Abstract
This Comment will begin with a brief history of the medical use of marijuana in western culture and the United States. It will then examine the existing federal statutory scheme governing the use of marijuana and conclude with a look at current beliefs about the medical value of marijuana. Section III will analyze previous attempts to collaterally attack the scheduling of marijuana through the courts and show why those efforts have generally failed. Section IV will perform a substantive due process analysis of William Cohen's case and submit that Mr. Cohen has a fundamental right to consult with his physician to ease severe pain. It will then balance this right against the relevant state interests, which it will suggest are illusory. Finally, Section V will examine the policies supporting judicial, as opposed to legislative, solutions to the medicinal marijuana problem and will conclude that judicial action is the only method likely to bring about necessary change.
Recommended Citation
Matthew Segal, Overdue Process: Why Denial of Physician-Prescribed Marijuana to Terminally Ill Patients Violates the United States Constitution, 22 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 235 (1998).
