U.S. APPEALS COURT SETS ASIDE FEDERAL MARIJUANA LAW

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal appeals court allowed two very
sick California women on Tuesday to use marijuana, setting aside
longstanding federal drug laws that bar such cultivation even for
medical purposes.

Growing marijuana for medical purposes is legal in California under a
1996 voter-approved state law, but the measure clashes with federal
law.

Angel Raich, who has an inoperable brain tumor, and Diane Monson, who
suffers from severe back pain, last year sued U.S. Attorney General
John Ashcroft. They sought an injunction against the act, saying the
1970 federal Controlled Substances Act was unconstitutional.

A district court ruled against the women in March, but in a rare
afternoon ruling, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco
reversed the decision.

"We find that the appellants' class of activities -- the intrastate
noncommercial cultivation, possession and use of marijuana for
personal medical purposes on the advice of a physician -- is, in fact,
different in kind from drug trafficking," the three-judge panel ruled.

"Further, the limited medical use of marijuana as recommended by a
physician arguably does not raise the same policy concerns regarding
the spread of drug abuse."

The liberal court, with one judge dissenting, said the Controlled
Substances Act was likely unconstitutional as applied to the women.

"We find that the appellants have made a strong showing of the
likelihood of success on the merits of their case," the decision read.
"We find that the hardship and public interest factors tip sharply in
the appellants' favor."

In his dissent, Judge C. Arlen Beam wrote: "Plaintiffs do not show
there is a threat of future prosecution or a history of past
prosecutions, at least as applied to their unique factual situations.
I would doubt whether anyone can or will seriously argue that the DEA
intends to prosecute these two seriously ill individuals."

The Supreme Court has often overturned the 9th Circuit on cases it has
chosen to review, and lower court decisions on marijuana have
sometimes provoked anger from the Bush administration.

One such instance that irked White House officials involved a federal
judge sentencing "ganja guru" Ed Rosenthal in June to a single day in
jail -- the minimum possible punishment -- for growing marijuana in
violation of federal law.