For the past three years, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club has been in a legal standoff with the U.S. government over medical-marijuana laws.

The laws will be considered next month by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a filing with the Supreme Court, Calif. Attorney General Bill Lockyer stated that California has the authority to implement its voter-approved medical-marijuana law without interference from the federal government.

"The electorate in California have declared their view on this question, and it should be respected by this court as a democratic exercise properly reserved to the states," said the brief filed by Lockyer. "The Constitution does not prevent the states from expressing their preference for allowing citizens to use cannabis to treat serious illness."

Under Proposition 215, which voters approved in 1996, seriously ill patients are allowed to use marijuana.

U.S. Justice Department officials contend that state laws, like California's, interferes with federal drug laws. In a brief to the Supreme Court, Justice Department officials wrote that allowing states to dispense medical marijuana would "promote disrespect and disregard for an act of Congress that is central to combating illicit drug trafficking."

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