Our blogs about
America's Wars
War on Iraq
War on Drugs
War on Afghanistan
War on Columbia
War on Philippines
War on Venezuela

More
Matrix Masters
Blogs
World Events
US News
Science & Health
Earth News
Free Speech
News from Africa
News from Palestine
Bill of Rights Under Attack

Matrix Masters'
SUPPORTERS

Lorenzo's
Random Musings
. . . about Chaos,
Reason, and Hope

 

Supreme Court Will Hear Argument on Medical Marijuana Laws
(Linda Greenhouse, New York Times, June 29, 2004)
The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether Congress has the authority to prohibit the medical use of marijuana in states where the voters or the legislature have approved the drug's use under a doctor's care. . . . The case, certain to be one of the most closely watched of the court's next term, is an appeal by the Bush administration of a preliminary ruling issued last December by the federal appeals court in San Francisco. That court, finding that the federal Controlled Substances Act was "likely unconstitutional" as applied to two California patients and their suppliers of marijuana, issued an injunction that barred federal enforcement while the case proceeded. . . . In addition to its implications for social policy, the case also raises important federalism questions. One question is whether the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce extends to marijuana that is cultivated for noncommercial use within the borders of a single state, never traveling in interstate commerce. . . . Attorney General John Ashcroft has strongly opposed the state laws. The case the Supreme Court accepted began with a confrontation between sheriff's deputies in Butte County, Calif., and federal drug agents, who both showed up at the home of Diana Monson, a patient whose severe back spasms are not helped by prescription drugs but are alleviated by marijuana, which she uses under her doctor's care. The sheriff's deputies concluded that the marijuana she was growing was legal, but the federal agents seized and destroyed her plants after a three-hour standoff with the deputies.

posted by LoZo 7:49 PM