In a defeat for the medical marijuana movement, a unanimous US Supreme Court ruled today that marijuana may not be given to seriously ill patients as a "medical necessity" because cannabis has been classified as an illegal drug under federal law.
The nation's highest court gave the federal government a key victory in its battle over whether a California cannabis club may resume distributing marijuana to patients.
The case had marked a watershed for the US medical marijuana movement, which has been mired in legal battles since California, in 1996, approved the nation's first initiative legalizing medicinal use of the drug.
Saying the case raised "significant questions" about the government's ability to enforce the nation's drug laws, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court that federal law prohibits the manufacture and distribution of various drugs, including marijuana.
"In this case, we must decide whether there is a medical necessity exception to these prohibitions. We hold that there is not," he declared.
Thomas said a US appeals court had been wrong in ruling that marijuana clubs in California may distribute the drug to those who prove cannabis was medically necessary.
The California initiative allowed seriously ill patients to use marijuana for pain relief as long as they have a doctor's recommendation. Similar measures have been adopted in a number of other states.
Joining Thomas in the opinion were Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy. The five make up the court's conservative majority.
Justice John Paul Stevens, joined by the Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, issued a separate opinion concurring in the judgement. The are part of the court's more moderate-liberal members.
Judge Stevens emphasized that the court's ruling was narrow, only holding that medical necessity was not a defense for manufacturing and distributing marijuana.
Justice Stephen Breyer did not participate in the ruling. His brother, US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco, has been hearing the dispute.