CANNABIS CLUB DEFENDING POT THERAPY AT HIGH COURT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A few years ago, an author writing about death
asked ailing AIDS patient Michael Alcalay how he was accepting dying. "I'm
not accepting it," Alcalay retorted.

Alcalay is alive today thanks in part, he believes, to doses of marijuana
that helped him keep his medicines down and appetite up as he fought the
disease. On Wednesday, Alcalay will be in the audience as lawyers try to
convince the U.S. Supreme Court that federal anti-drug laws shouldn't
prevent marijuana from being given to seriously ill patients for pain
relief. "Once the justices recognize what's really at stake in this case,
if any semblance of justice prevails then so will we," said Robert Raich,
an attorney representing the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative. The
cooperative is a distribution club operating under California's Proposition
215, the voter-approved law that allows the possession and use of marijuana
for medical purposes on a doctor's recommendation. That's where Alcalay
used to get his marijuana. But he's had to look elsewhere since the federal
government sued the cooperative and five other California pot clubs in 1998
to prevent them from distributing the drug. A federal judge sided with the
government. But last year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that
"medical necessity" is a legal defense. California officials, including
Attorney General Bill Lockyer, argue that the state has the right to
enforce its medical marijuana law, which was approved by voters in 1996.
Distribution clubs sprang up because Proposition 215 is silent on how
patients will get marijuana, outside of growing and harvesting it themselves.

The Supreme Court is not looking directly at Proposition 215, but rather at
whether medical necessity may be used as a defense against federal drug
bans. It's unclear whether the justices will rule on that general issue or
rule more narrowly on how lower courts have handled this case. If the court
says "Yes" to the necessity defense, it could make it easier to distribute
medical marijuana in California and the eight other states with similar
laws -- Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Maine, Nevada and
Colorado.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer has recused himself because he is
the brother of Charles Breyer, the federal district judge who ordered the
club to stop distributing marijuana.

The club remains open, but only to sell legal hemp products and maintain a
membership database.

Justice Department lawyers declined to comment on the case. They have
argued that allowing clubs to hand out marijuana compromises the
government's ability to enforce federal drug laws.