AP Features, March 14th, 2007
A woman whose doctor says marijuana is the only medicine keeping her alive is not immune from federal prosecution on drug charges, a U.S. appeals court ruled Wednesday.
Angel Raich, a mother of two suffering from scoliosis, a brain tumor, chronic nausea and other ailments, sued the U.S. government pre-emptively to avoid being arrested for using the drug. On her doctor's advice, Raich eats or smokes marijuana every couple of hours to ease her pain and boost a nonexistent appetite, as conventional drugs did not work.
The decision highlights the conflict between the federal government, which declares marijuana an illegal controlled substance with no medical value, and the 11 states that allow medical marijuana for patients with a doctor's recommendation.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Raich two years ago, saying medical marijuana users and their suppliers could be prosecuted for breaching federal drug laws even if they lived in a state where medical marijuana is legal.
Because of that ruling, the issue before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was narrowed to the so-called right to life theory: that the gravely ill have a right to marijuana to keep them alive when legal drugs fail.
Raich, 41, began sobbing when she was told of the decision and said she would continue using the drug.
"I'm sure not going to let them kill me," she said. "Oh my God."
The appeals court said the United States has not yet reached the point where "the right to use medical marijuana is 'fundamental' and 'implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.'"
However, the court left open the possibility that Raich, if she is arrested and prosecuted, might be able to argue that she possessed marijuana as a last resort to stay alive, in what is known as a "medical necessity defense."
Raich was asking the court to block enforcement of the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, which criminalized marijuana, LSD, heroin and other drugs.
When the case was argued before the appeals court a year ago, the government said it could not guarantee that Raich or other seriously ill patients using medical marijuana would not be arrested or prosecuted. Over the years, the government has raided dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries, mostly in California.
The case is likely to reach the Supreme Court, but each time the high court has taken up the issue of medical marijuana, it has ruled against allowing the sick and dying to use the drug to ease their symptoms and possibly prolong life.
Voters in 1996 made California the first state to authorize patients to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.
