Legal News

Medical marijuana back before the Calif. high court

By Jason Siegel

The California Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to step back into the medical marijuana debate to resolve conflicts between the voter-approved Compassionate Use Act and 2003 legislative change that imposed a limit on the amount of marijuana patients could possess for medical use.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown appealed a state appellate decision that struck down California?s 2003 guidelines on marijuana possession and cultivation. That left patients and police wondering how much was too much.

The appeals court ruled that the 2003 legislative change was an unconstitutional amendment to thee 1996 voter-approved medical marijuana law.

The review stems from a criminal case against Patrick K. Kelly of Lakewood, Calif. who suffers from hepatitis C, back pains and cirrhosis. Kelly obtained a doctor?s recommendation to use marijuana.

A police search of his home in 2005 turned up 12 ounces of dried pot and some marijuana plants. He was convicted of marijuana possession and cultivation because he had more than the 8 ounce limit in the 2003 law.

The appeal court ordered a retrial saying the cap on the amount of marijuana was illegal because it amended a law passed by a vote of the people, People v. Kelly, S164830.

Brown, who supports medical marijuana, said the legislation was a reasonable approach to implementing an otherwise vague ballot measure.

-- Pamela A. MacLean

"State top court to review medical pot limit," San Francisco Chronicle

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on August 14, 2008 (boomark / email).