faceless wrote:girldorksrule wrote:Incidentally, it is still illegal by federal statute, so it wouldn't have mattered if it had passed on the state level or not.
would it need a federal officer (not a local cop) to make the arrest if the state law said it was ok?
THIS PAST MAY, THE SUPREME COURT DELIVERED unwelcome news to those people who use marijuana to reduce severe pain and nausea. The justices ruled unanimously that the federal drug law that classifies marijuana as an illegal drug still stands--and that exceptions can't be made for states that allow distribution of the plant for medicinal use.
The federal government's strict marijuana policy is not new, but this was the first time that medical marijuana proponents have gone head to head with federal drug laws. The proponents had hoped that a Supreme Court win using medical necessity as their legal defense would force the federal government to realign its policy with California's less restrictive policy, allowing people with AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis to use marijuana with a doctor's permission.
Since 1996, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington have passed laws to let sick people who qualify use marijuana. These laws have always been at odds with federal drug policy. However, the ailing folks who use the drug have been safe because states don't have to enforce federal drug laws and the feds lack the resources to pursue cases.
But large-scale marijuana distribution centers like the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative (OCBC) in Oakland, Calif., have attracted the feds' attention. In 1998, federal prosecutors filed a court order prohibiting OCBC and five other marijuana distribution centers from supplying the plant to patients, a case which led to the May Supreme Court hearing. Because the focus of the court order was so narrow--directed at distribution centers only--state laws will still protect those patients who are referred by their doctors.
This ruling does not overturn existing state laws, says Chuck Thomas, director of communications at the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project. If convinced that medical marijuana is a valid treatment, states can still pass favorable marijuana laws and people can still lobby Congress to change its classification of marijuana.
Jeff Jones, executive director of OCBC, says he's standing behind his belief in medical marijuana. "We feel that this was round one and that there are many more rounds to go."
