JUSTICES REACT SKEPTICALLY MEDICAL-MARIJUANA ARGUMENTS

WASHINGTON - Several U.S. Supreme Court justices reacted skeptically Monday
to the legal arguments of two chronically ill California women seeking
immunity from federal prosecution for smoking marijuana because state
voters have approved its use for medical purposes.

The attorney for Angel Raich, 39, of Oakland and Diane Monson, of Butte
County, argued that the federal government was violating the federal
constitution in trying to prevent the two women from using marijuana
prescribed by doctors, as allowed in California and 10 other states. The
marijuana the women smoke to lessen severe chronic pain and avoid reactions
from traditional drugs is grown only for their use and therefore is not an
interstate commodity that the federal government can regulate, said their
attorney, Randy Barnett.

But although several members of the court, particularly conservatives, feel
strongly about preserving the rights of states, they and other justices
appeared critical of Barnett's arguments that medical marijuana users
should be immune from federal law that bans the drug as a harmful and
addictive controlled substance.

Justice Antonin Scalia said it seemed logical that some of the estimated
100,000 Californians who use medical marijuana would buy it in the illegal
market, making it an economic commodity that Congress could regulate. And
Justice Stephen Breyer said people who believe marijuana should be allowed
for medicinal use -- a point of debate in the medical community -- should
take their case to the federal Food and Drug Administration first.

"Medicine by regulation is better than medicine by referendum," Breyer said.

The case has ramifications in 10 other states that allow marijuana use for
medicinal purposes despite a federal ban on the drug.

Paul Clement, who argued the case for the federal government as the acting
solicitor general, said allowing "any little island of lawful possession"
of marijuana would undermine the intent of Congress to ban the drug's use.