State laws allowing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes don't protect people from the federal ban on the drug's use, the US Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The 6-3 decision means federal authorities can prosecute people with cancer and other chronic diseases who might benefit from marijuana's use, the court said.

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The Bush administration had appealed a 2003 decision in the case of a California woman who suffers from a number of chronic illnesses, including scoliosis, a brain tumour, and chronic nausea, the Associated Press reported.

California's medical marijuana law, passed by voters in 1996, allows residents to grow or obtain marijuana for medical use with a doctor's prescription. Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington state have similar laws on the books, the wire service said.

Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said Congress could change the federal law to permit medical use of marijuana. In a dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said states should be allowed to set their own rules. The case represented a dilemma for the court's conservative justices, who in recent years have pushed for broadening states' rights, the AP said. – (HealthDayNews)
 

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