MEDICAL USE OF POT IS LAWFUL, COURT RULES

SAN FRANCISCO - An appeals court has ruled that a federal law
outlawing marijuana does not apply to sick people who are allowed to
smoke pot with a doctor's recommendation.

The ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a defeat for
the federal government in its fight against medical marijuana. The
Justice Department has argued that state medical marijuana laws are
trumped by federal drug laws.

California's 1996 medical marijuana law allows people to grow, smoke
or obtain marijuana for medical needs with a doctor's
recommendation.

In its 2-1 decision late Tuesday, the court said that prosecuting
medical marijuana users under the federal law is unconstitutional if
the marijuana is not sold, transported across state lines or used for
nonmedicinal purposes.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court upheld a Ninth Circuit ruling
that said federal officials could not threaten to revoke the
prescription rights of doctors who approved marijuana use for their
patients.