Fri 2/10 - Sacto Hearings for Dr. Mikuriya, Dale Schafer

Friday Feb 10 - Sacto Hearings for Dr Mikuriya and Dale Schafer

Sacto Hearing on Dale Schafer's Marinol motion - Federal Court, 2 PM
Those that are near enough may want to attend the motion in federal
court for Attorney Dale Schafer tomorrow. The motion is for
"marinal". Dale and Doc Fry have been in and out of Federal court for
the last few months. It is hard to keep everyone updated because the
court and the players keep changing dates etc. You all probably know
how that is.
Tomorrow at the federal court house @ 2p.m. with judge newwenski
(spelling probably wrong). The federal court house is on I street and
you must have I.D. and you will probably be searched.
Judy Ryland
<http://www.ElDoradoCountyAAMC.com>http://www.ElDoradoCountyAAMC.com
<http://www.letfreedomgrow.com>http://www.letfreedomgrow.com
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org>http://www.safeaccessnow.org

Sacto Courthouse - 10 AM - Dr Mikuriya's Med Board Appeal

Dr. Tod hereby invites his friends to attend. The courthouse is at 720 9th
Street, Dept. 45 (Judge Holzer Hersher) is on the 6th floor.

Media Advisory:

Ruling Imminent On Dr. Mikuriya's Appeal

Tod Mikuriya, MD, who appealed the Medical Board of California's decision to
put him on probation in the spring of 2004, will get a "tentative ruling"
tomorrow -Friday, Feb. 10- from Sacramento Superior Court Judge Judy Holzer
Hersher. At 10 a.m. in Dept. 45, prosecutors from the Attorney General's
office and Mikuriya's lawyer, Scott Candell, can make additional oral
arguments for the judge to consider before the ruling becomes final.

Mikuriya, 74, a Berkeley-based psychiatrist is an internationally respected
authority in the field of cannabis therapeutics. He helped draft Proposition
215, California's medical marijuana initiative, and after its passage in
1996 was one of very few doctors in the state known to approve cannabis use
by patients with conditions other than AIDS or cancer. The state attorney
general's office elicited complaints against Mikuriya from law enforcement
agents throughout the state, sent an operative feigning symptoms to see him
as a patient, and relied on an expert witness who had never issued a
medical-marijuana approval.

The medical board in Spring 2004 determined that Mikuriya had "recommended
and approved the use of a controlled substance without conducting a prior
good faith examination, and failed to maintain adequate and accurate medical
records in the care and treatment of 16 patients."
Not one of the 16 patients had complained about their treatment -in fact, at
a hearing in the Fall of 2003, they unanimously expressed gratitude towards
Mikuriya- and none were alleged to have suffered adverse consequences. It
emerged that all the complaints had been initiated by law enforcement agents
who questioned the validity of Mikuriya's diagnoses.

Mikuriya insists, "the detailed history I take from every patient is not
only in good faith, it exceeds the standard of care the medical board
belatedly established for doctors conducting cannabis consultations."

Mikuriya's appeal briefs and other documents related to the case can be read
at http://althealthsys.net/medicolegal.html. Dr. Mikuriya will be in
Sacramento on Friday morning and is available for interviews. Contact him at
510-918-4645. Scott Candell can be reached at 415-445-2144.

Miuriya says, "I continue to hope that my case will expose the conspiracy
between California and federal officials to block the implementation of Prop
215. No sooner had the state law been passed by the voters than Attorney
General Lungren and associates went to Washington to discuss with leaders of
the Drug Czar's office, the DEA, and the Department of Justice scenarios for
sabotaging it. On December 30, 1996, I was attacked by name at a press
conference led by Gen. Barry McCaffrey and Janet Reno, and California
doctors were threatened with reprisals if they approved cannabis use by
patients. In response, California doctors and patients filed a suit -Conant
et al vs. McCaffrey- and got an injunction preventing the feds from carrying
out their unconstitutional threats. This left it up to the state to keep
California doctors intimated, and the medical board and the attorney
general's office have done so effectively by disciplining me and by
investigating more than 12 other California doctors for issuing cannabis
approvals."

Arguments in Attorney Candell's brief on behalf of Mikuriya include:

* The qualified immunity granted doctors by Prop 215 prohibits the
imposition of discipline against Dr. Mikuriya under the facts of the case.

* Dr. Mikuriya followd the acceptable standard of care for a medical
marijuana consultant.

* Dr. Mikuriya did not prescribe, dispense, or furnish marijuana.

* Marijuana is not a dangerous drug as defined by the Business and
Professions code.

* Dr. Mikuriya's speech is protected by the First Amendment, i.e. his
prosecution by the state Attorney General represents an end-run around the
Conant injunction.

Attached is a jpeg of McCaffrey attacking Mikuriya at the historic 12/30/96
press conference. For more information contact Fred Gardner at 415-305-4758
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