Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jun 2005
Source: Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, WI)
Copyright: 2005 Eau Claire Press
Contact: http://www.cvol.net/contacteditor.htm#editorform
Website: http://www.leadertelegram.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/236
Note: A reprint of a Chicago Tribune editorial
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich (Gonzales v. Raich)

HIGH COURT MUST BE ON SOMETHING

Ten years ago, the Supreme Court surprised legal experts when it
struck down a federal law barring gun possession in school zones - not
because it was in favor of guns in schools, but because it said
Congress had no constitutional authority to legislate in such a
quintessentially local sphere.

Ever since, the question has been: How far will the court go to
rebalance the powers of the federal government versus the states? On
Monday the court gave an answer: Not very far.

Federal law bars the sale, possession or cultivation of marijuana. But
several states have chosen to allow cannabis use by seriously ill
people who can't get relief from conventional medicine.

In 1996, Californians approved a ballot measure allowing doctors to
recommend marijuana to patients and permitting patients to use it,
under a strict state-monitored program. That, however, didn't stop the
federal Drug Enforcement Administration from carrying out raids
against medical marijuana users in California.

One of those raids targeted plants grown for her own needs by Diane
Monson, whose physician had attested that pot was the only drug that
alleviated her severe spinal pain. She and another medical marijuana
user went to court arguing that the federal government could not
legally conduct such raids, because Congress had overstepped its
constitutional boundaries in banning this use of pot.

A federal appeals court agreed. The Bush administration said the raids
were conducted under Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce -
a provision that has long been the rationale for federal intrusions
into traditional state functions.

But in the end, despite what it admitted were the "troubling facts of
this case," the Supreme Court bent over backward to give lawmakers in
Washington the benefit of every doubt. By a 6-3 vote, the court found
marijuana grown in these conditions could possibly have an impact on
interstate commerce - even if the pot at issue never elicited a
payment or crossed a state line.

So the federal government has the power to punish sick people using
cannabis as medicine, on the advice of their doctors, even in states
where medical marijuana is allowed. What the federal government
doesn't have, even after this decision, is a good reason to do so.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake