March 27th-- Raich v. Gonzales: Medical Cannabis Trial Continues

ANGEL WINGS PATIENT OUTREACH, INC.
A NONPROFIT CORPORATION

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, March 23, 2006

Contact: Angel Raich,
For more information, visit http://www.angeljustice.org

Historic Medical Cannabis Case Back in Court of Appeals on Remand from
United States Supreme Court

Severely Ill Mother and Patient Appeals to Fight for Fundamental Right to
Life; Asserts Medical Necessity Trumps Controlled Substances Act

Oakland, CA - On March 27, 2006, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in
Pasadena, California will hear the new arguments in Raich v. Gonzales, a
high-profile medical cannabis case recently remanded from the U.S. Supreme
Court. Ninth Circuit Judges Pregerson and Paez, and Judge Beam who is from
the Eight Circuit, sitting by designation, will hear arguments involving
violations by the federal government of rights guaranteed by the
Constitution's Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments. Specifically, the legal
team for Angel Raich and her two John Doe caregivers will be arguing (among
other things) that Angel Raich has a fundamental liberty to take the only
medication that allows her to avoid intolerable pain and death, and that
prohibiting her from taking medically necessary cannabis would violate the
due process clause.

WHAT: Oral arguments regarding patients' rights to use medical cannabis
under federal law

WHEN: Monday, March 27, 2006, at 1:30 p.m.

WHO: Plaintiff-Appellant Angel McClary Raich and her attorneys, Randy
Barnett and Robert Raich, will be available for interviews

WHERE: Courtroom 3, at the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals
Building, 125 South Grand Avenue, Pasadena, California.

Background -- On June 6, 2005, the Supreme Court in a split decision (6-3)
ruled on a narrow issue, determining that the federal government has the
authority under the Commence Clause of the Constitution to persecute medical
cannabis patients who abide by their state and local compassionate use laws.
However, the High Court left several other critical issues open for further
consideration and remanded the case back to the Court of Appeals. The same
three justice appellate panel that ruled in favor of Raich in December 2003
will again review the case. The case will likely return to the U.S. Supreme
Court if it is once again successful at the appellate level.

Raich v. Gonzales holds open an important window of opportunity for
patients and their caregivers across the country. The case will set a
precedent by weighing whether patients have the legal right to treat their
illnesses by medicating with cannabis when recommended by their doctors.
California's 1996 Compassionate Use Act permits the use of medical cannabis
within the state if it is recommended by a physician, as it was for Angel
Raich. Thirteen states currently have decriminalized the medicinal use of
cannabis. State and local laws on the books protecting medical cannabis
patients and their doctors will continue to stand regardless of the outcome
of Raich v. Gonzales.

"Doctors, not the federal government know what's best for their patients,"
said Randy Barnett, a professor of law at Boston University and a member of
Raich's legal team. "If a state decides to allow doctors to recommend
proven treatments for their patients, then the federal government has no
rightful place in the doctor's office."

"This case implicates perhaps the most fundamental right of all, the right
to preserve one's life," said Robert Raich, a member of Angel Raich's legal
team and Angel's husband. "It also implicates the fundamental right to
alleviate unnecessary pain and agony and protect bodily integrity."

Angel Raich, 40, is a seriously ill, disabled mother of two who suffers from
an inoperable brain tumor, life-threatening wasting syndrome, seizures,
severe chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and a myriad of other serious medical
conditions. Raich's treatment is complicated by the fact that she is
violently allergic to almost all pharmaceutical medications. Medical
cannabis, as recommended by her doctor, restored Raich's mobility after
being confined to a wheelchair for three years.

"I fear for my health, my safety and my family, but I am confident that the
Court of Appeals will again agree that I am in every way acting in
accordance with the law," said Angel Raich. "I just want the opportunity to
be a mother to my children without having to live in constant fear that the
federal government will raid my home or throw me in jail simply for taking
the medicine that treats my pain and keeps me alive."

For more information on this historic case, please visit
http://www.angeljustice.org and http://angeljustice.org/article.php?id=56.

Case History -- The case began in October 2002 when Raich and her
co-plaintiffs filed a complaint and motion for preliminary injunction
against Attorney General John Ashcroft to ensure that the federal government
would not prosecute the plaintiffs for medical cannabis. A district judge
in March 2003 ruled against the plaintiffs, who then appealed. In December
2003, the appellate court ruled that federal laws banning medical cannabis
exceeded Congress's authority under the Constitution's Commerce Clause as
applied to the plaintiffs. The government appealed this ruling and the case
then went to the U.S. Supreme Court. In June 2005, the Supreme Court ruled
narrowly only on the Commerce Clause, remanding the case to the Court of
Appeals for consideration of several other critical issues.

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Compassion and Justice,
Angel Raich
angel [at] angeljustice.org

http://www.angeljustice.org