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NORML Files Supreme Court Brief Arguing Use of Medical
Marijuana Is a Fundamental Right
Washington, DC: The National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) filed a friend of the
court brief Tuesday in the U.S. Supreme Court in support
of a patient??s fundamental right to use medicinal
marijuana without fear of federal sanction. NORML
joins California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the National
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and several
medical rights groups in support of a decision rendered
last year by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that found
seriously ill patients may legally use marijuana under
federal law if they meet specified ??medical necessity??
requirements. The upcoming Supreme Court case, to
be argued March 28, will mark the first time America??s
highest court has ever considered the issue of medical
necessity with regard to marijuana.
In a brief filed jointly with NACDL, NORML argues
that state laws permitting patients to use medical
marijuana do not conflict with federal drug laws, and
that the medicinal use of marijuana is an individual
right that must be recognized by the court. ??As a
matter of individual liberty, it should be beyond the
power of the federal government to regulate the
medicinal use of cannabis when the voters or legislatures
of states decide it should be legalized for medical use,??
the authors argue. ??Once the voters of a state have
adopted an initiative or a state legislature has enacted
a statute protecting the medical use of cannabis, the
people of that state have compellingly expressed their
public policy, even if that public policy differs from that
of the federal government. Federalism mandates that
state public policy is entitled to presumptive deference.??
NORML further maintains that a patient??s medical
marijuana use should be protected under the Constitution??s
right to privacy, including the ??right to be left alone,?? and
substantive due process. ??This Court has already recognized
a substantive due process right to be free from suffering
and pain?? in a right-to-die case (Cruzan v. Director, Missouri
Dep??t of Health, 1990), the authors state. ??A fortiori, it
naturally flows from that case that there is also a parallel
right patients in chronic pain or the terminally ill have to
alleviate their pain and suffering when they want to live.??
Lead author of the brief, attorney John Wesley Hall
of Little Rock, Arkansas said, ??When the medical use
of cannabis can restore some quality and dignity of life
to a seriously ill or dying patient, that person should
have a constitutional right to use it.?? Hall is a member
of the NORML Legal Committee and serves on NACDL??s
Board of Directors. NORML Legal Committee member
Michael Cutler of Boston, Massachusetts also contributed
to the brief.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year
that patients who risk suffering ??imminent harm?? without
access to medical marijuana, and have exhausted all
other legal remedies, are exempt from federal laws
otherwise outlawing its use. The Justice Department
is appealing that decision.
For more information, please contact attorney John
Wesley Hall at (501) 371-9131 or R. Keith Stroup, NORML
Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.
Marijuana Has Less Adverse Effect on Driving Than
Alcohol, Tiredness, U.K. Study Says
Crowthorne, Berkshire, United Kingdom: Marijuana
appears to have less adverse impact on driving ability than
does alcohol, according to findings from a recent study by
the U.K.??s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). The results
replicate earlier findings recorded in the U.S., Australia and
elsewhere indicating that marijuana intoxication plays a
relatively insignificant role in vehicular accidents.
NORML Foundation Director Allen St. Pierre said the
results were not surprising. ??Study after study shows
that marijuana??s slight impairment on psychomotor
skills generally falls within the range of safety we
accept for prescription medications and other legal,
potentially debilitating factors; the findings of this
latest inquiry are no different.??
The TRL study examined the driving performance
of fifteen volunteers while under the influence of low
and high doses of marijuana, and while sober. All
volunteers were tested using a sophisticated driving
simulator. Researchers found that marijuana appeared
to adversely influence subjects?? ability to accurately
steer a car (so-called ??tracking ability??), but found
their reaction time and all other measures of driving
performance to be unaffected by the drug. Researchers
further noted that subjects were cognizant of their
impairment and ??attempt[ed] to compensate for
[it] by reducing the difficulty of the driving task,
for example by driving more slowly.??
The authors concluded: ??In terms of road safety,
it cannot be concluded that driving under the influence
of cannabis is not a hazard. ?However, in comparison
with alcohol, the severe effects of alcohol on the higher
cognitive processes of driving are likely to make this
more of a hazard, particularly at higher levels.??
Similar trials previously conducted by the TRL have
shown that alcohol and sleep deprivation have a more
adverse impact on driving ability than does marijuana.
Tests from other countries have yielded comparable
results. A May 1998 Australian review of 2,500 injured
drivers reported that cannabis had ??no significant effect??
on driving culpability. A pair of studies released by the
U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in
1992 and 1993 found the adverse effects of marijuana
on driving ??relatively small,?? and concluded that ??there
[was] no compelling evidence that marijuana contributes
substantially to traffic accidents or fatalities.??
The most recent TRL study was commissioned by
the British Department of Environment, Transport and
the Regions.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre,
NORML Foundation Executive Director at (202) 483-8751.
Copies of the study, entitled: ??The influence of cannabis on
driving,?? are available online at:
https://www.trl.co.uk/detr/abstracts/477.htm.
#############################
Support NORML's efforts to change marijuana policy and
educate the public to alternatives to marijuana prohibition.
You can join or donate online at:
https://banqa.uaqa.com/norml/join/
Marijuana Is a Fundamental Right
Washington, DC: The National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) filed a friend of the
court brief Tuesday in the U.S. Supreme Court in support
of a patient??s fundamental right to use medicinal
marijuana without fear of federal sanction. NORML
joins California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the National
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and several
medical rights groups in support of a decision rendered
last year by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that found
seriously ill patients may legally use marijuana under
federal law if they meet specified ??medical necessity??
requirements. The upcoming Supreme Court case, to
be argued March 28, will mark the first time America??s
highest court has ever considered the issue of medical
necessity with regard to marijuana.
In a brief filed jointly with NACDL, NORML argues
that state laws permitting patients to use medical
marijuana do not conflict with federal drug laws, and
that the medicinal use of marijuana is an individual
right that must be recognized by the court. ??As a
matter of individual liberty, it should be beyond the
power of the federal government to regulate the
medicinal use of cannabis when the voters or legislatures
of states decide it should be legalized for medical use,??
the authors argue. ??Once the voters of a state have
adopted an initiative or a state legislature has enacted
a statute protecting the medical use of cannabis, the
people of that state have compellingly expressed their
public policy, even if that public policy differs from that
of the federal government. Federalism mandates that
state public policy is entitled to presumptive deference.??
NORML further maintains that a patient??s medical
marijuana use should be protected under the Constitution??s
right to privacy, including the ??right to be left alone,?? and
substantive due process. ??This Court has already recognized
a substantive due process right to be free from suffering
and pain?? in a right-to-die case (Cruzan v. Director, Missouri
Dep??t of Health, 1990), the authors state. ??A fortiori, it
naturally flows from that case that there is also a parallel
right patients in chronic pain or the terminally ill have to
alleviate their pain and suffering when they want to live.??
Lead author of the brief, attorney John Wesley Hall
of Little Rock, Arkansas said, ??When the medical use
of cannabis can restore some quality and dignity of life
to a seriously ill or dying patient, that person should
have a constitutional right to use it.?? Hall is a member
of the NORML Legal Committee and serves on NACDL??s
Board of Directors. NORML Legal Committee member
Michael Cutler of Boston, Massachusetts also contributed
to the brief.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year
that patients who risk suffering ??imminent harm?? without
access to medical marijuana, and have exhausted all
other legal remedies, are exempt from federal laws
otherwise outlawing its use. The Justice Department
is appealing that decision.
For more information, please contact attorney John
Wesley Hall at (501) 371-9131 or R. Keith Stroup, NORML
Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.
Marijuana Has Less Adverse Effect on Driving Than
Alcohol, Tiredness, U.K. Study Says
Crowthorne, Berkshire, United Kingdom: Marijuana
appears to have less adverse impact on driving ability than
does alcohol, according to findings from a recent study by
the U.K.??s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). The results
replicate earlier findings recorded in the U.S., Australia and
elsewhere indicating that marijuana intoxication plays a
relatively insignificant role in vehicular accidents.
NORML Foundation Director Allen St. Pierre said the
results were not surprising. ??Study after study shows
that marijuana??s slight impairment on psychomotor
skills generally falls within the range of safety we
accept for prescription medications and other legal,
potentially debilitating factors; the findings of this
latest inquiry are no different.??
The TRL study examined the driving performance
of fifteen volunteers while under the influence of low
and high doses of marijuana, and while sober. All
volunteers were tested using a sophisticated driving
simulator. Researchers found that marijuana appeared
to adversely influence subjects?? ability to accurately
steer a car (so-called ??tracking ability??), but found
their reaction time and all other measures of driving
performance to be unaffected by the drug. Researchers
further noted that subjects were cognizant of their
impairment and ??attempt[ed] to compensate for
[it] by reducing the difficulty of the driving task,
for example by driving more slowly.??
The authors concluded: ??In terms of road safety,
it cannot be concluded that driving under the influence
of cannabis is not a hazard. ?However, in comparison
with alcohol, the severe effects of alcohol on the higher
cognitive processes of driving are likely to make this
more of a hazard, particularly at higher levels.??
Similar trials previously conducted by the TRL have
shown that alcohol and sleep deprivation have a more
adverse impact on driving ability than does marijuana.
Tests from other countries have yielded comparable
results. A May 1998 Australian review of 2,500 injured
drivers reported that cannabis had ??no significant effect??
on driving culpability. A pair of studies released by the
U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in
1992 and 1993 found the adverse effects of marijuana
on driving ??relatively small,?? and concluded that ??there
[was] no compelling evidence that marijuana contributes
substantially to traffic accidents or fatalities.??
The most recent TRL study was commissioned by
the British Department of Environment, Transport and
the Regions.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre,
NORML Foundation Executive Director at (202) 483-8751.
Copies of the study, entitled: ??The influence of cannabis on
driving,?? are available online at:
https://www.trl.co.uk/detr/abstracts/477.htm.
#############################
Support NORML's efforts to change marijuana policy and
educate the public to alternatives to marijuana prohibition.
You can join or donate online at:
https://banqa.uaqa.com/norml/join/
