A U.S. Supreme Court has decreed that the Federal Government has the power to prevent sick patients from smoking home-grown marijuana that a doctor recommended to relieve chronic pain. The 6 to 3 ruling by a divided court is a major setback for the medical use of marijuana.
This now means the Federal Government can enforce a federal law prohibiting the cultivation, possession and use of medical marijuana even where it is legal under state law. As many as nine states allow the medical use of marijuana.
According to Justice John Paul Stevens the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, was a valid exercise of federal power by the U.S. Congress "even as applied to the troubling facts of this case" which involved two seriously ill California women.
Both the womens doctors recommended marijuana for their pain, Angel Raich has an inoperable brain tumor and other medical problems while Diane Monson suffers from severe back pain.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents destroyed six marijuana plants seized from Monson's home in 2002.
Monson cultivates her own marijuana while two of Raich's caregivers grow the marijuana and provide it to her free of charge.
After the verdict Raich of Oakland, California said despite losing this battle they still have the opportunity " to win this war". She says if she were to were to stop using marijuana she would die.
Judge Stevens said the case was difficult because of the strong arguments by the two women that they will suffer irreparable harm because marijuana has a valid therapeutic purpose. A congressional enquiry came to the contrary conclusion.
He stated that the question before the court was not whether it was wise to enforce the federal law in these circumstances, but only whether Congress has the power to adopt such a law.
Stevens said the democratic process might be more important than the legal challenges and added that supporters of medical marijuana "may one day be heard in the halls of Congress."
The ruling was a victory for the Bush administration, which appealed to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court in California ruled for the two women.
The administration had estimated that as many as 100,000 Californians would use marijuana for medical purposes if the Supreme Court ruled for the two women.
Although White House drug czar John Walters says the decision marks the end of medical marijuana as a political issue, supporters of the cause disagree.