E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend Version June 07, 2005, 9:21 a.m. Federalism, Up in Smoke? The Supreme Court upholds a sweeping justification of federal power. In 1996, California became the first of nine states to decriminalize the medical use of marijuana. Although California law allows doctors to prescribe marijuana under state law, the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) prohibits the use, cultivation, or possession of marijuana for any purpose. Seeking relief from a variety of painful symptoms, Angel McClary Raich challenged the federal prohibition on constitutional grounds. Among other things, Raich argued that insofar as the...
