Topic of the paper will focus on a criminal case that has been Essay

Topic of the paper will focus on a criminal case that has been adjudicated by the United States Supreme Court and has implicatio - Essay Example There are a number of cases that have been handled by the supreme high court that have in one way or another set precedence over future rulings that may occur on similar matters and one of these is the Gonzalez Vs Raich case which occurred in the year 2005 (Find law). This case dealt with the issue of home grown marijuana in relation to its use for medicinal purposes, and whether an individual who was doing this had the right to do so without any interference from law enforcement authorities. The ruling that was made was based on the Commerce Clause of the U.S Constitution . Congress has the ability to criminalize the use and production of Cannabis that is home grown even when states have allowed its use for medicinal purposes. About the case Angel Raich and Diane Monson were the two defendants of this case which occurred after law enforcement agencies destroyed Diane’s Marijuana plants claiming that they were illegal under federal law. This was despite the fact that Diane res ided in California, a state that had allowed the use of homegrown marijuana for medicinal purposes (Find law). ... her doctor who testified under oath claiming that she needed the marijuana for the excruciating pain that she was going through and her allergic reaction to the other forms of alternative medication that she had tried before. The two defendants sued the government for declaratory as well as injunctive relief in a bid to stop them from interfering in their growing and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. They argued that the interference of the government under the Controlled Substances Act was unconstitutional in reference to their activities and reasons behind those activities (that is, the growing and use of homegrown marijuana for medicinal purposes) and thus the government should not have a right to run interference. Both Angel and Diane Used marijuana to relieve themselves of pain that their bodies suffered and thus it could not be said that their handling of the drug was for recreational purposes (Find law). The government on the other hand argued that the Controlled Substa nce Act did not recognize nor accept the use of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes and thus the law had a right to put a stop to any form of drug cultivation among individuals despite the circumstances. The acts against Angel and Diana were as a result of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) who had been given instructions to break up the various co operations that dealt with medicinal marijuana within California and seize the assets belonging to those co-operatives (Find law). Though as mentioned earlier, California had made legal the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, this act was done in the belief that Federal law trumped that of California and thus the law enforcement agencies were within their rights to act on these orders (Find law). The government further