Didn the Supreme Court recently rule that states cannot pass medical marijuana laws?
No. The June 6, 2005, U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the medical marijuana case Gonzales v. Raich does not invalidate the 12 existing state medical marijuana laws, nor does it preclude other states like Minnesota from passing their own medical marijuana laws to protect patients from criminal penalties. The ruling simply maintains the status quo by allowing — but not requiring — federal authorities to enforce federal marijuana laws against patients who are protected under state medical marijuana laws. Because the Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal law enforcement agencies make only 1% of annual marijuana arrests, patients in states that enact medical marijuana laws retain a high level of protection. Following the Raich decision, officials in every medical marijuana state at the time declared that nothing has changed since the ruling and that state medical marijuana laws are still in effect. For example, California’s attorney general issued a statement urging patients not to
