csua.org/u/c9g -> www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/06/scotus.medical.marijuana/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The US Supreme Court Monday ruled doctors can be bl ocked from prescribing marijuana for patients suffering from pain caused by cancer or other serious illnesses. In a 6-3 vote, the justices ruled the Bush administration can block the b ackyard cultivation of pot for personal use, because such use has broade r social and financial implications. "Congress' power to regulate purely activities that are part of an econom ic 'class of activities' that have a substantial effect on interstate co mmerce is firmly established," wrote Justice John Paul Stevens for the m ajority. The case took an unusu ally long time to be resolved, with oral arguments held in November. The decision means that federal anti-drug laws trump state laws that allo w the use of medical marijuana, said CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey To obin. "If medical marijuana advocates want to get their views successfully pres ented, they have to go to Congress; they can't go to the states, because it's really the federal government that's in charge here," Toobin said. At issue was the power of federal government to override state laws on us e of "patient pot." The Controlled Substances Act prevents the cultivation and possession of marijuana, even by people who claim personal "medicinal" use. The govern ment argues its overall anti-drug campaign would be undermined by even l imited patient exceptions. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) began raids in 2001 against patients us ing the drug and their caregivers in California, one of 11 states that l egalized the use of marijuana for patients under a doctor's care. Among those arrested was Angel Raich, who has brain cancer, and Diane Monson, who grew cannabis in her garden to help alleviate chronic back pain. A federal appeals court concluded use of medical marijuana was non-commer cial, and therefore not subject to congressional oversight of "economic enterprise." But lawyers for the US Justice Department argued to the Supreme Court t hat homegrown marijuana represented interstate commerce, because the gar den patch weed would affect "overall production" of the weed, much of it imported across American borders by well-financed, often violent drug g angs. Lawyers for the patient countered with the claim that the marijuana was n either bought nor sold. After California's referendum passed in 1996, "c annabis clubs" sprung up across the state to provide marijuana to patien ts. They were eventually shut down by the state's attorney general. The US Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that anyone distributing medical mar ijuana could be prosecuted, despite claims their activity was a "medical activity." The current case considered by the justices dealt with the broader issue of whether marijuana users could be subject to prosecution. Along with California, nine states have passed laws permitting marijuana use by patients with a doctor's approval: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Main e, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Arizona also has a s imilar law, but no formal program in place to administer prescription po t California's Compassionate Use Act permits patients with a doctor's appro val to grow, smoke or acquire the drug for "medical needs." Users include television host Montel Williams, who uses it to ease pain f rom multiple sclerosis. Anti-drug activists say Monday's ruling could encourage abuse of drugs de emed by the government to be narcotics. "It's a handful of people who want to see not just marijuana, but all dru gs legalized," said Calvina Fay of the Drug Free America Foundation. In its hard-line stance in opposition to medical marijuana, the federal g overnment invoked a larger issue. "The trafficking of drugs finances the work of terror, sustaining terrorists," said President Bush in December 2001. Tough enforcement, the government told the justices, "is central to combating illegal drug possession."
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