Big Win for State-Level Medical Marijuana Laws
December 2nd, 2008 by Alex
Today is a good day for California’s Compassionate Use Act, and it’s ironically due to a landmark non-decision by the US Supreme Court.
How does a non-decision affect anything? Well, let’s start from the beginning…
In June 2005, Garden Grove police pulled over Felix Kha and seized his medical marijuana. Felix sued, not necessarily for the return of his pot, but to uphold patients’ rights in California. Law enforcement argued that seizure was necessary because federal law trumps state law.
Finally, two years later, the Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Felix Kha, saying that local police are not paid to enforce federal drug laws.
Garden Grove wasn’t too pleased with this, so they took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, who officially refused to hear Garden Grove v. Superior Court of California, et al.. This means the lower court ruling stands, and over 90% of police traffic stops that result in seizure of medical marijuana will now be drastically reduced.
As far as court decisions go, this is a big one, and significantly strengthens the position of medical marijuana patients in California and other states with medical possession laws.
