drug laws and that the federal government is free to raid, arrest, prosecute, and imprison patients who are using medical marijuana no matter if the medicine is crucially necessary to them. On the other hand, in Gonzales v. Raich, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals told a patient in extreme pain that state law allowing medical use could not be relied on, but if arrested, the user could seek to use medical necessity as a defence. In Maryland, a bill signed by Governor Robert Ehrlich, became law in 2003 to permit patients to use medical necessity defense to marijuana possession in the state. The maximum penalty for such users cannot exceed $100. However, the law does not prevent federal prosecution of patients since the federal law does not recognize medical necessity. See also Certificate of medical necessity (CMN) Notes References External links Your Medicare Coverage from medicare.gov Medicare Coverage Database which includes NCDs, LMRP/LCDs, as well as NCAs & CALs, from cms.hhs.gov Physician Fee Schedule lookup at cms.hhs.gov Defining Medical Necessity Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at academia.edu., by Daniel R. Skinner, published in the journal Public Administration Review (2013). Medical Necessity: Health Care Access and the Politics of Decision Making by Daniel Skinner, a book published by the University of Minnesota Press (2019). Charles Martin, "Medical Use of Cannabis in Australia: 'Medical necessity' defences under current Australian law and avenues for reform" (2014) 21(4) Journal of Law and Medicine 875. Florida's Medical Necessity Defense, Reconsidered by Miami attorney Jared H. Beck Medicare and Medicaid (United States) Legal doctrines and principles