Court OKs Medical Marijuana in Some Cases
Wed Dec 17, 5:43 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - An appeals court ruled Tuesday that a federal law outlawing marijuana does not apply to sick people who are allowed to smoke pot with a doctor's recommendation. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a blow to the federal government in its fight against medical marijuana. The Justice Department has argued that state medical marijuana laws were trumped by federal drug laws.

The case also underscores the conflict between federal law and California's 1996 medical marijuana law, which allows people to grow, smoke or obtain marijuana for medical needs with a doctor's recommendation. Eight other states have similar laws. The Justice Department was not immediately available to comment on the ruling from an appeals court some call the nation's most liberal.

In its 2-1 decision, the court said prosecuting medical marijuana users under the federal law is unconstitutional if the marijuana is not sold, transported across state lines or used for non-medicinal purposes. Judge Harry Pregerson wrote for the majority that smoking pot on the advice of a doctor is "different in kind from drug trafficking." The court added that "this limited use is clearly distinct from the broader illicit drug market."

Tuesday's case in an outgrowth of a 2001 decision by the Supreme Court, which ruled that medical marijuana clubs could not dole out pot on the grounds of "medical necessity," even if patients have a doctor's recommendation to use the drug. Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state have laws similar to California, which has been the focus of federal drug interdiction efforts. Agents have raided and shut down several medical marijuana growing clubs. The appeals court, the nation's largest, has jurisdiction over all the states except Colorado and Maine.