This sad descision from the Supreme
Court will drag out the fight over medical marijuana and prolong the suffering
for those who need the medicine. As the case of author Peter McWilliams clearly
showed, the federal government is perfectly comfortable with having people die
as a result of being forbidden to avail themselves of that medicine. This
verdict will delay any deliberation on the issue by the court until after the
election, a fact not un-noticed by Clinton and Reno, to be
sure.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 -- The Supreme
Court continued a ban today on the
distribution of marijuana for medical
purposes in California, signaling that
it might consider the issue in its
fall term.
The court voted 7 to 1 to grant an emergency request from the
Clinton
administration to postpone enforcement of a lower court ruling that
would
have allowed the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to distribute
the drug.
The decision today was the latest development in a clash
between federal
narcotics laws and a 1996 California voters' initiative to
allow seriously
ill patients to grow and use marijuana for pain relief, with
doctors'
approval. Similar initiatives have since been passed in several
other states.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit,
in San Francisco,
had ruled that medical necessity could be a defense to a
federal criminal
charge of distributing drugs. That ruling overturned an
earlier one by Judge
Charles R. Breyer of Federal District Court in San
Francisco that barred
distribution of marijuana.
Justice Department
lawyers had called the Ninth Circuit finding dangerous and
said it would
encourage drug traffickers and promote disrespect for the law.
The
Supreme Court's decision to stay the Ninth Circuit ruling was not
surprising; it would have been extraordinary for the highest court in the
land not to let the government have its day before the tribunal. The court
will decide whether to hear the case when it returns for its fall term.
Only Justice John Paul Stevens dissented, contending that the government
had
failed to show that allowing "seriously ill and dying patients" to use
marijuana would undermine the public interest.
Justice Stephen G.
Breyer disqualified himself because he is Judge Charles
Breyer's
brother.
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