In an unusually contentious ruling (pdf) Monday, California appellate court Judges Paul Haerle and J. Anthony Kline got in each other's faces about whether a judge can order a criminal defendant to stop using medicinal marijuana while on probation when the underlying crime has nothing to do with pot use. Kline says you can't. Haerle says you can, and -- unfortunately for Kline -- Haerle was backed in the 2-1 ruling by Justice James Richman. The opinion focused on Daryl Moret Jr., who pleaded no contest to possession of a concealed firearm on the condition he abstain from using marijuana, which he claimed a doctor had recommended for chronic migraine headaches. [continues 266 words]
A California appellate court ruled Thursday that state legislators overstepped their bounds in 2003 by limiting the amount of marijuana that patients could possess for medical purposes. The unanimous opinion by Los Angeles' 2nd District Court of Appeal said legislators acted unconstitutionally when they passed a statute that effectively amended Proposition 215 -- also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 -- to allow patients a maximum 8 ounces of dried pot and six mature or 12 immature marijuana plants at any given time. [continues 491 words]
Medical pot-using patients won a major victory Wednesday when a California appeal court ruled that Garden Grove cops must return the marijuana they confiscated from a Southern California man during a traffic stop. The man's attorney, Joseph Elford, chief counsel for the Oakland-based Americans for Safe Access, was almost breathless from excitement in confirming that the ruling was the first published decision in which a California appellate court ordered the return of doctor-approved medical marijuana. "This is a huge case for us," Elford said. "It's probably the greatest legal victory for medical marijuana patients in California to date." [continues 542 words]
Eight days after accepting a systems administration job with Sacramento's RagingWire Telecommunications Inc. in 2001, Gary Ross was fired for testing positive for marijuana. The 43-year-old father of two admitted he smoked pot at home for back pain, but explained it was legally prescribed by his doctor under the state's Compassionate Use Act. His new bosses backed their decision, however, by citing federal law that still criminalizes marijuana. Five years later, the dispute shows no sign of losing steam as an employment discrimination suit filed by Ross awaits a full hearing by the California Supreme Court. Although oral arguments haven't been set, a host of high-powered amici curiae have already stoked expectations with hard-hitting briefs on both sides of the issue. [continues 772 words]
A Drug Prosecutor's Pot Conversion When two doctors told Keith Vines three years ago that he should consider smoking marijuana for his health, the 46-year-old San Francisco assistant district attorney was thrown into a quandary. He had always been a strong advocate of the nation's anti-drug policies. And as a self-styled "foot soldier" in the war on drugs, he had prosecuted one of the biggest pot busts in San Francisco history, sending a man to prison in 1993 for possessing more than 400 pounds of marijuana. [continues 1345 words]
