May 14, 2001 – Supreme Court Rules “There Is No Medical Necessity Exception to the Controlled Substances Act”

The Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative, organized to distribute marijuana to qualified patients for medical purposes, was sued by the US government to force the Cooperative to cease operations. A district court rejected the Cooperative’s defense that the marijuana was medically necessary, but its rejection was overturned by the Ninth Circuit.

On May 14, 2001, the US Supreme Court rules 8-0 that “there is no medical necessity exception to the Controlled Substances Act’s prohibitions on manufacturing and distributing marijuana.”