Gabriela Besel

HIST 7A
February 1st, 2015
States Rights Assignment
State rights are the arguable rights that states have separately from the federal
government, even though the states are a part of the federal government. States rights
look to include and/or exclude certain laws, rules, and regulations set by the federal
government, stating that if the majority of the people from that state vote on it, then the
right to omit or add-to whatever the federal governments proposal was, then it should be
granted. States Rights and the federal government seem to have different definitions for
Sovereignty. The states want exceptions while the federal government rigidly enforces
what has been voted on no matter what.
The issue that my two articles are about is Medical Marijuana and how the state
laws sometimes clash with federal laws. Laws regarding the banning of Marijuana have
been around for 70+ years; but as technology advances, more accurate research about the
effects of Marijuana are studied and discovered. The federal government is apprehensive
about the use of Marijuana but some states like Washington and California insist on
nulling, which would permit them to file their own regulations without taking into much
consideration the laws of the federal government, as long as its voted on by the state.
The first article talks about 11 Marijuana dispensaries that were raided by the
federal government in Los Angeles. In 1996, California voters made the use of medical
marijuana available for patients through proposition 215, and in 2004 clarified it with SB
420, which stated that medical marijuana patients could possess and cultivate the plant.
The dispensaries that were raided were dispensaries that reported causing trouble to the
neighbors, such as illegal parking and an increase in armed robbery. The neighbors
recognize that there is a certain population that needs medical marijuana so it shouldnt
be banned, but the regulation should be more precise. It would seem like in this case, the
state hasnt fully set the guidelines for the possession, consumption, selling, and
cultivation of Marijuana, which is making it hard to not step on the toes of the federal
law, or use the state rights as a loophole to the constitution.
The second article is about the state of Colorado, which has legalized marijuana
for all types of consumption to residents over 21, and is now asking the federal
government to let them grow marijuana plants in the State Universities for research
purposes. The problem here is that there is only one federally approved marijuana farm
that provides for Colorados dispensaries, and permission is needed to acquire the plants
and to dismiss any prosecution from the government. After a letter from Colorado Deputy
Atty. Gen. David Blake was sent to a federal regulator, bluntly stating that current
marijuana research is riddled with bias or insufficiencies, 8 million dollars were
granted in research money after it was made clear that the need to truly understand the
benefits and harms of marijuana are over due, the urgency can no longer be dismissed. It
seems like the state and federal government are working out their disagreements on this
one.

ARTICLE 1
Medical marijuana raids are criticized; Federal agents trampled on
state laws allowing the use of pot, say local officials and residents.:
[HOME EDITION]
Abdollah, Tami. Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles, Calif] 19 Jan 2007:
B.4.
Full Text
A day after agents raided 11 Los Angeles County marijuana
dispensaries, local officials and residents complained Thursday that the
federal government was trampling on state laws that allow the
cultivation and sale of marijuana for medical uses.
The raids Wednesday, part of an investigation by the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration, were the largest such operation in the
county in recent years. Five dispensaries in West Hollywood were
raided with the other six in Venice, Hollywood, Sherman Oaks and
Woodland Hills.
The action highlights a continuing struggle between the state, where
voters approved medical marijuana in 1996, and the federal
government, which prohibits the use and sale of pot.
"A lot of people are involved in some pretty major criminal activity,
and they're using state law to traffic in drugs," said Sarah Pullen,
spokeswoman for the DEA's Los Angeles office.
But medical marijuana activists said the DEA raids mark another
attempt to stem a movement they say can't be halted. They also said
the busts mirror a burgeoning trend by federal agents to pounce soon
after local governments tighten dispensary rules, as Los Angeles and
West Hollywood did this week.
"In truth, what people all over the state are saying is they want
dispensaries regulated. That's not the same as saying we want them
closed down," said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for
Safe Access, an advocacy group for medical marijuana.

About 100 people attended a protest the group organized Thursday

morning outside West Hollywood City Hall.
California voters in 1996 approved Proposition 215, which made
marijuana available by doctor recommendation for medicinal uses. SB
420, which took effect in 2004, clarified Proposition 215, and taken
together legalized possession and cultivation of marijuana for qualified
medical patients.
But a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, Thom
Mrozek, said the dispensaries violate federal law. "There's no reason to
explain beyond that."
In West Hollywood, city officials said the raids took them by surprise.
The city has a "long-standing commitment" to the use of medical
marijuana for people with such catastrophic illnesses as HIV and AIDS,
said city spokeswoman Helen Goss.
"Cities throughout California are struggling with how to deal with the
situation," she said. "The voters in California have clearly voted and
support the medical use of marijuana.... The cities are caught in the
middle."
Federal agents seized more than 5,000 pounds of marijuana, more
than 100 plants, an estimated $200,000, seven handguns and one
shotgun in Wednesday's raids. Also confiscated were large quantities of
marijuana-laced edibles such as ice cream bars, lollipops, cookies,
candies and candy bars, Pullen said.
Twenty-seven people were detained for questioning, and all of them
have been released without charges being filed, Pullen said.
Pullen said the raided sites were chosen out of the more than 200
dispensaries in Los Angeles County based on complaints from nearby
businesses and residents. She said authorities also received complaints
about a significant increase in crimes, such as armed robberies.
At Fountain Day School, a private preschool and elementary school
near three dispensaries in West Hollywood, about 300 families signed a
letter to the city complaining about the dispensaries.
Problems include illegal parking and marijuana being smoked in a

"celebratory" fashion, said the school's general manager, Andrew

Rakos.
Most of the families, he said, were happy with the raid even though
they recognize that severely ill people need medical marijuana.
Jonathan Shensa, 34, of Los Angeles said he was in Herbal
Independence Pharmacy in Sherman Oaks on Wednesday when federal
agents took him into custody for 45 minutes of questioning. Shensa
said he has used marijuana for almost a year to relieve pain and calm
his stomach so he can eat.
"I've got a hard life as it is," Shensa said. "The last thing I need now is
to figure out what I've got to do in order to eat. I'm just angry."
tami.abdollah@latimes.com
Times staff writer Eric Bailey contributed to this report.
Illustration
Caption: PHOTO: STRONG FEELINGS: About 100 people attended a
protest Thursday organized by Americans for Safe Access, a medical
marijuana advocacy group, outside West Hollywood City Hall.;
PHOTOGRAPHER: Genaro Molina Los Angeles Times
Credit: Times Staff Writer
Word count: 694
(Copyright (c) 2007 Los Angeles Times)
Bibliography
Abdollah, Tami. 2007. "Medical Marijuana Raids are Criticized; Federal
Agents Trampled on State Laws Allowing the use of Pot, Say Local
Officials and Residents." Los Angeles Times, Jan 19.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/422104732?accountid=28371.

ARTICLE 2
Seeking to broaden marijuana research; Colorado asks federal
agencies to let its state universities grow their own pot -- just for
purposes of study.
Kelly, David. Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles, Calif] 25 Jan 2015:
A.14.
Full Text
After years of trying to stamp out marijuana use on college campuses,
Colorado officials are now asking the federal government to allow its
state universities to grow their own pot.
The reason, they say, is that the legalization of the drug here has
raised questions about its health effects, questions that can be
answered only by studying large amounts and different strains of
marijuana.
But researchers face bureaucratic hurdles in scoring pot from the one
federally approved marijuana farm, a 12-acre facility at the University
of Mississippi's National Center for Natural Products Research.
In a letter to federal regulators last month, Colorado Deputy Atty. Gen.
David Blake said research on the "medicinal value or detriment of
marijuana, particularly those strains not grown and made available by
the federal government, have become important to the national debate
over marijuana legalization."
Current research, he said, is "riddled with bias or insufficiencies" and
federal help is needed to fill in the gaps.
Colorado wants its state universities to contract with the National
Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), which operates the pot farm, for
expanded research on marijuana -- namely, by being allowed to grow
their own weed.
"We are basically seeking permission for an activity that has been
banned for 70-plus years," said state Rep. Dan Pabon, a Democrat who
helped craft the state's marijuana laws. "Universities are generally

where the best research takes place so why not have the best and
brightest working on discovering not only the dangers but also the
therapeutic benefits of marijuana?"
He called the Mississippi pot farm a vestige of times past.
"But any time you engage in federal research, you need to abide by
federal guidelines, so we need to be sure not to penalize the places
that do this research," he said.
As Colorado's retail and medicinal marijuana markets have grown, so
have a host of unanticipated health issues. The state has struggled to
regulate edible pot to prevent overdoses while at the same time
showing increasing interest in the potential benefits of cannabis.
"The conversation is changing," said Teri Robnett, a member of
Colorado's Medical Marijuana Scientific Advisory Council, which helps
oversee and evaluate cannabis research grants. "We have hospitals
using cannabis therapy for epilepsy. What kind of epilepsy does it work
best on? The only way we can find out is through research, but until
we can grow our own marijuana all researchers have to go through
NIDA."
Last month, the advisory council awarded $8 million in research grants
to study the effect of pot on Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and posttraumatic stress syndrome.
"Hopefully, if NIDA can't provide what we need for those experiments
they will let us use marijuana grown here," Robnett said.
The letter from the Colorado attorney general's office went to the
heads of five federal agencies, including the Department of Health and
Human Services, the Department of Education and the National
Institutes of Health.
"We need the support of our federal partners to overcome the inertia
that continues to complicate state efforts in this area," the letter said.
"We are committed to working with you in devising a system that will
permit research and study in a safe, highly controlled and regulated
manner."
--

Kelly is a special correspondent.

Illustration
Caption: PHOTO: A MEDICAL MARIJUANA dispensary in downtown
Denver. Colorado has wrestled with the health effects of pot since
legalizing recreational use.; PHOTOGRAPHER:Genaro Molina Los
Angeles Times
Word count: 568
(Copyright (c) 2015 Los Angeles Times)
Bibliography
Kelly, David. 2015. "Seeking to Broaden Marijuana Research; Colorado
Asks Federal Agencies to Let its State Universities Grow their Own Pot
-- just for Purposes of Study." Los Angeles Times, Jan 25.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1647885625?accountid=28371.

http://search.proquest.com.ezp.pasadena.edu/nationalnewscore/docvi
ew/1647885625/AC2436369ECC4AE8PQ/8?accountid=28371