WAMM (the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana) and Santa Cruz, CA vs. The Feds

The federal raid on the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), a medical marijuana co-operative in Santa Cruz, CA, galvanized an entire community in support of patients and their caregivers, and against the federal government.

On September 5, 2002, the DEA raided the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) in Santa Cruz, CA. City and County officials were outraged. As the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported on Sept. 11, 2002 ( "County, City Condemn DEA Marijuana Raid"), "County supervisors unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday condemning the federal government's raid of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana garden last week. The Santa Cruz City Council passed a similar measure. Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt, who sponsored the county resolution, said she was 'appalled' by the raid. 'This type of federal action seems to me completely unwarranted,' she said. 'Most of us know the Wo/Men's Alliance to be exemplary in its practice.' Wormhoudt said the raid is forcing WAMM members to buy marijuana on the open market, which is both risky and costly. And, ironically, the raid is supporting international drug cartels that sell marijuana and other dangerous drugs, she said."

The San Jose Metro noted on Sept. 12, 2002 ( "Wamm-Bam, Thank You, Uncle Sam!") that "Six days short of the Sept. 11 anniversary, federal DEA agents put federal tax dollars to work by raiding the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana ( better known as WAMM ), a Santa Cruz-based cooperative and one of the most successful medicinal marijuana programs in the nation. At 7am, Sept. 5, a dozen camouflage-clad agents showed up at the Davenport home of Valerie and Michael Corral, who founded WAMM a decade ago. Pointing their weapons, the agents told wheelchair-bound WAMM member Suzanne Pfeil to stand up. 'I can't stand up. I told them I was sorry,' said Pfeil, who suffers from post-polio syndrome. DEA agents then arrested a pajama-clad Valerie Corral, along with her husband Michael. According to DEA spokesman Richard Meyer, the Corrals were arrested and taken into custody in San Jose on federal charges of intent to distribute marijuana, but by midafternoon they had been released, with the U.S. Attorney's office declining to file charges."

In response to the DEA's actions, the city of Santa Cruz is holding a unique protest on Sept. 17. As the Associated Press reported on Sept. 11, 2002 ( "California City Plans Marijuana Giveaway"), "City leaders plan to join medical marijuana users at a pot giveaway at City Hall next week, hoping to send a message to federal authorities that, in this town, medical marijuana is welcome. The invitation comes one week after agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency arrested the high-profile owners of a pot farm and confiscated 130 plants that had been grown to be used as medicine. 'It's just absolutely loathsome to me that federal money, energy and staff time would be used to harass people like this,' said vice mayor Emily Reilly, who with several City Council colleagues plans to pass out medical marijuana to sick people from the garden-like courtyard at City Hall on Tuesday."

In April 2004, in light of the 9th Circuit Court's decision in the case of Raich v. Ashcroft, the federal judge presiding in the case of Santa Cruz v. Ashcroft decided to reconsider and granted the plaintiffs relief. As noted in WAMM's news release from April 21, 2004:
"Eighteen months after a brutal DEA raid on a medical marijuana collective in Santa Cruz, California, the seriously ill collective members finally got the protection from future raids and harassment they have sought since filing suit against the federal government one year ago. After reconsidering his earlier decision in the high profile case County of Santa Cruz et al. v. Ashcroft, Judge Jeremy Fogel of the Northern District of California has granted Plaintiffs a preliminary injunction and denied the government's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' complaint. Today's ruling will protect the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) while the lawsuit is pending, and allow the collective to resume cultivation.
"The Drug Policy Alliance, along with the law firm Bingham McCutchen LLP, the Santa Cruz City Attorney and co-counsel Prof. Gerald Uelmen and Ben Rice, represent Plaintiffs in this case. "In the face of overzealous federal law enforcement, for the first time a court has applied the law in a way that protects the right of a group of sick people to grow and share their medicine without fear," said Judy Appel, Director of Legal Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "Today's decision affirms the right of WAMM's members to cultivate and use marijuana for medicinal purposes free from federal interference," stated Neha Shah Nissen, an attorney with Bingham McCutchen. "The federal government can no longer ignore the will of the people of the State of California and the City and County of Santa Cruz to protect the health and welfare of terminally and chronically ill individuals.""

For more about the case, check out the WAMM website or go directly to the WAMM Santa Cruz v. Ashcroft website. For much more information about the continuing crisis in California, including action alerts, check out Americans For Safe Access.