Don state-level medical marijuana laws put states in violation of federal law?
There is no federal law that mandates that states must enforce federal laws against marijuana possession or cultivation. States are free to determine their own penalties — or lack thereof — for drug offenses. State governments cannot directly violate federal law by giving marijuana to patients, but states can refuse to arrest patients who grow or acquire their own medicine. Further, on October 14, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Conant v. Walters, letting stand an appellate court ruling that barred the federal government from punishing physicians who recommend medical marijuana to patients. By refusing to hear this case, the Supreme Court eliminated any doubt that states have the right to protect medical marijuana patients and their physicians under state law. Some people mistakenly believe that the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v. Raich invalidated state medical marijuana laws, but that is not the case. The decision simply maintained the status quo as it h
