Laws permitting medical marijuana will be reviewed – The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA
In a previous marijuana case in 2001, the Supreme Court said there was no “medi- cal necessity” exception to the controlled-substance law. The latest California case asks whether Congress’ authority to regulate interstate commerce covers locally grown marijuana that doesn’t cross state lines.
It seems to me that if Congress wants to maintain the power to regulate marijuana generally, they had best pass a medical necessity exemption (perhaps good only in states that explicitly allow medical use). Why? This case hinges on interstate commerce not on anything to do with medicine. If the court rules, as it frankly should, that growing a plant for personal use and never crossing state lines isn’t “interstate commerce”, such a decision would affect the entire basis for Congress to legislate on any purely local drug production or use. Best bet for Congress: exempt medical use nationally and make the sympathetic cases involved here moot so there is no live controversy for the Court to rule on.