The clash between federal and state governments about the legalization of medical marijuana hit home for one former Farmington resident.

He was convicted last month of federal drug distribution despite state laws that allowed it.

Charles Lynch, a 1980 Farmington High School graduate, was found guilty in a federal court Aug. 5 of five counts of distributing drugs. Lynch, 46, owned and operated a medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay, Calif.

California was the first of 12 states, including New Mexico, to legalize medical marijuana, yet federal statutes trump state laws. The U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the reasons the drug is distributed are irrelevant, and prescribers, distributors and users can be federally prosecuted.

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