Pubdate: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 Source: Bay Area Reporter (CA) Website: http://www.ebar.com/ Contact: 2000 The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Author: Liz Highleyman Cited: Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research - http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/home.htm Related: Institute of Medicine report - http://books.nap.edu/html/marimed/ National Institutes of Health report - http://www.nih.gov/news/medmarijuana/MedicalMarijuana.htm Bookmarks: Cannabis - Medicinal http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm MEDICAL POT GOES TO HIGH COURT On Monday, November 27, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether medical marijuana can be provided to patients who demonstrate "medical necessity." Cannabis distribution - for medicinal or any other reason - is currently illegal under federal laws. Many patients use the herb to relieve loss of appetite related to AIDS, to relieve nausea caused by cancer and anti-HIV drugs, and for several other illnesses, including cancer and glaucoma. This week's decision is the latest involving the case of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative. In January 1998, the federal government filed a lawsuit against the OCBC and five other California buyers' clubs to prevent them from providing medical marijuana. Federal Judge Charles Breyer issued a preliminary injunction imposing such a ban, and the Oakland club stopped selling marijuana in October of that year. However, in September 1999, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Breyer's ruling and instructed him to reconsider the case. The court stated that the OCBC had "identified a strong public interest in the availability of a doctor-prescribed treatment that would help ameliorate the condition and relieve the pain and suffering of a large group of persons with serious or fatal illnesses," and that the federal government had "offered no evidence to rebut evidence that cannabis is the only effective treatment for a large group of seriously ill individuals." This past July, Breyer reversed himself and allowed the OCBC to provide cannabis to patients once again. The Clinton administration appealed the lower court ruling, arguing that the distribution of medical marijuana "threatens the government's ability to enforce the federal drug laws." This past August, the Supreme Court ruled 7-1 that the Oakland club could not distribute medicinal cannabis while the case was under appeal. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the brother of Charles Breyer, recused himself from the case. According to OCBC lawyer Annette Carnegie, the federal Controlled Substances Act does not prohibit the provision of marijuana for medical purposes. She said that choices about the use of medicinal cannabis "are best made by physicians and not by the government." The OCBC argument is based on California's Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative passed by the state's voters in November 1996. Citizen initiatives in favor of medical cannabis have since passed in seven other states and the District of Columbia, including Colorado and Nevada, which passed such propositions earlier this month. Hawaii has the only medical marijuana law put into effect by a state legislature. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk