KTVU.com - News - Supreme Court: Medical Marijuana Users Can Be Prosecuted

KTVU.com - News - Supreme Court: Medical Marijuana Users Can Be Prosecuted:

"Supreme Court: Medical Marijuana Users Can Be Prosecuted

POSTED: 7:16 am PDT June 6, 2005
UPDATED: 8:24 am PDT June 6, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors' orders, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state medical marijuana laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug.

The decision is a stinging defeat for marijuana advocates who had successfully pushed 10 states to allow the drug's use to treat various illnesses.

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

The closely watched case was an appeal by the Bush administration in a case involving two seriously ill California women who use marijuana. The court said the prosecution of pot users under the federal Controlled Substances Act was constitutional.

'I'm going to have to be prepared to be arrested,' said Diane Monson, one of the women involved in the case.
In a dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said that states should be allowed to set their own rules."

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