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Medicinal Marijuana Users Sue Federal Officials

By Lindsay F. Wiley [Bio]

October 10, 2002 - Two chronic pain patients and two caregivers have filed suit against Attorney General John Ashcroft and Drug Enforcement Administration Chief Asa Hutchinson for enforcing federal marijuana laws against them in violation of the Commerce Clause and the Fifth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments. The plaintiffs assert that federal intervention in states that permit medicinal use of marijuana violates federalism principles, denies them the constitutional right to preserve and prolong their lives and exceeds the constitutional bounds of federal power by interfering with intrastate commerce.

Patients in California, Oregon, Maine, Washington, Hawaii, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado are allowed to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. State medical marijuana laws conflict with the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which classifies marijuana as a Schedule I substance with no accepted medical use and mandates that it should be seized.

The plaintiffs - Angel McClary Raich, who suffers from a brain tumor and other ailments causing chronic pain, nausea and weight loss, Diane Monson, who suffers from chronic back pain, and two caregivers who grow marijuana for Raich - are represented by Robert Raich and David Michael. Raich and Michael also represented the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative in a similar suit that reached the U.S. Supreme Court last year.

The Court in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, 121 S.Ct. 1711 (2001), held that medical necessity was not a defense to manufacturing and distributing marijuana in violation of the CSA "regardless of any 'medical' justification under state law." Justice Clarence Thomas noted, however, that some constitutional issues were not resolved by the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' case.