Ill marijuana users face prosecution
US government authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors’ orders, the Supreme Court said today, ruling that state medical marijuana laws don’t protect users from a federal ban on the drug.
The decision is a defeat for marijuana advocates, who had successfully pushed 10 states to allow the drug’s use to treat symptoms of illness.
Justice John Paul Stevens, writing the 6-3 decision, said that Congress could change the law to allow medical marijuana.
The closely-watched case was an appeal by the Bush administration in a case it lost in late 2003. At issue was whether the prosecution of medical marijuana users under the federal Controlled Substances Act was constitutional.
Under the US Constitution, Congress may pass laws regulating a state’s economic activity so long as it involves “interstate commerce” that crosses state borders. The California marijuana in question was homegrown, distributed to patients without charge and without crossing state lines.
