STATES CAN, SHOULD ALLOW MEDICAL POT USE

Now that the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative has resumed its
fight for the right to distribute medical marijuana to patients using
it legally under California law, it is important to keep in mind what
last May's Supreme Court ruling did and did not do.

The court's decision in United States vs. Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative et al did not prevent states from taking action to
protect patients who use marijuana for medical purposes. All eight
medical marijuana statutes enacted since 1996 remain in full force
and effect. The court merely said that distributors of medical
marijuana couldn't use a "medical necessity" defense under federal
law.

While this, combined with federal raids on the clubs, creates great
hardship and inconvenience for patients, medical marijuana users who
are in compliance with their states' laws are still protected from
arrest by those laws. This is critical, as 99 percent of marijuana
arrests are made by state and local authorities.

In other words, effective state laws prevent 99 out of 100 arrests of
medical marijuana patients. While arrests by federal agents are
theoretically possible, the Justice Department thus far has not gone
after individual medical marijuana users - perhaps realizing they
have little chance of convicting patients who are simply trying to
ease their suffering.

As the legal battles over the federal government's absurd war on
medical marijuana continue, state governments need not fear the
Supreme Court. They can and should continue to act to protect
patients.

Bruce Mirken, Assistant director of communications, Marijuana Policy
Project Washington, D.C.