Medical-Pot Fight Goes to Justices

Angel Raich, a 39-year-old mother of two, smokes marijuana eight times a day in her Oakland home.

She does it to relieve pain from a brain tumor and more than a dozen other maladies. And she does it with her doctor’s blessing and the permission of the state of California, which allows medical patients to use the otherwise illegal weed if recommended by a physician.

Since 1996, California and 11 other states have passed laws that ease or eliminate sanctions for the medicinal use of pot. But the federal government says it still has the right to prosecute Raich and patients like her because federal law considers pot a harmful drug without proven medical benefits.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 27 Nov 2004
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.