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Important Documents The Complaint WAMM Order (.pdf) Motion for Preliminary Injunction Judicial Notice Request WAMM Protocols and Guidelines |
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Meet the Plaintiffs Their Declarations
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Supportive Pleadings
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1. INTRODUCTION
2 1. The State of California and its political subdivisions, including Plaintiff
3 County of Santa Cruz, and Charter cities, including Plaintiff City of Santa Cruz, have enacted
4 legislation and other measures to help their sick and dying citizens responsibly obtain a
5 physician-recommended medicine that alleviates their suffering and sustains their lives. That
6 medicine is marijuana.
7 2. On November 5, 1996, the citizens of California approved Proposition
8 215, the Compassionate Use Act, California Health & Safety Code § 11362.5, which makes it
9 lawful for patients to cultivate and use marijuana for medical purposes when they do so with the
10 recommendation or advice of their physicians. As part of their broad power to legislate and
11 regulate for the welfare of their citizens, the County and City of Santa Cruz authorize and
12 oversee the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana ("WAMM"), also a Plaintiff in this
13 action. WAMM is a collective composed of seriously ill patients, some of them Plaintiffs, who
14 cultivate their own medical marijuana and use that marijuana in accordance with the advice and
15 recommendations of their physicians. WAMM is also a community of seriously and terminally
16 ill members that gathers weekly to provide its members with care, support and education, and to
17 assist its dying members in living out their final days with dignity, and without unnecessary pain
18 and suffering.
19 3. Under color of the Controlled Substances Act ("CSA"), the federal
20 government has embarked upon a crusade to disrupt WAMM's lawful activities and to deprive
21 these patients of their medicine, violating the patients' rights secured by the Due Process Clause.
22 These rights -- which ensure bodily integrity, freedom from unnecessary suffering, the ability to
23 consult with their physicians and to act on their physician's recommendations, and the ability to
24 control the circumstances of their own deaths -- insulate WAMM's activities, and those of its
25 members, from such federal interference.
26 4. In addition, the government's actions impermissibly undermine the
27 authority and power of local and state governments. WAMM members cultivate and use their
28 medical marijuana entirely within California, they do not purchase their medical marijuana, and
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1 they do not sell or distribute marijuana to others. Therefore, the CSA, which targets drug
2 distribution and other activities that impact interstate commerce, does not authorize federal
3 interference with WAMM's activities.
4 5. Plaintiffs, the County and City of Santa Cruz, WAMM, and individual
5 WAMM members, bring suit to halt and redress these constitutional violations.
6 JURISDICTION AND VENUE
7 6. The claims for damages in this action arise under the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth
8 and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. See Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of
9 Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 397 (1971); Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228, 244
10 (1979); Kotarski v. Cooper, 799 F.2d 1342, 1345 (9th Cir. 1986), vacated on other grounds,
11 Cooper v. Kotarski, 487 U.S. 1212, 1212 (1988).
12 7. The claims for declaratory relief in this action arise under the Fifth, Ninth,
13 and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; Article I, § 8 of the Constitution; 21
14 U.S.C. § 885(d); and 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201.
15 8. The claims for injunctive relief arise under the Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth
16 Amendments of the Constitution; Article I, § 8 of the Constitution; and 5 U.S.C. § 702.
17 9. This court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action under 28 U.S.C.
18 § 1346(a)(2) because the United States is a defendant, and under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 because the
19 case involves a federal question.
20 10. Venue in this court is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e)(2) because a
21 substantial part of the events giving rise to this claim occurred in this district, and under 28
22 U.S.C. § 1391(e)(3) because the Plaintiffs reside in this judicial district.
23 PARTIES
24 Plaintiffs
25 11. Plaintiff COUNTY OF SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA ("County of Santa
26 Cruz" or "County") is a political subdivision of the State of California. The County of Santa
27 Cruz is empowered under Article XI, § 7 of the California Constitution to make and enforce
28 ordinances and regulations dealing with local affairs that do not conflict with general laws. The
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1 County has broad discretion in determining what are proper exercises of the police power
2 delegated to it by the State of California for the protection of public health and what measures
3 are necessary to meet particular health conditions or emergencies. See Jew Ho v. Williamson,
4 103 F. 10, 21 (C.C. Cal. 1900).
5 12. Pursuant to its mandate to protect and promote local health, the County of
6 Santa Cruz officially supports the use of medical marijuana for treatment of seriously ill patients.
7 Toward that end, the County adopted the Santa Cruz County Medical Marijuana Ordinance,
8 Santa Cruz County Code §§ 7.122.010-7.122.060 ("the County Ordinance") on November 3,
9 1992. One of the County Ordinance's purposes is to "direct the elected officials of Santa Cruz
10 County to take whatever actions may be within their power to support the availability of
11 cannabis/marijuana for medical use." Santa Cruz County Code § 7.122.020(C). The County
12 Ordinance provides that the Board of Supervisors shall request that the sheriff and district
13 attorney exercise whatever discretionary powers they possess to minimize the negative impacts
14 of current marijuana restrictions where medical use is apparent. Santa Cruz County Code
15 § 7.122.050(B). The County Ordinance also provides that the board of supervisors shall direct
16 the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency to monitor medical marijuana developments,
17 including research projects, trial studies, or current government programs, and to make available
18 to doctors and patients upon request accurate and timely information regarding the efficacy of
19 marijuana for various medical conditions. Santa Cruz County Code § 7.122.050(C).
20 13. In enacting the County Ordinance, the County of Santa Cruz made
21 findings regarding the safety and effectiveness of marijuana as medicine. The County found that
22 scientific and medical studies by the National Academy of Science showed that marijuana is a
23 safe and effective medicine with low toxicity compared to most prescription drugs. The County
24 also found that marijuana has been shown to be effective in the treatment of glaucoma; epilepsy;
25 spasticity; arthritis; anxiety; depression; the nausea, vomiting, and appetite loss associated with
26 chemotherapy; and the symptoms of withdrawal from alcohol and narcotics. Santa Cruz County
27 Code § 7.122.040(A). The County also found that studies show that one-third of all cancer
28 patients discontinue potentially life-saving chemotherapy due to its severe and debilitating side
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1 effects. According to the County's findings, the same is true for many AIDS patients receiving
2 AZT or other therapies. Santa Cruz County Code § 7.122.040(B).
3 14. Plaintiff CITY OF SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA ("City of Santa Cruz"
4 or "City") is a municipal corporation located in the County of Santa Cruz in the State of
5 California. It is empowered under Article XI, §§ 5(a), 5(b) and 7 of the California Constitution
6 to make and enforce ordinances and regulations dealing with municipal affairs that do not
7 conflict with general laws. This grant of authority, sometimes called the "Home Rule," gives the
8 City broad police power to regulate, among other things, the public health within its jurisdiction.
9 See Crown Motors v. City of Redding, 232 Cal. App. 3d 173, 178 (1991).
10 15. Pursuant to Article XI, §. 3(a) of the California Constitution, the City of
11 Santa Cruz adopted a charter. Under Section 401 of the Charter of the City of Santa Cruz, the
12 City has the power to make and enforce all laws and regulations dealing with municipal affairs
13 subject only to limitations provided in the Charter or in the State Constitution. The Charter also
14 gives the City the power to exercise any and all rights, powers and privileges established by any
15 law of the State, by the Charter, or by other lawful authority, or that a municipal corporation can
16 exercise under the State Constitution.
17 16. The Constitution and the City Charter give the City broad authority to
18 enact and enforce regulations promoting and protecting local health. Acting pursuant to the
19 City's police power to protect the health and welfare of its residents, in 2000 the City of Santa
20 Cruz enacted the Personal Medical Marijuana Use Ordinance, Santa Cruz Municipal Code
21 § 6.90.010-6.90.090 ("the City Ordinance"). Among other things, the City Ordinance allows the
22 City to officially recognize a "medical marijuana provider association," which is defined as "a
23 collective of individuals comprised of qualified patients and primary caregivers, the sole intent of
24 which is to provide education, referral, or network services and to facilitate/assist in the lawful
25 production, acquisition, and provision of medical marijuana to qualified patients." Santa Cruz
26 Municipal Code § 6.90.010(4). The City of Santa Cruz officially recognizes WAMM as a
27 medical marijuana provider association. To ensure that qualified patients are not subject to
28 criminal prosecution or sanction, the City Ordinance provides that recognized medical marijuana
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1 provider associations may issue valid identification cards to qualified patients and primary
2 caregivers upon receipt of a physician's written recommendation for medical marijuana. Santa
3 Cruz Municipal Code § 6.90.020(2). It also provides that medical marijuana provider
4 associations may issue valid identification cards "upon the physician s written declaration or
5 confirmation that the qualified patient is under the physician's care," for medical conditions for
6 which the physician has approved the use of marijuana, which include, but are not limited to,
7 "HIV/AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, epilepsy or other spasticity-related illnesses, migraine, [and]
8 anorexia." Santa Cruz Municipal Code §§ 6.90.020(2) and 6.90.010(2).
9 17. To obtain official City recognition as a medical marijuana provider
10 association, the association must, among other things: (1) not predicate participation upon a
11 patient's ability to pay for services or medical marijuana; (2) strictly prohibit patients and their
12 primary caregivers from selling or distributing medical marijuana; (3) have regulations that
13 require the immediate termination of participation by a patient or primary caregiver who misuses
14 the association's services, misrepresents his or her qualifications to participate, or otherwise
15 violates association rules; and (4) have regulations limiting attendance at medical marijuana
16 provision sites to qualified patients, primary caregivers, and cultivators. Santa Cruz Municipal
17 Code §§ 6.90.020(4)(e), (4)(h), (4)(i), (4)(j) and (4)(k).
18 18. The City Ordinance also provides that the City of Santa Cruz may
19 deputize individuals and organizations to function as medical marijuana providers to assist the
20 City in implementing the City Ordinance and the Compassionate Use Act. Santa Cruz Municipal
21 Code § 6.90.080. On December 10, 2002, the Santa Cruz City Council adopted a resolution
22 deputizing WAMM, plaintiff Valerie Corral, and her husband and primary caregiver Michael
23 Corral to function as medical marijuana providers. By virtue of their status as deputies, WAMM
24 is authorized to assist the City of Santa Cruz in administering the City Ordinance and the
25 Compassionate Use Act.
26 19. To demonstrate its support for WAMM in the wake of the DEA raid,
27 plaintiff City of Santa Cruz allowed WAMM patients to collect their weekly allotment of
28 medical marijuana on the front steps of City Hall on September 17, 2002. Six of seven members
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