Oakland Cannabis Buyers

Controlled Substances Act United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, No. 00-151 (2001)... 

Medical Use of Marijuana United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, No. 00-151, (2001) U.S. v. Rosenthal, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 2003 Raich v. Ashcroft, U.S. Supreme Court, 03-15481 (2003)... 

Doyle, Charles. Marijuana for Medical Purposes The Supreme Courtis Decision in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative and Related Legal Issues. Washington, D.C. Congressional Research Service, 2002. Summarizes the Supreme Court s latest medical marijuana decision, which refused to recognize a medical necessity defense for cultivating or distributing marijuana. The existence of state laws sanctioning medical marijuana have no federal effect. Related constimtional issues that may still come before the Court are summarized. 

United States k Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, 2001... 

Following is the text (without footnotes) of the Supreme Court s decision in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative (2001). The decision was unanimous (8-0, with Justice Steven Breyer not participating). Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion. 

UNITED STATES, PETITIONER V. OAKLAND CANNABIS BUYERS COOPERATIVE AND JEEEREY JONES, ON WRIT OE CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OE APPEALS EOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT [MAY 14, 2001]... 

V. Cannabis Cultivators Club, 5 F. Supp. 2d 1086, 1092 (ND Cal. 1998). Respondent Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative is one of these groups. 

U.S. Supreme Court ruled (unanimously) in United States vs. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative that the cooperatives permitted under California law to sell marijuana to medical patients who had a physician s approval to use the drug were unconstitutional under federal law. 

Despite claims like Grinspoon s, the federal government decided to challenge the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, a large, highly... 

As suppliers of marijuana to medically approved buyers, these organizations were protected from prosecution by state law. The only problem was that their actions were still against federal laws. Eventually one of the first buyers clubs, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative (OCBC), became the subject of a federal lawsuit a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court Following the Court s mid-2001 decision against them, however, the OCBC was no longer able to dispense marijuana to its members. 

The mission statement of OCBQ as stated on the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative website, www.rxcbcorg, says ... 

The goal of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative (OCBC) is to provide seriously ill patients with a safe and reliable source of medical cannabis information and patient support Our cooperative is open to all patients with a verifiable letter of recommendation for medical cannabis, used to alleviate or terminate the effects of their illnesses. 

Most legal experts feel that the Supreme Court decision does not prevent patients in states with medical marijuana laws from growing their own marijuana at home. But not all patients are able to do that, and they no longer have a source in the buyers clubs. Since almost all arrests for use and possession of marijuana are done by state and local officials, the federal government is expected to confine enforcement efforts to shutting down medical marijuana distribution centers like the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, which triggered the Supreme Court case. 

Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative (www.rxcbc.org). Here is the story on the first legal medical marijuana source that was closed by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

In a defeat for medical marijuana advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the federal Controlled Substances Act precludes a medical necessity defense on the part of the Oakland, California, Cannabis Buyers Club. February Officials at the popular drug education program DARE admit that some of the techniques they have been using may be ineffective. They begin a process of reviewing research and revising the curriculum. 

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