News Brief: CA medical marijuana clubs lose court fight to remain open
A California judge has rejected claims by several medical marijuana clubs that distributing marijuana to patients who receive the drug under a doctor’s care does not violate federal law.
"With or without medical authorization, the distribution of marijuana is illegal under federal law," wrote U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in his decision in the United States v. Cannabis Cultivators Club, case no. 98-0085. Breyer, judge for the northern federal court district of California, issued his decision on May 3.
Personal cultivation or use of marijuana for medical purposes still is prohibited under the state’s Proposition 215 but under the ruling, marijuana clubs will no longer be able to distribute marijuana, even to patients under a doctor’s care.
The clubs’ legal arguments to stay open has been rejected previously by Breyer, but the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the original decision, saying defendants could raise an issue of medical necessity. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision when it held that medical necessity is not a valid exception to the Controlled Substances Act.
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