cannabisnews.com: Supreme Court Agrees to Rule on Prescription Pot Supreme Court Agrees to Rule on Prescription Pot Posted by FoM on November 27, 2000 at 18:39:41 PT By Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Source: San Francisco Chronicle The Supreme Court jumped into the battle over medical marijuana in California and other states Monday, agreeing to decide whether seriously ill patients and their suppliers can be exempted from federal drug laws. The justices agreed to review the Clinton administration's appeal of an unprecedented lower-court ruling last year that allowed the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to distribute marijuana to patients who showed a medical necessity. Justice Department lawyers argued that allowing an exemption would flout federal drug laws and defy Congress' determination that marijuana has no currently accepted medical use. But lawyers for the Oakland cooperative contended the drug laws did not repeal a longstanding legal doctrine allowing violation of a lesser criminal law to prevent a greater harm -- in this case, severe pain and the sometimes life-threatening side effects of therapies for AIDS and cancer. The ruling, due by the end of next June, is crucial for the 30 or more organizations around the state that have sprung up since passage of the 1996 initiative to supply patients with medical marijuana. Only a handful have been targeted by the federal government, but that could change if the court rules in the government's favor. "We have faith, when the Supreme Court considers this case on the merits, that it will consider the needs of the patients who are suffering," said Jeff Jones, executive director of the Oakland cooperative. More broadly, the ruling may determine how far a state can go in making an otherwise-illegal drug available to its residents for medical purposes. Eight other states have medical-marijuana laws similar to California's Prop. 215: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado. Prop. 215, approved by 56 percent of California voters in November 1996, allowed patients to obtain and use marijuana at their doctors' recommendation without being prosecuted under state law. Clinton administration drug warriors attacked the California law before its passage and have relentlessly fought its implementation. Texas Gov. George W. Bush, by contrast, has said he believes states should choose whether to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes. "I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose," Bush said while campaigning in Seattle in October 1999. Shortly after Prop. 215 passed, federal authorities threatened to revoke the prescription license of any doctor who recommended marijuana, but were thwarted by a federal judge. The government also moved against newly formed clubs in Oakland, San Francisco and elsewhere that enrolled patients as members and provided them marijuana based on notes from their doctors. Though the loosely drafted Prop. 215 left the clubs' status unclear under state law, some have reached agreements with local authorities to regulate their operations and avoid prosecution -- an arrangement that, in Oakland's case, includes designation of the 2,000-member cooperative as an agent of the city. But as the Justice Department pointed out, state law and local accommodations are trumped by federal laws that make marijuana distribution a felony. The Clinton administration won an injunction in 1998 that closed marijuana clubs in Oakland and San Francisco, but was set back in September 1999 when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became the first in the nation to apply an ancient legal defense -- necessity -- to federal drug laws. The defense, often argued in criminal cases but rarely successful, allows a person to break the law when that is the only way to prevent a graver harm. The appeals court said it could be used by patients who face imminent harm from a serious medical condition and have found that legal alternatives to marijuana don't work or cause intolerable side effects. The government "has offered no evidence to rebut (a marijuana club's) evidence that cannabis is the only effective treatment for a large group of seriously ill individuals," said the three-judge appeals panel. Ordered by the court to reconsider his injunction, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled in July that the Oakland cooperative could distribute marijuana to patients who could show a medical necessity. Breyer is the brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who has removed himself from consideration of the case. The cooperative, which has been operating as a legal marijuana store and patient referral center, was still reviewing its membership list in August when the Supreme Court blocked Breyer's order on a 7-1 vote. That action foreshadowed the court's agreement Monday to take up the government's appeal of the 9th Circuit ruling. In their Supreme Court appeal, Justice Department lawyers said recognition of a medical necessity defense threatens the government's ability to enforce the federal drug laws. Such a defense could be invoked by traffickers in harder drugs, they said. The federal Controlled Substances Act allows medical use of marijuana only in tightly regulated federal experiments -- like one approved last week for 60 AIDS patients in San Mateo County -- and forbids all other uses, government lawyers contended. Note: Decision will affect seriously ill patients.Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Monday, November 27, 2000 Copyright: 2000 San Francisco ChronicleContact: chronletters sfgate.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/Related Articles & Web Site:Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperativehttp://www.rxcbc.org/Supreme Court To Decide Medical Marijuana Case http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7784.shtmlSupreme Court Accepts Medical-Marijuana Issue http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7783.shtml Medical Pot To Be Studied in 60 Cases http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7744.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: