The federal government lacks the manpower, competence and moral authority to prevent medical use of marijuana. Based on our reading of the facts, the Court's decision, and Jus tice Stevens' concurrence, we feel sure the decision is limited to manufacture and distribution of marijuana. Clearly Congress and the Bush administration need to look at rescheduling marijuana so that the states can establish their own legal, medical marijuana distribution systems to supply medicine to those who need it. Today's unanimous Supreme Court decision is a major strike against legalizers' crusade to skirt federal drug laws. On Monday, the United States Supreme Court ruled 8-0 in U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative that a federal law classifying marijuana as illegal has no exception for ill patients.
Smoking pot is never sound medicine.
Although certain active ingredients in marijuana have been found to have therapeutic effects, doctors should not recommend smoking the drug to receive the benefits. The negative effects of smoking outweigh the therapeutic components of the drug. Crude marijuana, however, is a mind-altering and dangerous substance that affects cognition, memory, pain perception and motor coordination. Congress had the American public's best interests in mind when it passed the Controlled Substances Act.