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Bush administration seeking to overturn state law protecting marijuana patients
(Bob Egelko and Patrick Hoge, SFGate.com, June 29, 2004)
The U.S. Supreme Court cast a cloud on the medical marijuana movement's biggest legal victory Monday when the justices agreed to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a ruling that protects marijuana patients in California from federal prosecution. . . . The administration is challenging a decision in December by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that barred federal drug agents from interfering with the growing and use of marijuana by two women, Angel Raich of Oakland and Diane Monson of Oroville (Butte County). . . . The court will hear the case in the term that starts in October, with a ruling due by the end of June 2005. . . . Raich, 38, who uses marijuana with her doctor's approval to treat pain, nausea and seizures associated with a brain tumor and a wasting syndrome, made a fervent plea at a news conference Monday. . . . "Medical cannabis has saved my life,'' she said, but "this case is not just about medical cannabis. It's about whether or not the federal government in this country has the right to decide who may live and who may die.'' . . . Raich, disabled since 1995, takes marijuana about every two waking hours. Her primary physician, Dr. Frank Lucido of Berkeley, told reporters that Raich needs marijuana to fight off her physical deterioration. . . . Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state also have medical marijuana laws, though federal enforcement efforts have been largely concentrated on California. All those states except Colorado and Maine are in the Ninth Circuit and thus were covered by December's ruling. . . . Medical marijuana advocates put the best face possible on the Supreme Court's decision to review the case. . . . "The Supreme Court has a chance to protect the right of patients everywhere who need medical cannabis to treat their afflictions,'' said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access.

posted by LoZo 11:05 AM