The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) slapped down states’ rights to regulate marijuana for medical purposes, specifically regarding chronic illnesses like AIDS and various forms of cancer.
The 6-3 vote was released yesterday. The dissenters were Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O’Connor and Thomas. The grounds for the decision came down to a matter of jurisdiction. Marijuana is currently under the jurisdiction of the federal government and SCOTUS ruled states had no authority to override that jurisdiction. Plainly a classic case of states rights as 10 states had voted to make medical marijuana accessible to patients in need of relief from pain associated with chronic illness.
California’s Compassionate Use Act allow patients, like Angel Raich and Diane Monson, to grow small amounts of marijuana based on a doctor’s prescription. In many cases, the patients can barely survive without the aid of marijuana. They claim quite simply, this drug allows them to function and without they would probably die.
Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the majority and while he supported the federal government’s jurisdiction in the matter, he suggested the problem could be addressed by other routes, namely through congress and by going through the executive branch.
The executive route would be the easiest. The attorney general, after consulting with the secretary of Health and Human Services could shift the status of marijuana from having absolutely no medical value to having some medical value. This would allow doctors to prescribe the substance and still maintain the tight regulation of the product.
The other route is a little trickier in some respects because it requires a lot more people to be on board for the decision. Congress has the power legislate the matter. They Controlled Substances Act, which set up the schedule system and where marijuana lies in the system is certainly within their scope of power to regulate, as they’ve done it before.
The decision of the court really just said the federal government has jurisdiction. Then they squarely placed this bouncing ball into the laps of the legislative and executive branches, where it will bounce indefinitely.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
