Legal Commentary

Supreme Court Won't Rehear Challenges to California Medical Marijuana Law

By Jeralyn

Some good news in the medical marijuana area today. The Supreme Court has refused to hear challenges by San Diego and San Bernadino counties to California's medical marijuana law.

The high court on Monday refused to hear appeals from San Diego and San Bernardino counties, which say the justices have never directly ruled on whether California's law trumps the federal controlled substances laws.

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San Diego and San Bernardino counties argued that issuing identification cards to eligible users, as required by the 1996 state law, would violate federal law, which does not recognize the state measure.

A federal appeals court ruled that ID card laws "do not pose a significant impediment" to the federal Controlled Substances Act because that law is designed to "combat recreational drug use, not to regulate a state's medical practices."

California voters passed the medical marijuana law in 1996. Hopefully, this will deter counties in the other states that have legalized medial marijuana from making similar challenges.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 18, 2009 (boomark / email).