Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2005
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2005 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: David Kravets, Associated Press, Canadian Press
Note: The decision is on line in various formats here 
http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1454.ZS.html and as a 79 
page .pdf file here http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-1454.pdf
Action: Suggested Actions in Response to the Raich Decision 
http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0309.html

U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA

SAN FRANCISCO -- The two plaintiffs in the medical marijuana case
decided by the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday say they will defy the
ruling and continue to smoke pot, even at the risk of arrest by
federal authorities.

"I'm going to have to be prepared to be arrested," said Diane Monson,
who smokes marijuana several times a day to relieve back pain.

The Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities may arrest and
prosecute people whose doctors recommend marijuana to ease pain,
concluding that state laws do not protect users from a federal ban on
the drug.

Justice John Paul Stevens, writing the 6-3 decision, said that
Congress could change the law to allow medical use of marijuana.

Monson, 48, of Oroville, Calif., was prescribed marijuana by her
doctor in 1997 after standard prescription drugs didn't work or made
her sleepy.

She is battling degenerative spine disease. "I'm way disappointed.
There are so many people that need cannabis," Monson said.

Fifty-six per cent of California voters approved the country's first
so-called medical marijuana law in 1996.

Even though the state law was on the books, Monson's backyard crop of
six marijuana plants was seized by federal agents in 2002. She and
Angel Raich, the other plaintiff, sued then-attorney general John Ashcroft.

"If I stop using cannabis, unfortunately, I would die," said Raich,
who estimates her marijuana intake to be about four kilograms a year.

In Canada, a small portion of Canadians are permitted to possess
marijuana to treat a serious medical condition. They must hold an
exemption card issued by the federal government. The marijuana, whose
quality has been questioned, is grown in an abandoned mine at Flin
Flon. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake