{
  "id": "RS20998",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS20998",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 305136,
      "date": "2005-06-14",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:41:47.635029",
      "title": "Marijuana for Medical Purposes: A Glimpse of the Supreme Court's Decision in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and Related Legal Issues",
      "summary": "There is no medical necessity defense against prosecution for the federal crimes of cultivating\nor\ndistributing marijuana, even in places where state law recognizes such a defense. So said the\nSupreme Court in  United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers\u2019 Cooperative , 532 U.S.\n 483, 486\n(2001). Although there may be some question as to their vitality, the Court left undecided issues\ninvolving a necessity defense for possession and possible commerce clause, enactment clause, and\ndue process clause challenges. In  Gonzales v. Raich , 125 S.Ct. 2195 (2005), the Court held\nthat\nCongress\u2019s\u2019 power under the commerce clause enabled it to enact a regulatory\nscheme that extended\nto the purely local cultivation and possession of marijuana for medical purposes. There are proposals\nin this Congress to reverse the impact of the Court\u2019s decisions.\n This is an abbreviated form of  CRS Report RL31100 ,  Marijuana for Medical Purposes: The\nSupreme Court\u2019s Decision in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers\u2019\nCooperative and Related\nLegal Issues , stripped of its footnotes and citations to authority. Penalties authorized for\nviolations\nof the Controlled Substances Act are discussed in  CRS Report 97-141(pdf) ,  Drug Smuggling, Drug\nDealing and Drug Abuse: Background and Overview of the Sanctions Under the Federal Controlled\nSubstances Act and Related Statutes .",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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}