Medical Marijuana Victory
The United States Supreme Court refused to hear the White House’s appeal in Walters v. Conant, a case Altshuler, Berzon (the firm I’m currently working for) has been working on for several years. The case involved the question of whether the federal government can punish doctors for recommending or discussing marijuana with their patients. The Supreme Court’s denial of cert means that the Ninth Circuit opinion stands, upholding a permanent injunction preventing the federal government from punishing physicians where the basis of the punishment is solely the physician’s professional recommendation of the use of medical marijuana. This is a major victory for the medical marijuana movement here in California and elsewhere.