Supreme Court quashes use of medical marijuana

Organized medicine says more study is needed to determine the drug's possible efficacy.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. June 27, 2005.

Doctors who recommend cannabis for patients should be more cautious now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government can prosecute patients who use the substance in states that have legalized it for medicinal purposes, California Medical Assn. executives say.

An earlier court ruling in a separate case protects physicians who talk about medical marijuana with their patients. But physicians need to understand that the federal government considers patients using medical marijuana to be in violation of federal law, and the court supports that position under the June 6 ruling, said CMA Executive Vice President and CEO Jack Lewin, MD.

That means if a patient is arrested, the physician who recommended the treatment could potentially have trouble with his or her DEA number or medical license, he warned.

"We were disappointed in the decision but not surprised," Dr. Lewin said. "It puts a chill on the doctor-patient relationship."

The California Medical Assn. does not take a position on medical marijuana.

With passage of a voter referendum, California in 1996 became the first state to allow residents to possess and use cannabis if a physician recommends it to treat a medical condition. Nearly a dozen other states have followed with similar laws.

California residents Angel McClary Raich and Diane Monson, who use the plant for serious medical conditions, filed a lawsuit asking the courts to find that it is unconstitutional to prosecute patients growing and using medical marijuana after a physician recommends it. Their lawsuit came after federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents in 2002 seized and destroyed Monson's six cannabis plants.