About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1998 Det. C.L. Rev. 247 (1998)
The Burning Question: How Will the United States Deal with the Medical-Marijuana Debate

handle is hein.journals/mslr1998 and id is 261 raw text is: THE BURNING QUESTION: HOW WILL THE UNITED STATES DEAL WITH THE MEDICAL-MARIJUANA DEBATE? TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................ 247 I. THE FEDERAL CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT ............... 248 II. PROGRESSION OF FEDERAL LAW .......................... 250 III. STATE LEGALIZATION .................................. 255 A. Established Therapeutic Cannabis Research Programs ..... 256 B. Allowing Physicians to Prescribe Marijuana ............. 267 C. Rescheduling of Medically Used Marijuana ............. 270 D. Allowing the Affirmative Defense of Medical Marijuana .. 271 IV. CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS ............................. 274 V. CONSTITUTIONAL RECOURSE ............................. 276 VI. MEDICINAL VALUE OF MARIJUANA ........................ 284 CONCLUSION ............................................. 291 INTRODUCTION The debate over the legalization of drugs in this country has spanned well over a century and invokes the most heartfelt of disputes amongst the medical and legal communities, not to mention the general population. Due to such controversy, this Comment will not attempt to focus on the overwhelming issue of legalization per se, but on the recent momentum in the states to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes and what effect these state initiatives have on the Federal Controlled Substances Act. Since the validity of state medical marijuana laws are in a state of flux, this Comment will comprehensively study each state that has enacted medical marijuana protection, dividing the protection into four distinct categories. The first category is inclusive of states that have enacted therapeutic research programs to study the effects of marijuana on terminally or seriously ill patients. The second category includes states that have passed legislation allowing state physicians to prescribe marijuana for terminally or seriously ill patients. The third category is comprised of states that have rescheduled medical marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II categorization and lastly, state judiciaries that have recognized a medical affirmative defense in medical marijuana cases. In light of this data, this Comment will examine the current state of medical marijuana legislation, distinguishing those states that have enacted programs that have long since been abandoned versus those states that have actively pursued medical marijuana research. Moreover, this Comment will

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most