Pubdate: Mon, 27 Nov 2000
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2000 The Miami Herald
Contact:  One Herald Plaza, Miami FL 33132-1693
Fax: (305) 376-8950
Website: http://www.herald.com/
Forum: http://krwebx.infi.net/webxmulti/cgi-bin/WebX?mherald
Author: Laurie Asseo, Associated Press Writer

SUPREME COURT TO WEIGH MEDICAL-MARIJUANA

WASHINGTON -- (AP) -- The Supreme Court took on a medical-marijuana dispute 
today, agreeing to decide whether "medical necessity" is a defense to the 
federal law that makes marijuana distribution a crime.

The justices said they will hear the Clinton administration's effort to 
stop a California group from providing the drug to seriously ill patients 
for pain relief.

In other cases Monday, the court:

- --Agreed to hear an appeal by a condemned killer from Texas whose lawyers 
say he is mentally retarded and has the reasoning capacity of a 7-year-old. 
The court said it will use the case of Johnny Paul Penry to clarify how 
much opportunity jurors in death-penalty cases must have to consider the 
defendant's mental capacity.

- --Said it will use a dispute over health care benefits paid to a man 
injured in a car accident to clarify whether health plans can sue to 
enforce some requirements. The court said it will hear a California 
company's argument that it can sue in federal court to force a man to give 
back his health benefits because he later got payment from another source. 
The man received $561,145 from his insurance company but also settled a 
claim against those responsibile for the auto crash. His health care plan 
included a requirement that beneficiaries give back their health payments 
if they later were reimbursed by another source. But Ellis refused to repay 
the benefits to the health plan.

- --Turned down a challenge by gambling operators in South Carolina. The 
court, without comment, rejected operators' argument that the ban -- which 
took effect in July when the state outlawed video gambling -- amounted to 
an unlawful government taking of their property without payment.

Congress has decided that marijuana has "no currently accepted medical 
use," Justice Department lawyers told the justices. A lower court decision 
allowing the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to distribute the drug 
"threatens the government's ability to enforce the federal drug laws," 
government lawyers added.

In August, the Supreme Court put the lower court ruling on hold and barred 
the California club from distributing marijuana while the government 
pursued its appeal.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer did not participate in the case. His brother, 
Charles, a federal trial judge in San Francisco, previously barred 
distribution of marijuana only to have his decision reversed by a federal 
appeals court.

Eight states in addition to California have medical-marijuana laws in place 
or approved by voters: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Washington 
state, Nevada and Colorado.

California's law, passed by the voters in 1996, authorizes the possession 
and use of marijuana for medical purposes upon a doctor's recommendation.

The Oakland group said its goal is "to provide seriously ill patients with 
safe access to necessary medicine so that these individuals do not have to 
resort to the streets."

But the federal Controlled Substances Act includes marijuana among the 
drugs whose manufacture and distribution are illegal.

In January 1998, the federal government filed a lawsuit against the Oakland 
club, asking a judge to ban it from providing marijuana.

Judge Charles Breyer ruled for the government. But the 9th U.S. Circuit 
Court of Appeals reversed, saying the government had not disproven the 
club's evidence that the drug was "the only effective treatment for a large 
group of seriously ill individuals."

Last May, Breyer ruled the Oakland club could provide marijuana to patients 
who needed it. The government appealed that ruling to the 9th Circuit, 
which has not yet ruled.

In the appeal acted on Monday, Justice Department lawyers said the Supreme 
Court could grant review now because the 9th Circuit court was not expected 
to change its decision.

That ruling threatens the government's ability to enforce the anti-drug 
law, Justice Department lawyers said. They said more than two dozen 
organizations were distributing marijuana for medical purposes in 
California, Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, all in the 9th Circuit.

The Oakland club's lawyers said "the voters of California have spoken" in 
approving the medical-marijuana measure. Congress has not explicitly barred 
a medical necessity defense against the federal anti-drug law, the lawyers 
added.

The case is U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, 00-151.
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