RED STATES WEIGH IN AS THE COURT GOES TO POT

The penalty for smoking pot in Alabama is up to 99 years in prison. But
that hasn't stopped the Cotton State -- along with Mississippi and Georgia
- -- from siding with California in its battle to keep medical marijuana
legal. All three filed briefs supporting Left Coast medipot users before
the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on Nov. 29 on whether
patients can cultivate and possess physician-prescribed cannabis. "We
happen to believe California's medical-marijuana policy is misguided," says
Alabama solicitor general Kevin Newsom. "But this isn't about the drug war.
It's about states' rights."

Besides California, 10 states have legalized medical marijuana since 1996.
Nonetheless, federal drug busters have waged an eight-year battle against
medipot, closing down cannabis clubs and prosecuting users. The case now
before the Justices, Ashcroft v. Raich, involves two California women with
chronic ailments. State lawyers contend the feds have no say over the
women's pot use, since no money changed hands and the drug didn't cross
state lines. For a court that has expanded states' rights, often to the
dismay of liberals, the case is tricky. "Federalism isn't just for
conservatives," says Boston University law professor Randy Bennett, who
will present the oral arguments for California. "It means allowing states
to experiment with social policies beyond the reach of Congress." Who says
red and blue states can't get along?