Raich v. Ashcroft

The case of Raich v. Ashcroft, now Ashcroft v. Raich, went before the Supreme Court on Nov. 29, 2004. As reported by the San Jose Mercury News on Nov. 23, 2004 ( "Oakland Woman Battles For Medical Pot"), "In the dimly lit living room of her home in the Oakland hills, Angel Raich lights up a pipe stuffed with marijuana. For this frail mother of two teenagers, the ritual isn't some secret drug habit -- it is a recommendation by a doctor to help with a variety of painful ailments, including a brain tumor. Although Raich smokes nine pounds of marijuana each year, California law enforcement officials consider her a law-abiding citizen. California voters eight years ago legalized medicinal marijuana for patients like Raich. But to the federal government, Raich is a criminal. Now, she and Diane Monson, a Butte County woman who also smokes marijuana at the recommendation of her doctor, are the latest legal warriors in the seemingly irreconcilable conflict between the federal government and states such as California that endorse the use of cannabis for the sick and dying. For the second time in three years, that collision has reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which on Monday will hear arguments in their challenge to the Bush administration's efforts to crack down on medicinal marijuana. The stakes are high for medical marijuana advocates: Another loss in the Supreme Court probably would slam the door for patients and those who grow pot for them, barring a shift in Congress' attitude about legalizing marijuana."

According to the Mercury News, "Raich and Monson sued to prevent the government from being able to raid or arrest them. But when the justices consider Raich and Monson's arguments, they will not be deciding the merits of medicinal marijuana laws. Instead, the case turns on old-fashioned principles of states' rights and the scope of federal powers to regulate commerce, the legal link to the enforcement of many federal laws. The court in recent years has been fiercely divided on the issue of states' rights vs. federal power, often splitting 5-4 in cases that hinge on the question. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who is being treated for thyroid cancer, has been a deciding vote in favor of states' rights, but his participation in the upcoming arguments is in doubt. A federal appeals court sided with Raich and Monson last year, concluding that Congress does not have the authority to regulate medical marijuana possession as long as the activity doesn't cross state lines. Even if medical pot advocates win in the Supreme Court, a ruling would only allow authorized patients to possess marijuana for personal use or caregivers to grow and provide the weed as long as no money changes hands. Federal drug laws would continue to prevent broader methods of providing medical marijuana to patients."

The Mercury News noted that "The Raich case is the first test of the Bush administration's more aggressive approach toward patients and pot providers in California and elsewhere. During the Clinton administration, federal law enforcement officials used civil lawsuits to target distributors but largely left individual patients alone. Under outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft, federal agents have raided and arrested medical marijuana patients and their pot providers, including a raid on a Santa Cruz cooperative in 2002."

Check out the Angel Justice website for more about the case, including copies of court documents filed by both sides.