Constitutional LawThe Commerce Clause
Gonzales v. Raich
Supreme Court of the United States · Decided June 6, 2005 · Core case
Full citation
Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005).
VerifiedQuotes, pinpoints and citation checked word for word against the opinion; facts checked against the opinion before publication. October 20, 2026.
Gonzales
attorney generalpetitioner
Raich
medical marijuana patientrespondent
Brief
Facts
California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996 created an exemption from state criminal prosecution for physicians, and for patients and primary caregivers who possess or cultivate marijuana for medicinal purposes on a physician's recommendation or approval. Angel Raich and Diane Monson, California residents with serious medical conditions, used marijuana under the Act. Their doctors had tried a host of conventional medicines and concluded that marijuana was the only drug available that gave them effective treatment. Monson grew her own marijuana. Raich could not, so two caregivers gave her locally grown marijuana at no charge. On August 15, 2002, county deputy sheriffs and agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) came to Monson's home. After a thorough investigation, the county officials concluded that her use was entirely lawful under California law. The federal agents nevertheless seized and destroyed all six of her cannabis plants.
Issue
Does Congress's commerce power reach the purely local, noncommercial cultivation and possession of marijuana for personal medical use authorized by state law?
Holding
Congress had a rational basis for concluding that leaving home-consumed marijuana outside federal control would substantially affect the interstate drug market, so the CSA validly reaches respondents' intrastate cultivation and possession.
IRAC
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