Supreme Court Rejects Medicinal Marijuana Case

In a surprising move in support of state laws allowing medicinal marijuana use, in October the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration's request to hear a case on allowing the federal government to strip prescription licenses from doctors who recommend marijuana use or discuss it with their patients. A federal appeals court in 2002 ruled against the Administration's plan to revoke the prescription licenses, saying 'physicians must be able to speak frankly and openly to patients.' Federal law, supported by a May 2001 Supreme Court decision, prohibits the use, sale, or possession of marijuana in all circumstances, even among those who use it to treat symptoms of serious illnesses like AIDS and cancer. But by rejecting the current case, the court cleared the way for doctors in states that have state-level measures allowing for medicinal marijuana use to recommend the drug for their patients without fear of federal reprisal.