California: Ruling Against Marijuana Clubs
By CAROLYN MARSHALL
Published: December 14, 2007

A federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld an 2002 injunction barring three California marijuana clubs from giving the drug to medical patients with a prescription. The ruling by judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with the Justice Department, which first sued the dispensaries in 1998 to stop sales of medical marijuana to patients with a doctor’s approval, as allowed under a California law approved by voters in 1996. The law has been at the heart of a series of legal battles over state and federal drug laws, which categorize marijuana as illegal. The ruling was likely the last legal recourse for the clubs. In 2001, the United States Supreme Court heard the case and ruled against the California cooperatives.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/us/14brfs-RULINGAGAINS_BRF.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin