Number: RL31100
Title: Marijuana for Medical Purposes: The Supreme Court's Decision in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and Related Legal Issues
Authors: Charles Doyle, American Law Division 
Abstract: There is no medical necessity defense to the federal crimes of cultivating or distributing marijuana. So said the Supreme Court in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, 532 U.S. 483, 486 (2001). The Court left undecided questions over whether a necessity defense might be available for possession and over possible enactment clause, and due process clause challenges. In Gonzales v. Raich, 125 S.Ct. 2195 (2005), it rejected the suggestion that purely local cultivation or possession of marijuana for medical purposes rested beyond Congress's reach under the commerce clause.
Pages: 14
Date: June 14, 2005