resulting Pain has caused ANGEL toexperience multiple episodes of Seizures and MuscleSpasms (which are painful in their own right) furtherexacerbating ANGEL’s other Chronic Pain conditionsand causing new and painful secondary injuries. Per-haps most critically, the injury caused ANGEL to getFibromyalgia, a pain and fatigue disorder.

C. Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syn-drome (TMJ): TMJ combined with Bruxism causespain, aching, throbbing, soreness, spasming, or crampsin ANGEL’s face, gums, teeth, and jaw. This can makeit difficult to talk, can make her jaw lock closed, canmake eating difficult, and can cause headaches. Medicalcannabis helps release ANGEL’s cramps, relax hermuscles, open her mouth, and cope with the Pain.Without medical cannabis, ANGEL’s TMJ and Bruxismwould spin out of control, worsening her Weight Lossconditions.

D. Endometriosis: Endometriosis causes ANGELto experience disabling excruciating pain, and lightheadedness due to blood loss, during menstrual periods.ANGEL has undergone seven surgeries for Endometri-osis. Immediately following her most recent surgery,ANGEL vaporized with cannabis in the hospital, amaz-ing her doctors and nurses with how fast she recoveredrelative to patients who use narcotics after surgery.

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E. Headaches: ANGEL experiences extremelyPainful Headaches all over her head. ANGEL wakes upwith Headaches nearly every morning. If they are toooverpowering she must retreat to a dark quiet place.The muscles in her head and face can go into spasms,exacerbating the Headaches. Vaporizing or smokingcannabis helps ANGEL with Headaches that are not toobad, but the only medication that helps her with SevereHeadaches is eating cannabis food.

F. Rotator Cuff Syndrome: A work-related injuryin 1986 caused ANGEL to get Rotator Cuff Syndrome.Its Burning Pain has worsened over the years. She hasdifficulty doing repetitive tasks with her right arm,hand, shoulder, and shoulder blade. Overdoing themcan cause her shoulder to freeze up and excruciatingBurning Pain. Medical cannabis helps ANGEL copewith the Pain, and cannabis makes muscles, tendons,and ligaments around her shoulder joint more pliable,allowing her to use her arm.

G. Uterine Fibroid Tumor: ANGEL has a FibroidTumor within or on the uterine wall. This causes ex-tremely heavy menstrual bleeding, making ANGELlight headed, dizzy, and nauseous to the point of almostpassing out. The heavy bleeding and Painful menstrualperiods can keep ANGEL down flat on her back for twoor three days per month. Medical cannabis helps mini-mize ANGEL’s pelvic Pain and helps release Spasmsand Cramps, allowing her to function more easily.

H. Chronic Pain combined with the Paralysis thatconfined ANGEL to a wheelchair made her feel that shesuffered indescribable torture in Hell. Only medicalcannabis, characterized by ANGEL as a miracle sent toher from heaven, delivered ANGEL from the pits ofthat Hell. Without cannabis, ANGEL would endure the

44

excruciating torture of Severe Chronic Pain, and shemight even again attempt suicide in an effort to escape.Pain, Torture, and Death constitute irreparable harm.

55. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder P.T.S.D.):Years of molestation, physical, and mental abuse byfamily members created traumas that left ANGEL withPost Traumatic Stress Disorder. Escalated raids bythe Defendants on medical cannabis patients since 2001have exacerbated ANGEL’s P.T.S.D. symptoms: She canfind herself uncontrollably overwhelmed feeling sud-denly in danger, and consumed with feelings of fear,helplessness, and horror. She reexperiences past trau-mas, has nightmares, and becomes overwhelmed withanxiety. She is becoming increasingly upset, gets angryand aggressive feelings, and fears that she must defendherself before the federal government breaks in herdoor, attacks her, incarcerates her, or kills her. Sheexperiences sensations of panic and of trying to escape,yet she is too sick and her body is too weak. Medicalcannabis helps keep ANGEL from living in the past,helps her deal with flashbacks, and helps her havecourage to face her past abuse, her anger, her sadness,and her hurt. Cannabis allows ANGEL to cope with andmanage her P.T.S.D. symptoms in a calm safe manner.Experiencing traumatic events (such as learning of newraids by federal agents on medical cannabis patients)can still trigger the P.T.S.D.

56. Non-Epileptic Seizures: When ANGEL has aSeizure, she loses awareness, has uncontrollablemovements of her arms or legs, shakes all over, andfalls to the ground. If she forces herself to go aboutdaily life while having functioning problems, if shemoves too fast, or if she becomes frightened for anyreason, she can have Seizures. They are extremely

45

Painful, make all of her Pain conditions worse, and cantrigger several of her other conditions. She may sufferfor days at a time, having series of Seizures in com-bination with excruciatingly Painful body jerks, musclespasms, and twitches. The use of medical cannabisminimizes those symptoms. Medicating with cannabisat the first onset of symptoms can prevent a seizure.

57. Fibromyalgia: Fibromyalgia is a conditioncharacterized by multiple serious conditions. It causesANGEL widespread chronic Pain in her muscles, liga-ments, and tendons. Every muscle in her body canscream out Pain. The Pain can overload her body,putting her flat on her back for days. Fibromyalgia alsocauses extreme fatigue, totally draining ANGEL ofenergy, as though her arms and legs are tied toconcrete blocks, and making it difficult to concentrate.Fibromyalgia further causes a sleep disorder inhibitingdeep levels of sleep, as if ANGEL spends nights withone foot in sleep and the other one out of it. OtherFibromyalgia symptoms ANGEL experiences includePremenstrual Syndrome, Painful periods, chest Pain,severe morning Stiffness, Cognitive Functioning Pro-blems, Numbing in her arms and legs, Tingling sensa-tions, muscle Twitching, Skin Sensitivity, Dizziness,Impaired Coordination, losing her balance, and stumb-ling. Medical cannabis makes ANGEL’s muscles, ten-dons, and ligaments more pliable, allowing her to moveand go about her life with her family. It also helps hercope with the Chronic Pain and makes physical therapymore effective.

58. Inoperable Brain Tumor: ANGEL has aMeningioma or Schwannoma Brain Tumor. The Tumoris too deep for surgeons to remove it. In researchsuppressed by Defendants, researchers found that THC

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(one component in medical cannabis) slowed the growthof Cancer in Mice. Later research (conducted outsidethe United States) confirmed that THC can destroyBrain Tumors in rats. ANGEL’s doctors want her tocontinue medicating with cannabis in the hope that,among its other benefits, it will prevent her BrainTumor from growing.

59. Paralysis: In September 1995, ANGEL suddenlylost the use of her right leg. By 1996, ANGEL wasparalyzed on the right side of her body. For two years,her doctors could not diagnose the cause of herparalysis or prescribe an effective treatment. Theysaid ANGEL would never walk again. In 1998, the useof high quality cannabis allowed sensation slowly toreturn to ANGEL’s right side. Finally, in 1999 ANGELregained use of her arm and leg and eventually learnedto walk again in a difficult process made possible bycannabis.

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No.


PLAINTIFFS

v.



DECLARATION OF FRANK HENRY LUCIDO, M.D. IN

SUPPORT OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

I, Frank Henry Lucido, M.D., declare as follows:

1. I am a physician licensed to practice medicine inCalifornia. I am Board Certified in Family Practice, andhave been practicing general Family Medicine at 2300Durant Avenue, Berkeley, California, since 1979. Ihave been on the Active Medical Staff of Alta BatesHospital for over 20 years. I have also been the medicaldirector of skilled nursing facilities. I have been Chair-man of the Alta Bates Hospital Medical EducationCommittee, and a member of the Ethics Committee andthe Family Practice Advisory Board. I was voted “BestDoctor in Berkeley” by the Daily Californian news-paper in 1993. Attached hereto is my Curriculum Vitae.

2. I am Angel McClary Raich’s primary care physi-cian, and have been coordinating her care with numer-ous medical specialists. Angel presents a complex and

48

complicated set of conditions. It is my opinion thatAngel cannot be without cannabis as medicine becauseof the precipitous medical deterioration that wouldquickly develop.

3. Angel is seriously ill. Her medical records con-firm that she has numerous serious medical conditions,including life-threatening weight loss, nausea, severechronic pain (from scoliosis, temporomandibular jointdysfunction and bruxism, endometriosis, headache,rotator cuff syndrome, uterine fibroid tumor causingsevere dysmenorrhea, chronic pain combined with anepisode of paralysis that confined her to a wheelchair),post-traumatic stress disorder, non-epileptic seizures,fibromyalgia, inoperable brain tumor (probable men-ingioma or Schwannoma), paralysis on at least oneoccasion (the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis has beenconsidered), multiple chemical sensitivities, allergies,and asthma, and her body reacts with violent sideeffects to almost all pharmaceutical medications.

4. Angel will suffer imminent harm without accessto cannabis. Chronic severe pain constitutes harm.Nausea and anorexia resulting in weight loss, riskingmalnutrition, cachexia, starvation, and death, constituteharm. Untreated seizures constitute harm. Post-trau-matic stress disorder, inadequately treated, constitutesharm. Angel needs to medicate every two wakinghours. If she misses a treatment, it could quickly havedangerous repercussions for her health. She clearlyloses weight, and would risk wasting syndrome anddeath, without cannabis. No one knows why she can’thold onto her weight. Angel could become gravely ill ifshe loses too much more weight. Angel becomes debili-tated from severe chronic pain. The pain is bad enough

49

even with cannabis, but it flares up immediately andbecomes unmanageable without cannabis.

5. There are several studies concluding that can-nabinoids may have significant anti-tumor activity. Ifeel that Angel should continue medicating with canna-bis in the hope that, among its other benefits, it willprevent her brain tumor from growing.

6. Cannabis works well for Angel in a way that noother medicine has or can be expected to in order toalleviate Angel’s medical conditions or symptoms asso-ciated with them.

7. Angel has no reasonable legal alternative tocannabis for the effective treatment or alleviation of hermedical conditions or symptoms associated with themedical conditions because she has tried essentially allother legal alternatives to cannabis and the alternativeshave been ineffective or result in intolerable sideeffects. Angel has tried all of the following medications,which all resulted in unacceptable adverse side effects:

MarinolDemulen TabletsCodeineTylenol #3ErythromycinAcetaminophen with CodeineSerzoneAmitriptylineClonidineMeclizinePromethazineDepakotePrazosinCarbamazepine

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ImipramineTrazodoneMethadoneHydrocodoneDicloxacillinChlorpheniramine/PhenylpropanolamineBeclonmethasoneVicodinDilantinTagretolDesipramineValproic AcidSeldaneLorazepamPaxilLamotrigine (Lamictal)ElavilSomaAlbuterol SolutionFentanylVersed

Most of the medicines listed above, and others noteven listed, make Angel vomit violently. Other side ef-fects of the above medications include hot and coldflashes, shakes, diaphorasis, itching, nausea, anddrowsiness. In addition, Marinol caused rapid heartpalpitations, dizziness, shaking, and insomnia. Diagnos-tic lumbar tap and sympathetic block and stellateganglion block in the throat have been performed withno lasting benefit. After a certain number of medi-cations have been tried, it would be malpractice tosubject the patient to further unnecessary harm.

8. Angel’s medical records confirm that she usestwo and one-half ounces of cannabis per week, in vari-

51

ous forms, including oral ingestion, smoking, vaporizing,and topical application. There are no other treatmentsthat I can reasonably recommend for Angel, other thanwhat we are already doing in her course of treatment.It could very well be fatal for Angel to forego cannabistreatments because of a law that may purport to pro-hibit the medical use of cannabis.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws ofthe State of California that the foregoing is true andcorrect, and that this declaration was executed on this29th day of October, 2002, in Oakland, California.

/s/ FRANK H. LUCIDO, M.D. FRANK H. LUCIDO, M.D.

52


No.


PLAINTIFFS

v.



DECLARATION OF DR. JOHN ROSE IN SUPPORT OF

PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

I, John Rose, declare as follows:

1. I am a medical doctor, duly licensed to practice inthe State of California, and have been so for 29 years.My practice is located at Brownsville and Yuba City,California. My practice consists of general familymedicine. I am a board certified specialist in FamilyPractice. I am on the Medical Staff of Fremont andRideout Hospitals. I am also Vice-President of SutterNorth Medical Group. Attached hereto is myCurriculum Vitae.

2. I have been the personal physician and familydoctor for Diane Monson for nine years and am com-pletely familiar with her medical condition over thoseyears. I have coordinated her care with various othermedical practitioners.

53

3. As indicated from her medical records, Dianesuffers from a number of medical conditions. She hasdegenerative disease of the spine. As a result of hermedical condition, Diane Monson suffers from ChronicBack Pain and Spasms.

4. In 1999, pursuant to California State law, medi-cal cannabis was recommended for Diane as treatmentof her medical conditions, including her Chronic BackPain and Spasms. I have determined that Diane Mon-son’s health benefits from such a recommendation, thatmedical cannabis use is deemed appropriate for DianeMonson, and that medical cannabis provides necessaryrelief for Diane’s pain and suffering.

5. Although Diane has tried other medical alterna-tives to medical cannabis, including Flexeril, a musclerelaxant, and Feldene, a powerful anti-inflammatory,those prescription drugs have proven to be eitherineffective in relieving Diane’s pain and suffering orproduce intolerable side effects. In addition, theseprescription medications have long term effects thatmay prove to be harmful to Diane’s physical well-being.

6. I have also prescribed Vicodin and Vioxx toattempt to alleviate Diane’s pain and suffering. Yet,Vicodin, an addictive drug, seems to have a nauseatingeffect upon her and I have recommended that she avoidit because of the extremely sick stomach that it leavesher with for several days after any use. In addition,Vioxx, although it appears to relieve Diane’s inflam-mation associated with her back pain, does not relieveher painful spasms.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws ofthe State of California that the foregoing is true and

54

correct, and that this declaration was executed on this29th day of October, 2002, in Brownsville, California.

/s/ JOHN B. ROSE, M.D.JOHN B. ROSE, M.D.

55


No.


PLAINTIFFS

v.



DECLARATION OF DIANE MONSON IN SUPPORT OF

PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

I, Diane Monson, declare as follows:

1. I am 45 years old and for last 24 years I havelived in the city of Oroville, located in Butte County,California. I am one of the Plaintiffs in the above-entitled action.

2. I am a medical cannabis patient, and have beensince March of 1999. I use medical cannabis on therecommendation of my physicians for the treatment ofmy Severe Chronic Back Pain and Spasms, which haveplagued me since 1989. Dr. Rose has been my personalphysician for many years and is completely familiarwith my medical condition.

3. The constant spasms with which I suffer, andwhich are related to, and caused by, my chronic backpain, are an extremely painful experience in their ownright, comparable in intensity to an uncontrollable

56

cramp. Cannabis completely eliminates these spasms asno other substance has been able to do. Without canna-bis, these spasms would be torturous and unbearable nomatter whatever other medications were available.

4. I have tried numerous prescription and non-prescription drugs for my Severe Chronic Pain andSpasms, including Flexeril, a muscle relaxant, andFeldene, a powerful anti-inflammatory. From the be-ginning those drugs caused me significant problems.Flexeril has a very powerful effect on me and makes megroggy in any amounts, even if I halve the recom-mended dosage. If I take the prescribed dosage, Iinevitably fall asleep and am unable to function as anormal human being. Flexeril has been ineffective inrelieving my spasms and also has many undesirable sideeffects. In addition, I am quite concerned about itseffect on my organs, including my kidneys and liver,over the many decades of necessary use, even if it wereeffective in relieving my pain.

5. The other drugs I have had prescribed over theyears are Vicodin and Vioxx. Vicodin, an addictivedrug, has a complete nauseating effect upon me and Iavoid it because of the extremely sick stomach that itleaves me with for several days after any use. Vioxx issupposed to be easier on the stomach, so I take it oc-casionally to reduce the inflammation associated withthe back pain. Regardless, it does not relieve thespasms.

6. I am employed as the office manager for onebusiness and the bookkeeper for several other busi-nesses as well. Inevitably, the stress levels with theseresponsibilities rise throughout the day. The morestress I have, the worse the back pain is. I have soughtout various methods of self-help in dealing with my pain

57

and suffering, including exercises, long walks, yoga andstretches, which I do each and every night. I amkeeping my weight down and eat a healthy diet. I walka very hard mile and a half per day, which helps tostrengthen the back muscles as well. Regardless of thisregimen, my chronic back pain and spasms generallystart by late morning each day; when the yoga andwalking that I do earlier that day wear off. From thatpoint in the day forward the pain worsens by the hour.Before I began using medical cannabis I was havingback spasms multiple times per week. Once a spasmstarts it is very difficult to relax my back enough tomake it stop. Generally speaking, work is impossibleduring spasms, sitting down is impossible, and the onlyway to even partially relieve the severe pain it causes isto lie down altogether.

7. In early 1999, when I first tried cannabis for myback pain and spasms, I immediately noticed a massiveimprovement in my level of pain. And from the mo-ment I began to use medical cannabis my spasms de-creased in frequency about 75 percent. The medicinerelaxes me without making me sleepy, and so I canwork again without pain. I still do most of the self-helpthings I have been doing for years, and now I haveadded medical cannabis to my self-help list. In additionto the smoking method, I use a vaporizer for the canna-bis. My physicians recommended the vaporizer.Another delivery method I have used with cannabis is asublingual spray form. This is a method I use in a morecrowded situation, where other people might object tothe smoke from my medicine.

8. In early 2002 I elected to stop hormone replace-ment therapy. I had taken HRT for nearly 14 years atthat time and I began to worry about the side effects of

58

that medicine and the recently reported risks associ-ated with such use. But I had no idea of the effect thatquitting would have upon my body and my psyche. Thephysical symptoms were fairly intense, with hot flashesand trembling hands. The mental repercussions wereeven more debilitating. I became anxious and had ahard time concentrating. Tears would come easily forlittle to no reason. Although I have always sought outnew clients and work, I was overwhelmed by respon-sibilities and sought no further clients. I have to saymy self-confidence plummeted in those first few monthsafter ending my hormone replacement therapy. I thendiscovered that cannabis helped me through this stagein my life, too. While contemporaries are being pre-scribed Paxil and Prozac and other drugs to help withthese menopausal symptoms I rely on cannabis to calmmy psyche and alleviate the symptoms. Its effect uponme is soothing and I find that cannabis alleviates thephysical symptoms as well.

9. With regard to all of the above symptoms andmedical conditions, I have found medical cannabis to beboth effective and free of undesirable side-effects. Can-nabis virtually eliminates my debilitating and ex-tremely painful Spasms and greatly relieves myChronic Back Pain. Without cannabis, my spasmswould return and I would be subjected to intense painthat cannot be relieved any other way. I have triedvarious combinations of prescription pharmaceuticalmedications, but they are often ineffective and theyalways disrupt my quality of life by interfering with myability to function.

10. On August 15, 2002, deputies from the ButteCounty Sheriff ’s Department and DEA agents visitedour home. After a discussion with them, the sheriff ’s

59

deputies agreed that my cultivation and possession ofsix cannabis plants was lawful under the Compassion-ate Use Act of the State of California. The DEA agentsinsisted on seizing and destroying my plants. For threehours we talked with them, reasoned with them, andfinally pleaded with them to leave the plants alone. Thelocal District Attorney, Mike Ramsey, also fought formy right to keep my medicine by calling John K.Vincent, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District ofCalifornia, to plead with him to keep the DEA agentsfrom destroying my medicine. All of the efforts by mylocal law enforcement agents and the Butte CountyDistrict Attorney were to no avail. As I stood andwatched, the DEA agents chopped down my medicinalplants. I was crying and my back began to tighten up;for the rest of the week I experienced debilitating backspasms. I have not had a good night’s sleep since theactions of the DEA in destroying my plants. My 20-year marriage is suffering as well because my wonder-ful husband also has to deal with all the repercussions ofthis action. We do not feel safe; we have had our civilrights and our rights under California law taken fromus in our own back yard. I must now find a way to getmy medicine from another source. To do so will be veryexpensive and I will have no idea what the quality ofthe medicine I receive will be.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws ofthe State of California that the foregoing is true andcorrect, and that this declaration was executed on this29th day of October, 2002, in Oroville, California.

/s/ DIANE MONSON DIANE MONSON

60


No.


PLAINTIFFS

v.



DECLARATION OF ANGEL McCLARY RAICH IN

SUPPORT OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Background ..................................................................................... [61]My Medical Conditions, Symptoms, and the Stories

Behind My Suffering ................................................................. [65]Post Traumatic Stress Disorder .......................................... [65]Scoliosis .................................................................................... [67]Endometriosis ......................................................................... [69]Rotator Cuff Syndrome ......................................................... [70]Other Past Spinal Injuries .................................................... [71]Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Allergic Reactions,

and Asthma .......................................................................... [72]Severe Chronic Pain .............................................................. [72]

Paralysis ............................................................................... [73]Two Demulen Tablets ........................................................ [75]

61

Sucide Attempt ................................................................... [76]Muscle Spasms ........................................................................ [78]Chronic Headaches ................................................................ [78]Nausea ...................................................................................... [79]Severe Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction

Syndrome and Bruxism ..................................................... [79]Life-Threatening Weight Loss, Malnutrition,

Cachexia, and Starvation .................................................. [81]Fibromyalgia ........................................................................... [82]Non-Epileptic Seizures ......................................................... [84]Inoperable Brain Tumor ....................................................... [85]Uterine Fibroid Tumor ......................................................... [85]Recent Spinal Injury ............................................................. [86]

My Medical Cannabis Use ............................................................ [87]Amount of Cannabis I Use ........................................................... [90]How I Use Medical Cannabis ...................................................... [91]My Media Attention ...................................................................... [92]

My Community Education and Community ServiceActivities ..................................................................................... [93]

How My Medical Conditions and My Use of MedicalCannabis Affected My Children .............................................. [93]

Conclusion ....................................................................................... [95]

I, Angel McClary Raich, declare as follows:

1. Background: I am a “medical necessity” medicalcannabis patient. My medical records show I run a veryreal risk of malnutrition and starvation without the useof medical cannabis. I would starve to death withoutcannabis. I have been diagnosed with more than tenserious medical conditions including an inoperableBrain tumor, life-threatening wasting syndrome withsevere weight loss borderline cachexia, a Seizure Disor-der, Nausea, several Severe Chronic Pain Disorders,

62

including Scoliosis, Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunc-tion Syndrome, Bruxism, Endometriosis, a Tumor inmy Uterus, and other documented medical conditions.My medical conditions are very complicated, complex,and difficult to manage. I am blessed to have a greatprimary care doctor and many dedicated specialists andextensive medical records. I have been permanentlydisabled since September 1995. I am a mother of twochildren. My son is 16 and my daughter is 14 years old.

2. I have been using cannabis as a medication forabout five years, every two waking hours, every day,and I have not been adversely effected by my medicaluse of cannabis—just the opposite. On a good day if youwere to see me face to face you may not even know Iam disabled. I do not enjoy being disabled nor do I liketaking medication every two hours, but I have noalternative. Medical cannabis keeps me alive andgreatly reduces my suffering. I can not use Marinolpills; because of my extreme drug sensitivity, I am justnot able to take them. Only the natural cannabis plantworks for me.

3. I was in a wheelchair from January 1996 toAugust 1999 because of my many medical conditionsand their debilitating effects on my body. In 1997before the use of cannabis I was debilitating quite fast.All of my doctors were not getting anywhere with mytreatment and nothing seemed to work, but by Augustof 1999 I was walking again because of medical canna-bis. Cannabis was responsible for getting me out of mywheelchair and restoring my mobility on the wholeright side of my body.

4. I had complications taking nearly every type ofsynthetic medication my doctors prescribed. Practi-cally every single medication my doctors gave me

63

would make me extremely ill, causing me to vomit vio-lently, sometimes for 24 hours. I had allergic reactionsand chemical sensitivities to nearly all of the medica-tions my doctors prescribed. For example, I am allergicto all narcotics and opiates. When I take any narcoticor any opiate, within about 20 minutes I am on the floorwith my face in a pan or small trash can violentlyvomiting, I get the shakes, hot and cold flashes, andinsane itching that nothing can stop. Being partiallyparalyzed on the floor, it was Hell. I could not holdmyself up. I sometimes needed someone to hold up myhead while I was vomiting. I was simply too weak tomove.

5. By 1997 my doctors told me I would never walkagain and that they could not control my pain. Mymedical conditions were triggering each other as Ibecame increasingly worse. That is when my doctorsand I started talking about medical cannabis as a medi-cation to help alleviate my pain and suffering.

6. My specialists do not know why I can not holdonto my weight. In 2000, my wasting syndrome wasout of control, becoming life-threatening and causingmy weight to drop to only 94 pounds. My health—evenmy life—was at great risk. My doctor worked quicklyto raise the levels of cannabis in my bloodstream.Every time my level of cannabis drops, I can lose asmuch as one pound per day. My doctor says I mustnever be without cannabis treatments. I will alwayshave to fight to keep my weight balanced; however,without cannabis it would make that fight impossible.

7. I suffer greatly from pain every single day. Theprolonged pain and suffering from my medical condi-tions significantly interferes with my quality of life. Ihave not been pain-free for several years, but at least I

64

am not in a wheelchair anymore thanks to medical can-nabis. My experience is that cannabis allows me tocombat all of my diseases daily and gives me thestrength I need to fight to stay alive.

8. The hardest part of being disabled is watchingthe suffering in your children’s eyes as they watch youendure such suffering with no end in sight. Theyexperienced great joy knowing that cannabis was re-sponsible for giving their mommy back to them. Canna-bis saved my life and gave my children their motherback. I would rather use cannabis to end the sufferingfrom my conditions, and be alive, than to suffer end-lessly while I die knowing that there is something thatcould help treat my conditions.

9. It may be difficult for the reader to comprehendthe amount of intense pain and suffering describedherein. When you become disabled one of the mostdifficult things is accepting that you are disabled andlife as you knew it has ceased to exist. Your lifechanges forever from that moment on. When you aretold you are permanently disabled it is even worse.Being permanently disabled has been very difficult forme to deal with, day in and day out, year after year. Itis equally difficult for my family. As I fight to stay aliveevery day, my biggest challenge on a daily basis iscombating my diseases, trying to minimize my suffer-ing, and at the same time doing my best not to go into“overload” from excruciating pain. I do the best I canwhile remembering to have compassion for all life, andkeeping my dignity and my grace. I am finding it achallenge to have compassion for the United StateGovernment, when the Government wants to sentenceme to death for being disabled and fighting to use aplant that is saving my life. I am weak and weary and

65

afraid of being raided, and I am afraid of what my deathwould do to my children and my husband. I am afraidof being tortured by being denied cannabis, and I amafraid of the excruciating pain that would cripple mewhile being forced to starve to death.

10. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) isattacking sick, disabled, and dying Americans. SinceSeptember 11, 2001, the DEA has continued raids onthe California medical cannabis community. The DEAhas been terrorizing and doing harm to other patientsusing cannabis. This is creating great fear for me andmy children. I am just fighting for my life. I promisedmy children I would fight to stay alive and I am notabout to go back on that promise.

My Medical Conditions, Symptoms, and the StoriesBehind My Suffering:

11. I will do my best to explain all of my complicatedmedical conditions starting in my childhood. The timeperiod between 1995 and 1999 is the most difficult andis very painful to explain. All of my doctors knew I wasseriously ill and suffering from severe pain. The doc-tors became frustrated because they could not figureout what was happening to the right side of my body.My doctors kept changing my diagnoses while trying tounlock the mysteries to why my health was failing, onlyto end up with more questions than answers. Manydoctors told me that I was too complicated for them tounderstand, that they could no longer help me, and thenreferred me to another doctor. I had too many medicalconditions affecting me the same time.

12. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.):From the age of four years old to when I was in the sixgrade my grandfather repeatedly molested, threatened,

66

imprisoned, and tortured me. My doctors say that mygrandfather was one of the worst child molesters ontheir rating scale. My grandfather was just below thechild molesters that kill children. I was physically andmentally abused by other family members throughoutmy lifetime. I have worked very hard throughout mylife to heal my wounds by getting the help I needed,and by being a good mother and a good citizen whoobeys the laws. It was a long road, and I fought hard tokeep abusers out of my life. I was diagnosed withP.T.S.D. in 1987.

13. Since the Federal Government escalated itsraids on California medical cannabis patients, I havebeen experiencing more intense P.T.S.D. symptoms. Ifind myself overwhelmed feeling suddenly in danger,and I have become consumed with feelings of fear, help-lessness, and horror. The constant threat I feel is mak-ing me re-experience my past traumas. It is causing meto feel the same mental, emotional, and physicalexperiences that occurred during the past traumas.This includes thinking about my past trauma and thethreat of losing my life. For the past year I have beenexperiencing the following symptoms due to the threatsand attacks from the United States of America’s waragainst cannabis patients: I get bad dreams andnightmares of being attacked and killed by the federalgovernment. I am also having flashbacks and night-mares of being unsafe and unprotected. Every timeanother patient or provider is raided, I am over-whelmed with anxiety and fear of being in danger,wondering if I will be the next patient to be attacked. Iam deeply concerned about my own health and safety.I become increasingly more upset every time I amreminded about the trauma we patients face at the

67

hands of our own federal government. I get real angryand aggressive feelings because I feel that I have todefend myself before the federal government breaks inmy door, attacks me, incarcerates me, and kills me. Mybrain can not handle any kind of trauma. I feel thetrauma is happening again, only now it is the federalgovernment abusing me. I feel as if I am in danger. Iexperience sensations of panic, and trying to escape,and of thinking about attacking first, yet I am too sickand my body is too weak. These experiences are notvoluntary; no matter how hard I try, I usually can notcontrol them or stop them from happening. I am just asinnocent now as I was when I was a child because I amsick, disabled, and fighting to stay alive. I had myP.T.S.D. symptoms pretty much under control until thefederal government started escalating its raids againstCalifornia cannabis patients. Cannabis helps keep mefrom living in my past, helps me deal with flashbacks,and helps me cope with the P.T.S.D. symptoms beingbrought on by the federal government’s actions againstmedical patients. It helps me have the courage to facemy past abuse, the feelings of never being safe or pro-tected by anyone, my anger, my sadness, and my hurtin a calm safe manner. Cannabis allows me to cope, andmanage my P.T.S.D. symptoms.

14. Scoliosis: Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine.My first diagnosed medical condition was Scoliosis. Iwas in the seventh grade when it was diagnosed. Thedoctor said my back is shaped as a backwards “S” andmy spine is twisted and rotated. The doctor said that ifmy spine were rotated two more degrees he would havehad to do surgery and put a steal rod into my back, butinstead I had to wear a back brace for three years. Thiswas my first experience with chronic pain. The chronic

68

pain in my back has never gone away, still to this day.In fact, as the years go by the chronic burning pain hasbecome more intense and more difficult to tolerate. Iexperience burning pain in my back muscles and aroundmy vertebrae. I learned at a young age how difficult itcan be to be a handicapped person and how meanpeople can be to the disabled. While I was wearing myback brace children and adults made fun of me. I lostall of my friends, and no one wanted to hang around meanymore, just because I was in a back brace. It mademy seventh through ninth grade years of school verylonely. I was not able to do much of anything; I washurt, embarrassed, and in chronic pain. I could noteven turn my head because the brace came up undermy chin and went down to my tale bone. The brace wasvery painful. I remember crying all the time.

15. For years, my scoliosis has given me prolongedchronic pain in my spine that interferes with my qualityof life. It also affects my mobility daily. One part of myspine is constantly moving, making loud painful crack-ing noises. Another part of my spine locks up, which isextremely painful. When this happens my neck, jaw,collar bone, shoulder, and rib cage lock-up tight, pre-venting me from moving freely and creating an unsta-ble body structure. In that condition moving my bodycreates severe chronic pain and excruciating chronicburning pain in my neck, jaw, back and sides, ribs, anddown my right arm. Staying still is equally painful.Without cannabis my tendons, and ligaments feel likean over-stretched rubber band about ready to snap.Cannabis makes my muscles, tendons, and ligamentsmore pliable, allowing my body to move and go aboutmy daily life. Cannabis allows me to cope with thesevere chronic pain and burning every movement

69

brings to my body. I notice a big difference when eat-ing cannabis before going to physical therapy, it helpsrelax my muscles, making it easier for my physicaltherapist to help relieve some of the pain and burningand unlock my vertebrae and my other joints.

16. Endometriosis: Endometriosis come from theword “endometrium,” which is the tissue that lines theinside of the uterus and builds up and sheds each monthin the menstrual cycle. In Endometriosis, tissue likethe endometrium is found outside the uterus, in otherareas of the body. These growths cause disablingchronic pain, scar tissue, and other problems. Justbefore I turned sixteen years old I was diagnosed withendometriosis and my doctor told me to go home, pack abag, and meet him at the hospital because they had todo surgery. My endometriosis was out of control. I wasin excruciating pain and the cramps made it hard tomove around. During the first two days of my periodeach month I was not be able to move at all. I had tostay down. I would curl up in a tight ball and cry forhours. In my second surgery for endometriosis thedoctors not only found the endometriosis, but they alsofound several cysts. By the time I was 21 years old Ihad already had three surgeries for endometriosis.Through the years my endometriosis has changed, andthe operations become more complicated. Every timethey open my stomach up they risk damaging myorgans, it makes it more difficult to work around thescar tissue. About every four to five years I must havesurgery for endometriosis and scar tissue. I can alwaystell when it is time for surgery because my periodsbecome overloaded with pain, I am no longer able tomove around, and I can’t move my legs to walk. Ibecome paralyzed from the excruciating pain and I

70

bleed so heavily that I become light-headed from suchfast blood loss. The pain can cause me to have seizures.To date, I have had seven surgeries for endometriosis,and with six out of the seven I woke up in the recoveryroom violently vomiting. The drugs made me vomitvery violently, sometimes for over 24 hours, and afterjust having surgery vomiting is extremely painful. In2001 my pain from endometriosis again became so se-vere that I was in tears. I had surgery in November2001. The hospital gave me a room on the oncologyfloor so I could medicate with cannabis, using my vapor-izer in the hospital promptly after coming out ofrecovery. Most patients after having surgery can havea narcotic or opiate. When I got back to my room aftersurgery I was so weak, I was not able to prepare mycannabis or my vaporizer. A family member helped meby holding up my vaporizer while I medicated withcannabis. The nurses at the hospital all asked about themedical cannabis and how well it helped my medicalconditions, and they wanted to see me vaporize withcannabis. My doctor told me I recovered faster withcannabis than the patients who use narcotics or opiates.The doctors and nurses were all amazed because theygot to see how effectively cannabis works right beforetheir eyes.

17. Rotator Cuff Syndrome: After my son was bornin 1986 I went back to work in a lumber mill where Ibecame seriously injured working at a glue machine. Icould not move my right shoulder. I was in tears and inextreme pain and muscle spasms. I was taken to thehospital where I was diagnosed with rotator cuffsyndrome. After having it for many years, the chronicburning pain is worse than when I was first injured. Iwent to therapy for months until I was sent to another

71

specialist who gave me five sessions, of five shots each,of cortisone in my right shoulder and my neck. Thecortisone helped for about three years, then the ex-cruciating pain returned. My right shoulder neverwent back to normal. I have problems doing anythingrepetitive with my right arm, hand, shoulder, orshoulder blade. I suffer from excruciating burning pain,my shoulder freezes up, and I loose the mobility in myshoulder. It is cannabis that allows me to gain backsome of this mobility. Through the years I have alsohad several injuries to my right shoulder (See para-graph number 18.). Cannabis makes the muscles, ten-dons, and ligaments around my shoulder joint morepliable, allowing me the use of my right arm. Cannabisallows me to cope with the severe chronic pain andchronic burning associated with rotator cuff syndrome.I noticed a big difference when eating cannabis beforegoing to physical therapy; it helps relax my musclesmaking it easier for my physical therapist to helprelieve some of the chronic pain and burning and unlockmy shoulder and my shoulder blade.

18. Other Past Spinal Injuries: The year of 1991was a bad year for me. I was in three accidents in a twomonth time period. All three accidents injured my spineand the right side of my body. I slipped and fell,injuring my spine on the right side; I was rear-ended bya big truck, injuring my back, neck, pelvic area, andbladder; and then a car hit me while I was walking,injuring the right side of my body again. It was all verypainful and my body did not heal as fast as it shouldhave. I had to see a chiropractor and a physicaltherapist for months. My body is extremely fragile andit does not heal easily, so I do a lot of suffering. Havinginjury upon injury caused permanent damage to my

72

body structure. I have continued to endure constantchronic pain and chronic burning ever since.

19. Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Allergic Reac-tions, and Asthma: My treatment is complicated by thefact that I am violently allergic or I have severe multi-ple chemical sensitivities to almost all pharmaceuticalmedicines. This interferes with the treatment of all ofmy medical conditions, and it means my suffering cannot be controlled by synthetic medications. This makesit extremely difficult for my doctors effectively to helpme combat my diseases. I have problems with asthmaand allergies, which make me wheeze and cough fromthe lack of air. I also have problems with chemicals thatare in many skin products, air fresheners, perfumes,and detergents. I am not able to use pharmaceuticalasthma medications and I am not able to take anythingfor my allergies. I become nauseated from most over-the-counter medications. So I just suffer. All of mydoctors including my specialists have been supportivewhen it comes to my medical use of cannabis. I do nothave any other alternative to battle my many com-plicated and complex medical conditions. Cannabis ismaintaining my health. I am not just sensitive tosynthetic prescriptions, I am also chemically sensitiveto things such as chemicals that some cannabis growersuse. These additives are not harmful to most patients; Iam just extremely sensitive.

20. Severe Chronic Pain: Every second I experi-ence chronic pain in varied degrees, ranging from amedium level of pain to a complete overload of pain,brought on by one or a combination of the chronic painconditions from which I suffer. When I am able to sleepit provides meager escape from the ever presentchronic pain I experience. I have to force myself to do

73

everything, including getting out of bed every day. Iwake up several times per night and rarely get a restfulnight’s sleep because of the chronic pain. Because Ihave an extremely high pain threshold, I can occasion-ally function and still try to go about my life, even in themidst of experiencing pain. On frequent occasions,however, the chronic pain becomes so great that Iexperience difficulty performing everyday activities, orthe chronic pain is so overpowering that I becomecompletely debilitated and cannot get out of bed. ThenI am usually down for a few days.

21. When my nervous system becomes too over-loaded with pain I experience muscle spasms and sei-zures. My treatment is complicated by the fact that Iam violently allergic to almost all pharmaceuticalmedicines. Cannabis, however, has the effect of makingit easier for me to tolerate my constant chronic pain,although it does not make the pain go away. Theefficacy of cannabis is well established as an analgesic.Cannabis is the only medication that keeps me alive andmakes my severe chronic pain more manageable.Without cannabis, my chronic pain would be even moretorturous.

22. Paralysis: Due to all of the traumatic events inmy life, in 1995, one last traumatic event caused mybrain shut the whole right side of my body down foryears, leaving me in a wheelchair until late 1999. I wasbarely hanging on because of all the pain and suffering Iwas forced to endure. It took many years and manydoctors to diagnose all of my medical conditions, and Iwas suffering unexplainable, excruciating pain. Mydoctors were giving me many different kinds ofprescription drugs; these same prescription drugs weremaking me vomit violently. My health continued to

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spiral downward, leaving me with no hope at all.Months went by. After feeling that my doctors werenot helping me I changed doctors once again. Eventhough I felt like I was drowning in pain, I kept thepromise I made to my children that I would never giveup again. I was going to do whatever I had to do, to getwell and become healthy, or as healthy as I could begiven my medical conditions. A new doctor sent me fora brain MRI in May 1999. It showed I have a onecentimeter brain tumor on the left side of my brain,adding yet another physical medical condition. Mydoctor also sent me for an EEG, which showed I washaving seizures. Then my doctor sent me to theStanford University Hospital Epilepsy Center and abrain tumor specialist. Because I was not able to usethe right side of my body and I was having cognitivefunctioning complications. During this same timeframeI was once again diagnosed with Post Traumatic StressDisorder.

23. The use of cannabis was responsible for gettingme out of my wheelchair. After I began using cannabisin 1997 I started feeling nerve sensations in my body. Istopped using cannabis from off the street in 1998. Istarted to get better from the medicine I obtained fromthe Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative. The betterquality cannabis made all the difference in the world.The sensation slowly started coming back into my rightside. I was so happy, I really wanted to walk again. ByAugust 1999 I was able to move my right arm, toes,ankle and my foot. Then I was able to make smallmovements in my toes and fingers, and eventually Iwas walking again. Learning to walk again was verydifficult and painful. Without cannabis being continuallyin my body I would surely become wheelchair bound

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once again; this possibility is very frightening to me andmy family.

24. Cannabis has given me faith, hope, happiness,better health, and family. It helps tone down my painand suffering, not to mention: it keeps me alive. Canna-bis proved to be the only medicine that brought backfeeling in the right side of my body and got me out ofmy wheelchair.

25. Two Demulen Tablets: In September 1995,three days before I lost feeling from the waist down, Iwent to a new doctor regarding my severe endometri-osis pain and complications. It was really time for me tohave surgery again for my endometriosis. The doctordid not want to give me surgery, instead she wanted toput me on birth control pills to control some of thesymptoms. I explained to her that I was allergic to allforms of birth control pills. The doctor told me that justbecause I was allergic to a drug when I was a teenagerand in my early twenties did not mean I was stillallergic it. I took the pills on the advice of my doctorand I have been paying for that ever since. Aftertaking just two Demulen pills, my health was takenaway forever.

26. I became permanently disabled in September of1995. My chronic pain condition became complex rightfrom the start. I was at work when all of the sudden Ifelt a strange sensation go down my leg. In a matter ofmoments, my right leg was like Jell-O, bright red, andcold as ice. I could not walk on my right foot becausemy ankle was so weak it would fall to the side. I wastaken straight to the doctor. I was quite afraid becauseI could not feel my body from the waist down on theright side of my body. The next day I was dragging myleg around and I was unable to stand. Fear raced

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through my body and tears came from my eyes. Thesevere chronic pain I was experiencing was putting mein a world of pain and suffering, and making my life aliving hell and my doctors’ jobs extremely difficultwhen it comes to treating any one of my medicalconditions.

27. The chronic pain I was experiencing caused meto become partially paralyzed on the right side of mybody from the waist down and I was unable to use myright leg. My scoliosis and my endometriosis madethings even worse for me. I did end up having surgeryfor my endometriosis and scar tissue six weeks after Itook the birth control pills. It is extremely difficult forme to battle the physical manifestations of chronic painand my nervous system is very fragile. I experiencecomplications when my chronic pain conditions triggereach other, which makes all of my symptoms worsen.

28. Suicide Attempt: In August of 1997, shortly be-fore I discovered the benefits of medical cannabis, mychronic pain levels were so high for such a prolongedperiod of time that, my body and soul racked withagony, I attempted suicide—as a desperate attempt toend the excruciating pain and my suffering. I wasdrowning in chronic pain for years, it was the onlyescape I could perceive from my torment. The lack ofsleep effected my thinking process, until my brain wasfoggy and I could not see past the excruciating pain. Icould not live another day with that kind of chronicpain, which nothing was helping. I was lost, I lost myfaith, I lost my will, and I lost any hope I had left. I justcould not handle the torture from the chronic painanymore. I am blessed to be alive today, for I havebeen given a second chance at life. That night I made apromise with God that I would do God’s work if He

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gave me back my legs, and I promised to do my best notto complain about the chronic pain if God would helpedme find something to help ease the pain. A couple ofweeks later, a nurse who had been watching me sufferasked me if I had ever thought about using medicalcannabis. I was offended because I was not in supportof marijuana use. My doctors could not figure out whathad been wrong with me for over two years. At thetime I was in a wheelchair and partially paralyzed onthe entire right side of my body. I wanted my sufferingto end as soon as possible. I was becoming sicker andsicker from the prescription drugs the doctors werepumping into me, only to vomit the pills up prescriptionafter prescription, until the cure was worst than thedisease. I felt hopeless and I just wanted my sufferingto end.

29. My numerous chronic pain conditions, as will allmy medical conditions, present a complicated mosaic ofproblems with a confusing interplay between eachother, exhibiting the potential of a vicious spiral thatexacerbates all of my medical conditions. When I firststarted experiencing extreme levels of chronic pain Idid better at hiding my pain and not letting the painshow on my face. Year by year it gets harder andharder to hide the chronic pain my body feels becausepain takes over my body. Then there are the days Ijust can not get out of bed at all except to go to thebathroom. The chronic pain keeps me down until mybody stops burning, throbbing, cramping, and my mus-cle spasms go away. I am tortured by chronic pain of alldifferent kinds. It turns out to be a never ending circleof chronic pain. The chronic burning pain that goes onfor days is the worst torture of all. It is hard to wakeup every day and thank God for being alive, but I do

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thank him everyday for giving me back my legs so I canwalk. So I will do whatever I have to do to ease thisexcruciating pain and to fight to stay alive. I have to doit for my children, I have to do it for myself, and I haveto do this for my husband. I love them all so much Iwant to be with them until I die of old age, not becausethe Federal Government raids me and puts me in jailwhere I could experience an even greater debilitatingpain while I starve to death.

30. Dealing with high levels of chronic pain every-day for years becomes more and more difficult witheach passing year. My body is deteriorating. I am aprisoner of my medical conditions and I am trapped inmy body being made to live the rest of my life in severechronic pain. Is not that enough? I will do whatever ittakes to stay alive and as pain free as I can possibly be.When my nervous system becomes too overloaded withpain I experience muscle spasms and seizures.

31. Muscle Spasms: I regularly have muscle spasmsthat stem from my chronic pain. Spasms are sudden,involuntary muscular contractions, either of a singlemuscle or of a group of muscles. They are often verypainful. Cannabis helps relax my muscles, making themmore pliable, and it helps release my muscle spasms andcramps, allowing me to function more easily physically.

32. Chronic Headaches: I get very bad chronicheadaches. They are extremely painful all over myhead. The muscles on my head and face can go intospasms, causing excruciating chronic headaches makingme find a dark quite place. Sometimes I get a badheadache just before I have a seizure. My headachescome from several of my medical conditions. Nearlyevery morning when I get up I have a headache. If myheadache is not too bad I can get away with just va-

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porizing or smoking cannabis. When my headachesbecome overpowering, not even hours of being in a darkquite place helps. The only medication that helps mysevere headaches is eating cannabis foods.

33. Nausea: I have chronic nausea that interfereswith my quality of life. It makes eating and drinkingdifficult. My nausea can make my wasting conditionsworsen when I am just not able to eat. When I eat I be-come even more nauseated, which makes forcing myselfto eat a real battle. When I first started suffering fromnausea my doctors tried me on several anti-nauseamedications and a medication that was supposed to helpme eat. The medications not only made me more nause-ated but they also would make me vomit violently. Ifthe cannabis levels in my bloodstream drop even just alittle bit I can become extremely ill. Preventing andcontrolling nausea helps ensure that I am able to eatfood properly. It is hard to eat properly when you feelnauseated all the time and when even the smell, sight,or taste of food can trigger the nausea, making it allworse. Sometimes after eating my stomach will crampup leaving me in wrenching pain. However, withoutthe use of medical cannabis I would be unable to eat atall and I would not be able to eat enough food to helpme hold onto my weight. Cannabis helps moderate mynausea and stomach cramps, and helps me eat andmaintain my weight, without adverse side effects.

34. Severe Temporomandibular Joint DysfunctionSyndrome (TMJ) and Bruxism: TemporomandibularJoint Dysfunction Syndrome causes facial pain. Thetemporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a gliding joint in thejaw. The syndrome hinders my jaw from opening andclosing, which makes talking and eating difficult. Myjaw can become tightly locked closed. When that hap-

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pens the only way I can open my mouth is to force itopen by cracking my temporomandibular joint, which isvery painful.

35. Bruxism is forceful grinding and clenching of theteeth usually during sleep. The pressure that isgenerated across the teeth can be an incredible amountof force. Problems occur as a result of these forcesbeing applied over many years.

36. Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syn-drome and Bruxism cause muscle spasms and musclecramps that create severe chronic pain in my face andjaw muscles. Due to the Bruxism and TMJ, I am losingthe bone and gum support in my mouth, and I amexperiencing early periodontal problems. Because ofthese early periodontal problems, my dentist had toremove teeth in 1997, 1998, and 2001. I have two moreteeth that are about to fall out. In effect my teeth haveloosened because of the “rocking” back and forth. Mybone, gums, and teeth ache and throb all the time andare very sore, and are sensitive to hot and cold. Mymouth and jaw hurt all the time. Sometimes in themorning when I wake up I can’t move my jaw and Ican’t chew. My whole face hurts and aches from themuscle spasms and the chronic pain. It becomesdifficult to talk when my jaw locks up on me. Nothinghelps the chronic pain go away completely. When themuscles in my jaw are overused they become sore andspasm. The spasms even make my neck hurt. I getchronic headaches from having TMJ and Bruxism.Cannabis helps release the muscle cramps and relax myjaw, face, and neck muscles in order for my temporo-mandibular joint to crack so I can slightly open mymouth to eat something soft. Cannabis allows me tocope with the chronic pain and burning in my jaw and

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neck. Without cannabis being contentiously in my bodyI would not be able to relax the muscles around mymouth. Without the use of cannabis my TMJ andBruxism would spin out of control, worsening my life-threatening weight loss, and rapidly causing malnutri-tion, starvation, and cachexia. For these reasons it isextremely dangerous for me to be without the use ofcannabis.

37. Life-Threatening Weight Loss, Malnutrition,Cachexia, and Starvation: Since 1998, I have experi-enced great difficulty maintaining a healthy weight.My physicians, including my gastroenterologist, are un-able to diagnose the root cause of my weight problemsor to prescribe an effective course of treatment. Onefact, however, is clear: I literally cannot eat without asufficiently high level of cannabis in my system. With-out cannabis, my weight can precipitously drop as muchas one pound per day. As a five-foot four-inch tall wo-man, I dropped from 106 pounds to a dangerously lowweight of 93 pounds during the course of four weeks inwhich I could use cannabis only on two weekends pur-suant to a family court order (which was subsequentlyoverruled due to my rapid health failure) in a childcustody fight with my children’s father. I struggle withLife-Threatening Weight Loss and Wasting Syndrome,a medical condition generally diagnosed as Anorexia/Cachexia meaning loss of appetite and rapid weightloss. (I do not have a better-known condition calledanorexia nervosa, a psychiatric disease in which pa-tients are obsessed with being thin and have an unre-alistic body-image.) My body-image is accurate; I seehow thin I am and I work extremely hard everyday toeat enough. I simply cannot eat without the aid ofcannabis. I eat between 2500 and 3000 calories per day,

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yet I have trouble getting my body to gain weight, forreasons that my physicians do not understand. Theefficacy of cannabis is well established for stimulatingappetite and promoting weight gain. The federalgovernment claims cannabis has no accepted medicaluse and it claims cannabis is harmful to your health.Cannabis is safer than death. Without cannabis, Iwould run the very real risk of Malnutrition and Star-vation. One result of Starvation is death. Droppingweight fast can become critical. Every time I have triedto cut my medical cannabis treatments back my weightdropped immediately. It is then difficult to bring myweight back up. This is how my doctors and I knowthat I require two and one-half ounces per week (equal-ing over eight pounds per year). Fighting to keep myweight up every single day is my biggest battle.

38. Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS): In 1997 I wasfirst diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The symptomsslowly lessened, but then flared up again in early 2002.Fibromyalgia is a widespread musculoskeletal chronicpain and fatigue disorder that is often precipitated byphysical trauma. Fibromyalgia means pain in themuscles, ligaments, and tendons—the soft tissue in thebody. When my fibromyalgia acts up, my body feelsextremely fatigued and every single muscle in my bodyscreams out pain. When my body overloads with pain Iwill be flat on my back for days. The chronic pain keepsme down until my body stops burning, throbbing,cramping, and my muscle spasms go away. The bestway I can describe it is “everything hurts”. The chronicpain and the stiffness feel like a big diesel truck ranover my body, with the groups of muscles that arefrequently used hurting most intensely. I also haveneurological symptoms that are associated with FMS

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and some of my other medical conditions. As men-tioned, I get extremely fatigued. The best way I candescribe the fatigue is that it is like a “brain fatigue” inwhich I feel totally drained of energy. It feels asthough my arms and legs are tied to concrete blocks,and I have difficulty concentrating. I am unable tofocus or make big decisions on the days I am over-whelmed by this brain fog. I have problems fallingasleep and staying asleep due to my high levels of pain.Many FMS patients, including myself, have problemswith deep levels of sleep. “Stage four” sleep is con-stantly interrupted by bursts of awake-like brain activ-ity. I spend nights with one foot in sleep and the otherone out of it. Other symptoms I have from FMS arepremenstrual syndrome, painful periods, chest pain,severe morning stiffness, and cognitive functioningproblems. Sometimes I have a numbing feeling in myarms and legs, tingling sensations, muscle twitching,skin sensitivity, dizziness, and impaired coordination. Ialso have problems with losing my balance andstumbling.

39. Without cannabis my tendons and ligaments feellike an over stretched rubber band about ready to snap.Cannabis makes my muscles, tendons, and ligamentsmore pliable, allowing my body to move and go aboutmy daily life. Cannabis allows me to cope with thesevere chronic pain and chronic burning every move-ment brings to my body. I noticed a big differencewhen eating cannabis food before going to physicaltherapy; it helps relax my muscles making it easier formy physical therapist to help relieve some of the painand burning. Without cannabis being continuously inmy body I would never be able to tolerate the burningand pain. My chronic pain levels become so high it

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makes even my skin hurt, making it is very difficult forme mentally to be in my body. Cannabis rescues mefrom the torture I have to endure from fibromyalgia.When I go to bed at night my whole body may throblike a strong heart beat, making it impossible to fallasleep. Cannabis helps my fibromyalgia symptoms andallows me to have a life with my family.

40. Non-Epileptic Seizures: I started having non-epileptic seizures in 1996, though my doctors did notdiagnosis the seizures until 1999. When I have a sei-zure, I can lose awareness, have uncontrollable move-ments of my arms or legs or both, shake all over, andfall to the ground. Between seizures I experienceproblems related to memory, language, mood, sleep,and other brain functions. I am able to feel my seizuresas they are come on. Sometimes, I experience an ex-tremely bad headache and/or a strange feeling in mythroat just before I have a seizure. When I force myselfto go about my daily life while I am having functioningproblems, or if I move around too fast, or even if Ibecome frightened for any reason, I can have a seizure.Because I have a brain tumor my seizure specialist atStanford Epilepsy Center tells me that my seizurescould turn into epilepsy. My seizures are extremelypainful. Sometimes, I have one seizure after another.They can trigger several of my other conditions andmake all of my chronic pain conditions worse. Whenthis happens I usually suffer for days having a combina-tion of more seizures, and I will have body jerks, musclespasms, and twitches, which cause excruciating painthat are unbearable for me to deal with.

41. Non-epileptic seizures can be caused by manydifferent factors, including impaired blood flow to thebrain, sleep disorders, severe chronic pain, psychologi-

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cal disturbances, and various other brain disturbances.It is not uncommon to see this type of seizure inindividuals who have experienced a traumatic event orwho are under various types of stress. In my case Ihave had a lifetime full of traumatic events, one afteranother. I have also had my share of severe chronicpain.

42. Cannabis helps slow down and minimize bodyjerks, muscle spasms, and twitches and helps to controlthe excruciating pain caused by my seizures. If I smokeor vaporize cannabis at the first onset of seizuresymptoms, the cannabis can prevent the seizure. If Iam unable to use cannabis in time to prevent the sei-zure, I need to medicate with cannabis when I am alertenough to smoke or vaporize to prevent anotherseizure.

43. Inoperable Brain Tumor: In 1999 an MRIshowed I have a brain tumor. I have a circumscribedone centimeter densely enhancing tumor in the leftpetrous apex that mildly deforms the ventromedialaspect of the left temporal lobe. It is a Meningioma or aSchwannoma brain tumor. My doctors say the tumor istoo deep for them to do surgery to remove it.

44. My doctor wants me to continue medicating withcannabis in the hope that, among its other benefits, itwill prevent my brain tumor from growing.

45. Uterine Fibroid Tumor: In 2001 I was diag-nosed with having a uterine fibroid tumor. UterineFibroids are benign tumors of muscle and connectivetissue that develop within or are attached to the uterinewall. They slowly enlarge, frequently intruding intothe cavity of the uterus or growing out beyond thenormal boundary of the uterus. Even one small fibroid

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can cause many problems, sudden severe pain, andheavy menstrual bleeding. I have had several problemswith my tumor in this past year. I suffer from sensa-tions of fullness and pressure in my lower abdomen,severe pelvic cramping, abdominal fullness, and anincrease in urinary frequency. The biggest problem isextremely heavy menstrual bleeding. I bleed so fastthat I suffer from light-headedness and become dizzyand nauseous to the point of almost passing out. I havealways had nausea but it is now worse than before. Theheavy bleeding and the severely painful menstrualperiods tend to keep me down flat on my back for twoor three days per month. Cannabis helps minimizemonthly PMS symptoms. Cannabis helps relax mypelvic muscles, helps minimize pelvic pain, and helpsrelease my muscle spasms and cramps, allowing me tofunction more easily physically.

46. Recent Spinal Injury: The effects of my scolio-sis worsened several months ago after a very large manfell on my head, injuring my neck and back. The injurycaused excruciating pain at the site of the injury,excruciating burning pain in my vertebrae, nerveproblems going down both arms, and difficulties withmy thumbs. The injury also caused some of my otherpain conditions (TMJ, Rotator Cuff Syndrome, Head-aches) to worsen. After a few months, the resultingpain caused me to experience multiple episodes ofseizures and muscle spasms, which were also painful intheir own right, further exacerbating my other chronicpain conditions and their related symptoms, andcreating new and painful secondary injuries. Perhapsmost critically, the injury caused my FibromyalgiaSyndrome worsen (see paragraph 38).

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47. My Medical Cannabis Use: Before I became amedical cannabis patient I was against recreationalmarijuana use. In late 1997, my doctor felt cannabiswould be an effective medication to treat my manycomplicated and complex medical conditions, and gaveme my first recommendation to use medical cannabis. Ieventually became a member of the Oakland CannabisBuyers’ Cooperative (OCBC) in early 1998, before thefederal government filed suit against it. The OCBCwas trying to provide me with medical grade cannabis.I was one of 14 “medical necessity” patients that theOakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative was fighting forin the United States Supreme Court in 2001. Thefederal government, however, prevented the OCBCfrom giving me safe access to the one medication (medi-cal cannabis) that keeps me alive. At that point I wasforced to obtain my medication on the street. I wasrobbed, ripped off, and taken advantage of by thepeople selling the marijuana to me or to a friend on thestreet. Black market marijuana is not medical gradecannabis. One really does not know what is in thatmarijuana. It may contain mold, fungus, pesticides,other drugs, rat droppings, or god knows what. Onedoes not know how it was grown or processed. It is justnot safe.

48. To be safer and to save money, I tried to growmy own cannabis about five years ago. Even though Iam good at growing most house plants, I found that Icould not grow my own cannabis. Indoor cannabis doesnot grow like a weed, as some people think. The canna-bis plants needed special care, and they needed morethan I was able to give physically. I kept having insectproblems and I did not have enough room or ventilationin my house. I could not grow enough medicine for my

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medical needs. Thus, as a single mother, to buycannabis, I had to make choices such as which bills topay that month, and whether I would have enough foodto eat after I fed my children.

49. I am now blessed to have two wonderful care-givers who grow all of my medicine and are willing totake a huge risk with their own liberty to help keep mealive. That is true compassion. I am sure we would allbe facing mandatory sentences just because we aregrowing a plant that happens to keep me alive andallows me to be here for my children. I would not bealive if it were not for these two caregivers. My care-givers both work very hard to help me fight my dis-eases. My caregivers grow my medicine specifically forme. They do not charge me, nor do we trade anything.They grow my medicine and give it to me free ofcharge. They both grow different strains of cannabisfor me to treat my medical conditions. One strain ofmedical cannabis helps my chronic pain, one helps myseizures, one helps me eat and hold onto my weight, andanother may helps control my nausea. All of thesedifferent strains of medical cannabis are very beneficialand essential to my survival. Not all strains of cannabiswork for me. Because the different strains have dif-ferent growth cycles, one caregiver could not grow allof the medical cannabis I require to keep my weight upand my pain levels down. Moreover, I can not riskhaving all of my medicine in one place because I can notafford to lose my whole garden if there is a pestproblem or if it were raided by federal agents. Thecaregivers who grow my medicine are my co-plaintiffs,known as in this litigation as JOHN DOE NUMBERONE and JOHN DOE NUMBER TWO.

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50. In the cultivation of my medical cannabis, JOHNDOE NUMBER ONE and JOHN DOE NUMBER TWO, ofOakland, California, use only soil, water, and nutrientsoriginating from within the borders of the State ofCalifornia. JOHN DOE NUMBER ONE and JOHN DOENUMBER TWO also use only growing equipment,supplies, and lumber manufactured within the bordersof the State of California. JOHN DOE NUMBER ONEand JOHN DOE NUMBER TWO cultivate for memedical-grade cannabis free of mold, fungus, pesticideresidue, and other contaminates in the particularstrains that I have found to be most effective intreating my specific medical conditions.

51. Both of my caregivers not only grow my medical-grade cannabis but they also process the cannabis intohashish or keif. Additionally, I process the cannabisinto cannabis oil for cooking, I make cannabis therapeu-tic massage oil, I make cannabis therapeutic skin balm,and I make cannabis foods.

52. I provide the following information to my care-givers to try to keep them safe and protect my medicinein case law enforcement agents raid the garden areas:

A. Copies of my doctors’ recommendations for theuse of medical cannabis,

B. A copy of my Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Coop-erative I.D. Card that states I am a “medicalnecessity” patient and confirms that my recom-mendation is valid,

C. Copies of some of my medical records, and

D. A signed caregiver statement that says mycaregivers provide my medical cannabis to me.

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In total, my caregivers grow over eight pounds peryear of medical-grade cannabis for me.

53. Amount of Cannabis I Use: I use over two andone-half ounces of processed medical cannabis perweek, or over eight pounds of cannabis per year.Cannabis does not get me “high.” I cook and bake myown cannabis foods. I use my homemade cannabis oilsto make massage oil and balm that I use to rub over mybody, which helps my muscle spasms and cramps. Ieven used it on my stitches after surgery. It works likea miracle on rashes and hives. The worst side effect isthe fear that at any moment the DEA could kick mydoor in and cause my and my family irreparable harm.My children, my husband, and myself are all aware ofthe risks we have been taking in order to keep me alive.We are willing to risk it all by telling about our family,and telling the Court all about my medical use ofcannabis. Is the only effective way for me safely totreat all of my many medical conditions without be-coming sicker. With cannabis I do not suffer from theside effects I experience with synthetic prescriptionmedications. I am not a medical cannabis patientbecause I choose to be one—I am a medical cannabispatient because it is a necessity to keep me from dying.Taking a pill would be much easier and would take lesstime, but I simply do not have that option the way mostothers patient do. I have no other medical or legalalternative to sustain my life. Cannabis saved my lifeand gave my children their mother back. I wouldrather use cannabis to end the suffering from my condi-tions, and be alive, than to suffer endlessly knowingthat there is something that could help treat my seriousmedical conditions. Cannabis is the only medication

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that keeps me alive and makes my medical conditionsmore manageable and my life livable.

54. How I Use Medical Cannabis: I smoke or vapor-ize cannabis every two waking hours, and have everyday since late 1997. Upon starting to use cannabis in1997 I immediately noticed a huge difference in mymedical conditions. I noticed an even bigger differencein 1998 when I started to ingest medical cannabis byeating cannabis brownies, cakes, candy, and milk. Us-ing the smoked and vaporized cannabis and the in-gested cannabis at the same time made the biggestimprovement in my medical conditions. One of myproblems is I am unable to sleep due to high levels ofpain. If I am lucky enough to fall asleep, I may wake upin the middle of the night in tears. When I eat cannabisbefore bedtime it helps me sleep better. Rest is im-portant for my healing process. Cannabis massage oiland balm used topically on my muscles and joints makesa big difference. Using all of these methods togetherseems to make the biggest impact on my health, andhelps me to manage and cope better on a daily basis. Ithas made all the difference in the world. My doctorsnoticed, my children noticed, my friends noticed.

55. It is a miracle I am now walking, it is a miracle Iam even alive. I still have functioning problems andextremely high levels of pain even with the cannabis,however cannabis controls the pain enough so I canwalk again, and it keeps me from wasting away andstarving to death. I am not willing to give up my life orgo back into a wheelchair without a fight. Cannabisreally does help my conditions. It keeps me alive andhelps minimize my suffering. My cannabis use anddoctors’ recommendations are all documented in mymedical records.

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56. I know I am taking a huge risk by talkingpublicly about my medical cannabis use. I am in no waygoing to stop using cannabis. I am fighting to stayalive. I want to live! I am extremely afraid of beingraided by federal agents. The fear I experience ishaving a negative effect on my medical conditions. If Iam raided by federal agents or incarcerated and keptfrom using my medicine, I would be gravely ill in ashort amount of time. My children need me to take careof them and help them grow up. I have never beenarrested nor am I a threat to anyone. I am just amother who is fighting to stay alive. I feel the UnitedStates Attorney General and the DEA AdministratorAsa Hutchinson are waging a civil war against the sick,disabled, and dying Americans of our country. I amfiling this lawsuit to fight for my constitutional right tolife.

57. My Media Attention: Because of all the mediacoverage I have received, I am at greater risk of beingraided by the federal government. After cannabis hadfreed me from my wheelchair I became more active inhelping California medical cannabis patients. After theSupreme Court’s 2001 decision in the Oakland CannabisBuyers’ Cooperative case, I received significant na-tional and international media coverage. My photos andquotes were used in many newspapers across theUnited States, including the New York Times and USAToday. I spoke on national television saying I could notfollow any federal law that purported to prevent mefrom using cannabis. Since then I have spoken atnumerous events and conferences educating the publicabout the use of medical cannabis. I have taught classeson medical cannabis at high schools and colleges, andpolice academies.

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58. My Community Education and CommunityService Activities: I do my best to become involved inmy community when my body allows me to participate.I am on the Oakland City Council’s Medical CannabisTask Force. I work with the Alameda County PublicHealth Department and the Alameda County Depart-ment of Children and Family Services regarding medi-cal cannabis issues. I have spoken before city councils.I do not want other patients to suffer as I have to. Weneed to be taken off the battlefield of the “Drug War”right away. My life depends upon it. I feel I have beenleft with no choice: I have no alternative but to speakout. However, I fear that makes me an easy targetbased on numerous raids by federal agents against pa-tients and growers. Outspoken patients have recentlybeen targeted and raided by federal agents.

59. How My Medical Conditions and My Use ofMedical Cannabis Affected My Children: My childrenhave had a very difficult time adjusting to my manycomplex medical conditions. They know more thananyone how medical cannabis brought their mommyback to them. Before 1995, I was the neighborhoodmother, who played basketball, roller bladed, playedfrequently with the children, managed my son’s littleleague baseball team, and helped at the school. Wewould have all of the neighborhood children over tobake cookies, and we would do children’s hobbies andcrafts. We did all kinds of wonderful and fun thingstogether. Our lives have never been the same since Ibecame disabled, and never will be normal again. Mymedical conditions have affected my children emotion-ally. When I became disabled in September 1995, mydaughter had just started kindergarten. She was solittle that she just did not adjust well to my medical

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conditions. At that young age my daughter wouldactually hit me when I was in my wheelchair. She wasso angry because her mommy was gone, replaced by mydiseases. My daughter was trying to beat the diseaseout of my body. My daughter was too little to under-stand what was happening to her mommy. She wouldlay on her bed and cry with sadness. I was unable tohold my daughter in my arms as I used to because theburning pain in my body would become worse if some-one touched my skin, and my body was very debilitated.I really missed holding both of my children. I love themso much, I would do anything for them and I would doanything to keep them safe from harm. As the yearspassed my body continued to deteriorate, and I becameweaker and weaker. The weaker I became from mydiseases, the harder it was for my children.

60. One night I heard my daughter crying in bed. Iwent to her side and asked her why she was crying.She told me she was crying because I was disabled andsick. She wanted me to get out of my wheelchair. Shewanted her mommy back. She asked me why, why can’tI get better, why does her mommy have to be in awheelchair. She cried for a long time. She often criedat night about my medical conditions. She missed me.It broke my heart. I told her to keep praying andmaybe God would answer her prayers. I thoughtprayer was the best thing. She told me she had beenpraying and God did not hear her prayer. I told her tokeep praying and ask Him to answer her and maybe herprayers would come true.

61. I do my very best to be there to support both ofmy children. My children and I have a great opencommunication. They know they can talk to me about

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anything. I have to protect my children and do what isin their best interests.

62. Both of my children know that medical cannabisis legal under California State law. I asked my childrenif they wanted me to stop using my medicine because ofthe federal government. They both told me, “No Way.”The expression on their little faces said it all. Mychildren know that I am alive today because of medicalcannabis. I do not want the DEA to raid my home andtraumatize me or my family.

63. Medical cannabis has only medical benefits forme, I have not had one single negative experience fromusing cannabis medically. The most scary side effect isknowing that at any moment federal agents could kickmy door in and hold me and my family prisoner. Mychildren and my husband are all aware of the risks theyhave been taking in order to keep me alive. We arenow willing to risk even more by disclosing my medicaluse of medical cannabis under oath herein.

64. Conclusion: For years I felt as if I was suffer-ing in Hell. What I had to endure was unbelievable andindescribable torture. Somehow, I found a miracle sentdown from heaven by an angel that brought me up fromthe pits of Hell, and saved my life. I was given medicalcannabis! My life was saved by this new miraculousmedicine and my life was forever changed. Healing hadbegun, and healing was my gift. I have seen thechanges in my body, my doctors have seen the changesin my body, and my family and friends have seen mymiracle. I am sorry, I can not stop using medicalcannabis or I will die. I am not giving up the miracle Ihave been given to save my very life. I will not go backto Hell for anyone or anything. I implore the federal

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government not to take my life from me. I want to liveand grow in peace.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws ofthe State of California that the foregoing is true andcorrect, and that this declaration was executed on this25th day of October, 2002, in Oakland, California.

/s/ ANGEL MCCLARY RAICH ANGEL MCCLARY RAICH

no. 03-1454 in the supreme court of the united states...petition for a writ of certiorari filed:...

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