Thursday, March 15, 2007

Angel Raich and Medical Marijuana



The headline on NPR:

Court Rules Against Ill Woman in Medical Marijuana Case

by

Morning Edition, March 15, 2007 · A chronically ill woman in California has lost a legal round in her effort to use medical marijuana. A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that even though medical marijuana use is legal in California, the woman is not immune from prosecution under federal drug laws.

The ruling was the latest legal defeat for Angel Raich, a mother of two from Oakland suffering from scoliosis, a brain tumor, chronic nausea and other ailments who sued the federal 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 bolster her appetite. (Boston Herald.com)

Fact from CBS News:
The case is likely to reach the U.S. 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.

Because of the ruling of the Supreme Court in the past, the issue before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was narrowed to the so-called right to life theory: that marijuana should be allowed if it is the only viable option to keep a patient alive.

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