October 1, 2004

The nation's highest court has set a date to take up the case that will determine whether the federal government has the right to step in and overrule state medical marijuana laws. The case, Raich v. Ashcroft, will go before the United States Supreme Court November 29 at 10 a.m. The Drug Policy Alliance is filing a brief on behalf of  Angel Raich, a California medical marijuana patient.

The case, which the New York Times has said is "certain to be one of the most closely watched of the court's next term," already set precedent when a federal judge ordered the government to allow two seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana. Attorney General John Ashcroft later appealed, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in its fall term.

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