cannabisnews.com: Medicinal Marijuana Gets Court Skepticism





Medicinal Marijuana Gets Court Skepticism
Posted by CN Staff on November 30, 2004 at 16:42:44 PT
By Jim Puzzanghera, Mercury News Washington Bureau
Source: Mercury News
Washington -- Several U.S. Supreme Court justices reacted skeptically Monday to the arguments of two chronically ill California women seeking immunity from federal prosecution for smoking marijuana because state voters approved its medicinal use.Angel Raich, 39, of Oakland, and Diane Monson, 47, of Butte County, argue that U.S. officials are violating the Constitution by trying to stop them from using marijuana prescribed by doctors for their severe chronic pain.
Their attorney, Randy Barnett, told the justices that the marijuana the women smoke is homegrown only for their use and therefore is not an interstate commodity subject to federal regulation.Some conservative justices believe strongly in protecting the rights of states from federal encroachment. But they and other justices appeared critical of Barnett's arguments that medicinal marijuana users should be immune from federal law that bans the drug as a harmful and addictive controlled substance.Such exemptions could open the door to abuse of medicinal marijuana laws by recreational users, Justice Stephen Breyer said.Black MarketJustice Antonin Scalia said it was logical that some of the estimated 100,000 Californians who use medicinal marijuana would purchase it on the black market, making it an economic commodity the federal government can constitutionally regulate. And Breyer said people who believe marijuana has medicinal value should first take their case to the federal Food and Drug Administration.``Medicine by regulation is better than medicine by referendum,'' he said.A ruling is expected before the court's term ends in June.California voters approved the nation's first medicinal marijuana law, Proposition 215, in 1996. But the case has ramifications beyond California. Ten other states have laws allowing marijuana use for medicinal purposes, including Montana, where voters last month approved a ballot initiative.Marijuana is used to alleviate chronic pain, such as from glaucoma, and to suppress nausea and induce the appetite of people undergoing chemotherapy or battling AIDS.A ruling against the two California women would not invalidate California's medical marijuana laws or statutes in other states, mostly in the West. But it could discourage other states from passing similar ones and would allow the Bush administration to continue its aggressive approach of raiding and arresting some medical marijuana users.Possible PrecedentSuch a ruling also could set a precedent for wider congressional power under the U.S. Constitution's ``commerce clause,'' which the court has been trying to restrict in recent years.Raich, a frail, 98-pound mother of two who suffers from an inoperable brain tumor and a host of other ailments, said the marijuana prescribed by her Berkeley physician is the only medicine that has worked. It has allowed her to live a somewhat normal life after needing a wheelchair for four years.Without it, Raich said, she would no longer be able to keep food down and would quickly waste away.``If I was ever to get raided and the federal government took my medicine away from me, I would die in a very rapid, quick way. Without cannabis every two hours, I become debilitated,'' she said at a Washington news conference after the court session.Raich said she may be forced to move to a country with more relaxed laws if she loses the case, because she fears she will be targeted by federal agents because of her high-profile role as a medicinal marijuana user.But a legal victory for Raich could be a narrow one that would leave unresolved the broader question of the legality of medicinal marijuana.The Supreme Court has sent mixed signals on the controversial issue in recent years.Cannabis ClubIn 2001, the court ruled unanimously against an Oakland cannabis club that claimed a ``medical necessity'' exception to federal drug laws. But last year, the court rejected a Bush administration challenge to a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which bars the federal government from punishing doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients.Raich and Monson sued to prevent potential federal action against them after drug agents raided Monson's garden in August 2002, seizing the six marijuana plants she was allowed to grow under California's law. Monson smokes marijuana because she said it's the only medication that relieves her extreme back spasms.``I do not smoke in public at all,'' Monson said outside the Supreme Court building. ``I handle my medical problems privately, normally.'' She brought her marijuana with her and smoked some before attending the oral arguments.The two women won an injunction against federal raids on them in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which the Bush administration has challenged.Paul Clement, who argued the case for the federal government as the acting solicitor general, said allowing ``any little island of lawful possession'' of marijuana would undermine the intent of Congress in 1970 to ban the drug's use.Justice Sandra Day O'Connor questioned why the federal government would need to get involved in regulation of a commodity that was not intended to be sold across state lines. But Clement responded that it was ``a bit optimistic'' to assume none of the marijuana allowed to be grown in California for medicinal use would not be diverted into the marketplace.Such an increase in marijuana available for purchase would lower the price of the drug and undermine federal policy designed to make the drug more difficult to purchase, Clement said.Justice David Souter asked Clement if there was a value in drawing a narrowly defined distinction in the law between medicinal and recreational use of marijuana. But Clement said officials in California and elsewhere would find that line hard to police.Harmful EffectsClement also argued that Congress has the right to completely ban certain substances, and that marijuana has additional harmful effects from being smoked, making it physically unhealthy. He noted that the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, has been isolated and is legally available in pill form sold as Marinol.Raich and Monson said Marinol has not worked for them.Note: Justices will rule on law for California pot use.Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)Author: Jim Puzzanghera, Mercury News Washington BureauPublished: Tuesday, November 30, 2004Copyright: 2004 San Jose Mercury NewsContact: letters sjmercury.comWebsite: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Related Articles & Web Sites:Raich vs. Ashcroft http://www.angeljustice.org/Angel Raich v. Ashcroft Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/raich.htmThe Supremes Debate Medical Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19926.shtmlA Kinder Pot Policyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19924.shtmlCourt Hears Medical Marijuana Casehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19919.shtmlHigh Court Must Take Lead in MMJ Debatehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19917.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by breeze on November 30, 2004 at 19:45:41 PT
I grow my own food
I grow my own tomatos during the summer. I would grow more vegetables, as my family did for years, but lack the field to do it in. We never sold anything to anyone, if we had too much left over after preserving what we would use through the winter, we would give it away to others. I suppose we could have sold it, but we were never that greedy, we knew of others who would appreciate a small contribution of fresh veggies. Does this mean that we were breaking interstate commerce law? The food was obviously used for our health and well being.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on November 30, 2004 at 18:49:31 PT
NPR: Calls for States' Rights, from the Left
Talk of the Nation, November 30, 2004 · Championing states' rights isn't just for conservatives. A key tool in the fight over societal change is being used to promote medical marijuana and physician-assisted suicide. The line between what should be under federal control and what shouldn't is under new debate. Guests: Marci Hamilton, public law chair, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York; visiting scholar, Princeton Theological Seminary Jim Holt, contributor, New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker Michelle Goldberg, writer, Salon.comhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4192612
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Comment #2 posted by mayan on November 30, 2004 at 18:27:58 PT
Bush in Canada...
Here's some coverage of Bush's "warm" reception in Canada...Protest against Bush in Canada:
http://inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1077
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Comment #1 posted by mayan on November 30, 2004 at 17:31:04 PT
MURDER
Such exemptions could open the door to abuse of medicinal marijuana laws by recreational users, Justice Stephen Breyer said.So, what? People abuse prescription medications but I don't see the government trying to outlaw those! That's probably because the government is payed off if not partly owned by the pharmaceutical companies. What isn't abused in this society? They are going to murder the sick just because the healthy might enjoy the herb too...and it IS nothing short of MURDER!!! It's obvious there will be no objective decision handed down from the supremes. The deck is already stacked against us. Can't you just smell the rotten stench coming from the decaying corpe of freedom? SHADOW OF THE SWASTIKA: The Real Reason the Government Won't Debate Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Re-legalization:
http://www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.htmlTHE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...9/11: Frameup on Humanity - Updates: 
http://inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1078Consorting With The Enemy? 
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/archive/scoop/stories/b0/24/200411301454.f190767e.html9/11 Skeptics Unite:
http://911skeptics.blogspot.com/9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB - A Call to All True Patriots:  
http://www.911sharethetruth.com/AMENDED AND RESTATED CITIZENS' COMPLAINT AND PETITION
TO ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK FOR AN INDEPENDENT GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION:
http://www.justicefor911.org/Justicefor911Index_111904.php
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