Washington's high court Thursday upheld the states
ban on the medical use of marijuana, rejecting a plea
from a cancerstricken lawyer who wants to smoke pot to
relieve his pain.

Ralph Seeley, who has a rare form of bone cancer, had
argued that his constitutional rights were being violated
by federal and state laws that allow doctors to prescribe
cocaine and opium but not marijuana.

But the state Supreme Court ruled 81 that the govern
ment's authority to protect its citizens outweighs a cancer
patient's desire to relieve his pain.