Judge who upheld pot ban unconvinced drug has benefits

In this June 25, 2014 file photo, a ladybug crawls on a marijuana plant at Sea of Green Farms, a recreational pot grower in Seattle. Investors in a potential medical marijuana growing operation are trying to persuade a city council in the south-central Illinois town of Effingham to reconsider a zoning request. They're offering up to $1 million to local schools over 10 years to show they're serious about helping the community. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) less In this June 25, 2014 file photo, a ladybug crawls on a marijuana plant at Sea of Green Farms, a recreational pot grower in Seattle. Investors in a potential medical marijuana growing operation are trying to ... more Photo: Ted S. Warren, Associated Press Photo: Ted S. Warren, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Judge who upheld pot ban unconvinced drug has benefits 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The federal judge who allowed Northern California pot growers to challenge the government’s ban on marijuana says she decided to uphold the law in the end because, although nearly half the states allow for medical marijuana, there are “disagreements among well-informed experts” about whether the plant has any medicinal value.

That dispute among experts shows that Congress had an adequate “rational basis” for classifying marijuana among the most dangerous drugs, said U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller of Sacramento in a written ruling Friday, two days after she refused to dismiss pot cultivation charges against a dozen defendants.

Mueller had granted the defendants a hearing in October, to make their case that they were being prosecuted under an unconstitutional law. It was the first time in several decades that a federal judge had allowed defendants in a U.S. criminal case to challenge the constitutionality of the strict national prohibition on marijuana.

Although the defendants have not claimed they were growing marijuana for medical use, they argued that the charges were invalid because they were based on a law that treats pot more harshly than drugs with fewer benefits and more dangers.

The Controlled Substances Act, passed in 1970, classified marijuana in Schedule One, along with heroin and LSD, as a substance that poses a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use and can be dangerous even under a doctor’s supervision. The Drug Enforcement Administration has repeatedly reaffirmed marijuana’s status as a Schedule One drug, most recently in 2011 under President Obama. The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has upheld the DEA’s decisions.

Mueller, an Obama appointee, ordered the hearing after finding that the defendants had presented enough “new scientific and medical information” to raise questions about the current validity of the federal ban. In Friday’s ruling, she said that the “landscape with respect to marijuana has changed significantly since 1970,” with 23 states, including California, plus the District of Columbia allowing medical use, and four of those states permitting personal use.

“At some point in time, in some court, the record may support” dismissing criminal charges and striking down the law, Mueller said. But “on the record in this case,” she said, “this is not the court and this is not the time.”

The ruling clears the way for trials in the criminal cases. Defense lawyers have said they plan to appeal any guilty verdicts.

The defendants presented evidence from doctors and researchers who said marijuana had well-established medical benefits and should be reclassified so that physicians could prescribe it. They said it was much less hazardous than alcohol, tobacco and some everyday medications.

Witnesses also included a wounded Iraq veteran who said marijuana made his physical and emotional distress bearable, and the mother of an epileptic child, who said doctor-approved cannabis treatments were the only medications that had helped her son.

The government’s expert witness was Bertha Madras, a Harvard biology professor and former drug-control official under President George W. Bush. Contradicting the defense experts, she said a majority of qualified scientists believe marijuana has no current medical use. She also testified that the drug was addictive and causes mental problems in young people.

Relying heavily on Madras’ testimony, Mueller said the existence of “principled disagreements among reputable scientists and practitioners regarding the potential benefits and detrimental effects of marijuana” showed that Congress’ dangerous-drug classification was not arbitrary or irrational.

The defendants’ claims, the judge said, are “policy issues for Congress to revisit if it chooses.”

Mueller’s ruling was issued two days before CNN aired an interview with President Obama, who indicated support for the medical use of marijuana.

“I think carefully prescribed medical use of marijuana may in fact be appropriate and we should follow the science as opposed to ideology on this issue,” Obama told medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta in a documentary series entitled “Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution.”

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: begelko@sfchroniclecom

Twitter: @egelko

Pot party

in the park

Thousands of pot-smoking people are expected to converge on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park and in the Haight-Ashbury on Monday for the annual 4/20 celebration. The event — which is always unsanctioned and somewhat unappreciated by city officials — will peak at 4:20 p.m., with the afternoon city street commute then snarled by revelers leaving the park. Last year’s event was marred by late-

afternoon gunshots, although no one was injured, as well as mounds of trash. Police have said they will be out in force this year as well.