BBC Monday, 14 May, 2001, 16:26 GMT 17:26 UK

US outlaws 'medical' marijuana

The United States Supreme Court has ended a legal battle over the medical use of marijuana, ruling that there are no circumstances which justify it.

The ruling will disappoint sufferers of diseases such as Aids, cancer and multiple sclerosis who claim that cannabis helps combat symptoms of their illnesses.

In a unanimous ruling, eight Supreme Court judges said that in the Controlled Substances Act, "Congress has made a determination that marijuana has no medical benefits worthy of an exception."

Correspondents say the decision effectively supersedes individual state rulings allowing marijuana to be prescribed in limited circumstances.

'Abuse'

The case, United States v Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and Jeffrey Jones, resulted from a government effort to shut down six California marijuana distributors.

Five have closed since the case first reached the courts in 1998. The last one, the Oakland Cooperative, has restricted itself to registering potential marijuana users while fighting the case through the courts.

In oral arguments, the government said "there is no currently accepted medical use for the drug, and it has a high potential for abuse".

It argued that the Cooperative's medical-necessity defence did not apply because disease sufferers could use synthetic alternatives to the active ingredient in marijuana.

Eight US states, including California, have held referendums to approve the use of cannabis for medical purposes. A ninth, Hawaii, passed a law permitting it.

The US House of Representatives considered a measure to counteract ballot initiatives allowing medical marijuana use, but the bill died on the House floor.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer disqualified himself from the case because his brother, a federal judge, presided over the original case.

-- Anonymous, May 14, 2001