High time: Appeals court supports medical use of marijuana.

Appeals court supports medical use of marijuana

PROPONENTS OF USING MARIJUANA FOR the treatment of pain won another battle September 13. That's when the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth District decided that patients and cannabis club administrators in California could use the medical necessity defense to protect themselves from prosecution under federal law.

The decision supports Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, a 1996 state law that sought to ensure that patients and their primary caregivers who obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a physician are not subject to criminal prosecution or sanction. After the passage of the law, a number of clubs or cooperatives, created to distribute marijuana to patients, began operating openly.

The appeals court decision arose from a case in which the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative sought to overcome an injunction brought against them and five other medical marijuana clubs in California by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer.

"There are some people who would choose to die from cancer rather than deal with the painful side effects of chemotherapy," says Raich. "The appeals court quite correctly recognized medical necessity exists in jurisprudence, part of common law. It didn't need to be a provision of the Controlled Substances Act."

Members of the Oakland club include people suffering from AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, and intractable pain from automobile and other accidents, says Raich. To become members, patients need to have written documentation from a state-licensed physician.

Raich notes that it is not at all unusual for nurses to help patients medicate with cannabis. "Older patients don't know much about marijuana or how to use it," he adds.

The voters in the Ninth District states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona have approved similar propositions to 215, Raich says.