MEDICAL MARIJUANA CAN'T BE DISMISSED THIS EASILY

Monday's Supreme Court ruling against the use of of marijuana for medical
purposes should not be the federal government's final say on the issue.

Medical marijuana advocates need to work with lawmakers to resolve an issue
that will not be as easily dismissed on a local level as it was on a
federal one. The Court's 8-0 ruling goes against voters in eight states who
have approved of the use of medical marijuana.

We are in no position to deny people dying of AIDS their chosen medication
- -- and neither is the federal government. Supporters of medical marijuana
need to urge their legislators to work to uphold the will of the people.

The Bay Area was the birthplace of the movement for medical marijuana, and
it will be the epicenter for future battles to decriminalize its use.

Monday's ruling was spurred by a federal injunction against the Oakland
Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, a provider of the drug to local patients. Last
week the Berkeley City Council ruled to determine how many cooperatives it
should allow in the city limits. These conflicting actions are indeed the
problem with medical marijuana -- the federal government says one thing,
while local government says another.

The Court ruled against medical marijuana on the basis of the Controlled
Substances Act, a decades-old ruling that states marijuana has no medicinal
benefits.

But voters think otherwise and the government needs to address this issue.
Congress should commission an extensive study into the use of marijuana as
medicine.

The Court's ruling was a setback, but this is an issue that is just
starting to burn.