Angel Raich, who suffers from an inoperable brain tumor and several other illnesses, uses medical marijuana to help ease her pain. Last November, she took her case against Attorney General Ashcroft, which would allow patients to cultivate and use medical marijuana upon the recommendation of a doctor, to the Supreme Court. Angel Raich was online to discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling on the case with Alliance Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann and Alliance Legal Affairs Director Dan Abrahamson.

 
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About Angel Raich

Angel Raich of Oakland, California has been diagnosed with more than ten serious medical conditions that make her a “medical necessity” cannabis patient. For her, marijuana is the only medication that alleviates her pain and keeps her from starvation and malnutrition. Violently allergic to pharmaceutical medicines, Angel’s doctor recommended medical cannabis as her only effective treatment. Angel’s determination to live a pain-free life has been accompanied by an arduous battle in the justice system. Like many other patients in need of medical marijuana, Angel feels that without cannabis her life “would be a death sentence.”  In 2003, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it was unconstitutional for Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Federal Government to interfere with her medical cannabis, but Ashcroft appealed that decision, which took the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

About Ethan Nadelmann

Ethan Nadelmann is the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the leading organization in the United States promoting alternatives to the "war on drugs." The Alliance’s legal team put forth a brief filed with the United States Supreme Court in support of Raich.

About Daniel N. Abrahanson

Daniel N. Abrahamson is Director of Legal Affairs for Drug Policy Alliance and its 501(c)4 affiliate, the Drug Policy Alliance Network, where he oversees litigation, legislative drafting and public education efforts concerning drug policy reform. Mr. Abrahamson has co-authored several successful state ballot initiatives in the field of drug policy reform, including California's Proposition 36, The Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act 2000 that is expected to divert an estimated 36,000 non-violent drug possession offenders each year from jail and prison into community-based treatment, vocational and educational programs.