Supreme Court Hands Medical Marijuana Major Victory

The U.S. Supreme Court handed medical marijuana patients and advocates a resounding victory on Monday, refusing to hear a case brought by San Diego County, which has long chafed at implementing statewide medical marijuana laws.

The state of California, in an effort to systematize the 1996 voter-approved initiative, required localities to implement identification card programs for patients with doctor approval in 2004. Such ID cards are required to enter medical marijuana shops in California and can be shown to police officers who find patients in possession of marijuana.

San Diego County, however, argued that the federal ban on marijuana trumps the state law, meaning they are not required to follow the state law. The county filed suit in 2006. Both the San Diego Superior Court and the Fourth District Court of Appeals rejected the argument, which was followed by the California Supreme Court's refusal to review the case in 2008.

The San Diego Board of Supervisors voted to appeal to the Supreme Court.

"The courts have made clear that federal law does not preempt California's medical marijuana law and that local officials must comply with that law," said Joe Elford, chief counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a national medical marijuana advocacy group with a large presence in California. "No longer will local officials be able to hide behind federal law and resist upholding California's medical marijuana law."

It is not the job, in other words, of local cops or municipalities to enforce federal laws. In fact, the federal government has never made such an argument. The California counties acted on their own.

The Supreme Court ruling, following the Obama administration's decision not to raid medical marijuana clubs acting in accordance with state law, removes one of the last barriers to full implementation of the state law.

ASA has now given notice to 10 conservative holdout counties (Colusa, Madera, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, San Bernardino, San Diego, Solano, Stanislaus, and Sutter) of their legal obligation to implement the ID card program. In January 2009, ASA, something of an industry trade group, filed a lawsuit in January against Solano County for its refusal to implement the state ID card program.

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ASA was joined by the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project in assisting the California Attorney General in the case against San Diego. San Bernardino teamed with San Diego.

"The Supreme Court and the lower courts in California have blown away the myth that federal law somehow prevents states from legalizing medical marijuana," said Rob Kampia, executive director for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Thirteen states have laws that allow certain folks to use medical marijuana if their doctor recommends it. Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York are currently considering medical marijuana bills in their state legislatures.

Ryan Grim is the author of the forthcoming book This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America

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Comments

[pascaljim]

Ah...now where did I put my gardening gloves????

[KIMBER]

Here's the approach I think we need to take towards legalizing marijuana:

Stop wasting our tax dollars enforcing a prohibition nobody supports!

To take a play from the Republican playbook - I don't want to pay for it! Start demanding that our tax dollars not be wasted on enforcing the marijuana prohibition. The righties will have a very hard time trying to go up against that argument without getting all tied up in themselves.

[Kungfublood]

It is a probation actually supported by allot of drug dealers and officials that both sell and receive government money to "war on drugs"..

[Wheels76]

Living in San Diego, this issue is infuriating, because it's really a case of some conservative politicians simply disagreeing with the voters, and refusing to comply because of their own personal beliefs. The kicker wasn't that these people weren't complying with their mandate, but they were wasting taxpayer money suing all the way up the ladder to the supreme court. That money could have gone towards more fire fighting resources or applied to other such needs.

[Glocksf21]

it's about time! now we can work on makeing it legal

[Giopaps]

From Amsterdam with Love. You're getting there.

[barackobama4prez]

can you really get high in amsterdam in public without breaking the law?

[derekc06]

don't quote me but i don't believe you can...

[Coltrane1234]

Yes I've done it, but public is relative, they prefer you do it in the coffee shops or private residence, but I've seen people smoking in front of cops.

[Stephen Weiss]

Not quite, but you can get high in Amsterdam anywhere without being arrested. Technically you're breaking the law, however it's explicitly not enforced (something about treaty obligations dating back, someone with more knowledge jump in) but there are stores, even hotels dedicated to it and you would only get arrested for *selling* something harder than that.

[larmarch5]

Me must begin electing local, county, state and federal candidates who support legalization of marijuana on all levels, growing, distributing and using. Reduce crime, reduce prison industry costs, reduce enforcement costs. This can be the real GRASS roots movement.

[MsLiz]

This is basic Constitutional law. State courts and local cops enforce state laws, the FBI and DEA etc. enforce Federal criminal laws.

The Supreme Court has not gone to pot.

[sloreader]

The Supremes have gone green!

[mmc2068]

This is really, really good news.

I am still waiting, however, for the feds to tell us why the drug called alcohol needed a constitutional amendment to be outlawed, then re-legalized, but no such amendment was needed for marijuana and other drugs.

[barackobama4prez]

Apparently the government has much more of an interest in keeping drugs illegal than making them legal. Could it be that cops and lawmakers could be making $$$ off of drugs being illegal? Perhaps being illegal is what helps them plan for a more $ecure retirement.

one theory.

[zizyphus]

Absolutely right.

[JohnSawyer]

Another thing that cops like about drugs being illegal, is that if they feel there's a need to arrest someone (especially street people, the homeless, etc.) for some reason not related to drug possession, but they can't gather enough evidence to justify that, they sometimes find that such people DO possess drugs, and they bust them on that. It's called an evidentiary offense (or some similar term)--the "offender" has some actual physical item that the cops can seize and present as evidence, and though that evidence isn't related to the offense the cops really wanted to arrest the person for, it can be used to get that person into the jail system. This is also done when an offender doesn't use drugs, but has committed some other crime for which some evidence can be gotten--tax evasion, etc. It's what put Al Capone in jail.

[Epiphany2b]

"It is not the job, in other words, of local cops or municipalities to enforce federal laws. In fact, the federal government has never made such an argument. The California counties acted on their own."

The Federal government has never made such an argument . . . what were all the FDA raids against Medical Marijuana facilities in California, as well as Oregon and other states, all about then? They may not have made a verbal argument, but certainly acted as of it were so. I'm thinking relatives of those patients that were denied their medication by FDA ought to have a basis for a law suit.

[TruthJusticeForAll]

I completely support legalization of ALL victim-less crimes. Prohibition does not work. However, the federal government included marijuana (improperly) as a schedule 1 drug back in 1937 or 1938. The fact that is against federal law has provided the basis for the DEA to raid state authorized clinics. State municipalities/counties have no authorization to disregard state law. The feds may continue to act against violations of federal law. That has been the authorization for the ongoing DEA raids. Last week the new national drug czar announced the DEA would no longer raid state authorized marijuana clinics, but within 48 hours, the DEA had raided another clinic & made new arrests. Stupid is as stupid does. Our government is pretty much stupid (& corrupt) at every level.

[JohnSawyer]

The "F" in FDA stands for "Federal". That's why the FDA was given the job of using its goons to raid marijuana clubs. So the FDA/Feds were within the law, as stupid as it is, to perform those raids, since local cops weren't directing the raids.

[markinaz]

Why do Americans insist on doing things so backwards. This should not have even been an issue. Good for the SCOTUS.

[kathy001]

Lately, whenever a politician or group wants publicity they scream that the federal government is interferring with State's Rights. But these cities are doing the exact opposite, trying to claim that the federal government trumps the state's laws. They don't have reason or logic on their side so they bring up some form of argument about state vs. fed. Pathetic.

[Sarah Katherine]

The profound healing effects of marijuana, though not widely known, is public information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis#Partial_list_of_clinical_applications

They are realizing that we simply cannot be lied to on this subject any longer.

[LeeCalif]

Yea !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

[harrymellon]

FINALLY! Keeps the Cops and The Feds out of my body and my brain. It's none of their business.

[joeyfoto]

Access to medical cannabis is life-saving public policy. This is not a joke; not for cancer patients struggling with chemo-therapy or AIDS patients starving to death because they are unable to hold food down while taking medications that would otherwise save their lives. This is another case where ignorance and bigotry have delayed implementation of reasonable public policy, for decades.

Our Supreme Court deserves credit for refusing to endorse San Diego County's willfully ignorant obstructionism. One would hope that this wise decision will block further delay in implementing the will of the voters of California, while accelerating the adoption of sound policy in other states... but, given my experience with drug policy, I suspect that ignorance will hold out out a state-by-state basis, while patients suffer.

Education eventually changes - if not the minds of bigots - then the people who hold the offices where decisions are made. Keep up honest, fact-based education, on drug policy reform. If your elected officials will not respond to facts, the voters will, eventually, put into public office those who will face facts and honestly analyze the data. These changes take more time than we ever could have imagined but substantial progress is made, as understanding of the seriousness and complexity of the issue grows. This is another good day for drug policy reform and a great day for patients.

Joey Tranchina, founding member
California Drug Policy Reform Coalition

[macchugsid]

Thank you Joe for all of the work yours and other organizations like you do. It is slowly starting to turn thanks to folks like you. Keep Up The Good Work!

[Hopeington]

CA resident sending you and the Coalition a big thank you, many of us have benefited from all the great work you've done.