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Politics : Piffer Thread on Political Rantings and Ravings -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Oral Roberts who wrote (1065)	5/14/2001 11:23:54 AM
From: Original Mad Dog	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14610

Message 15796762 dailynews.yahoo.com Monday May 14 10:44 AM ET Supreme Court Rules Against Medical Marijuana By James Vicini WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a defeat for the medical marijuana movement, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) ruled on Monday that marijuana may not be given to seriously ill patients as a ``medical necessity'' because cannabis has been classified as an illegal drug under federal law. The nation's highest court gave the federal government a key victory in its battle over whether a California cannabis club may resume distributing marijuana to patients. The case had marked a watershed for the U.S. medical marijuana movement, which has been mired in legal battles since California in 1996 approved the nation's first initiative legalizing medicinal use of the drug. Saying the case raised ``significant questions'' about the government's ability to enforce the nation's drug laws, Justice Clarence Thomas (news - web sites) wrote for the court that federal law prohibits the manufacture and distribution of various drugs, including marijuana. ``In this case, we must decide whether there is a medical necessity exception to these prohibitions. We hold that there is not,'' he declared. Thomas said a U.S. appeals court had been wrong in ruling that marijuana clubs in California may distribute the drug to those who prove cannabis was medically necessary. The California initiative allowed seriously ill patients to use marijuana for pain relief as long as they have a doctor's recommendation. Similar measures have been adopted in a number of other states. Joining Thomas in the opinion were Chief Justice William Rehnquist (news - web sites) and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor (news - web sites), Antonin Scalia (news - web sites) and Anthony Kennedy (news - web sites). The five make up the court's conservative majority. Justice John Paul Stevens (news - web sites), joined by the Justices David Souter (news - web sites) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (news - web sites), issued a separate opinion concurring in the judgement. The are part of the court's more moderate-liberal members. Stevens emphasized that the court's ruling was narrow, only holding that medical necessity was not a defense for manufacturing and distributing marijuana. Justice Stephen Breyer (news - web sites) did not participate in the ruling. His brother, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco, has been hearing the dispute.