cannabisnews.com: State Court Gives Medical Pot Users New Protection State Court Gives Medical Pot Users New Protection Posted by CN Staff on July 19, 2002 at 06:57:20 PT By Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Legal Affairs Writer Source: San Francisco Chronicle The California Supreme Court gave seriously ill patients who use marijuana powerful legal protection Thursday, ruling that the state's medical marijuana law can help pot users avoid being tried for drug offenses. The unanimous ruling is the first time the court has addressed the scope of Proposition 215, the 1996 voter-approved initiative that legalized the medical use of marijuana. Eight states have passed similar laws. The law allows doctors to recommend marijuana to relieve the often debilitating symptoms of AIDS, epilepsy, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis as well as the side effects of cancer treatment. While federal agents have cracked down on clubs that distribute cannabis, they have largely left it up to local law enforcement to go after individuals who, on the recommendation of a physician, use or grow marijuana for health reasons. Thursday's ruling will result in fewer prosecutions and more acquittals, said Gerald Uelmen, a professor at Santa Clara University Law School who defended a Tuolumne County man with diabetes who was arrested for growing marijuana. "People who medicate with marijuana are not second-class patients," he said. The state had argued that Prop. 215 merely gives patients a defense they can raise once they get to trial. But the high court said the initiative provided a much stronger shield, giving patients a total defense during trial and a way to get the charges dismissed long before then. In powerful language, the court compared those who use pot for health reasons with a patient receiving prescription medication. Under Prop. 215, Chief Justice Ronald George said, "The possession and cultivation of marijuana is no more criminal -- so long as (the law's) conditions are satisfied -- than the possession and acquisition of any prescription drug with a physician's prescription." The status of the law has been in doubt since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May 2001 that federal anti-drug laws make no exception for patients who use marijuana for health reasons. But in Thursday's ruling, the state court made it clear that last year's ruling was strictly a federal issue that had no bearing on its decision. VICTORY FOR AN AILING MAN The ruling was a victory for Myron Mower, who suffers from diabetes, blindness, digestive dysfunction and other ailments. Prosecutors agreed that Mower, who has been hospitalized several times, was "extremely ill." He was convicted of drug offenses in 1998 after police found 31 marijuana plants in his home -- 28 more than the county's three-plant limit. Mower, 40, said he had used marijuana for the past 20 years to relieve his nausea and to stimulate his appetite. A state appeals court in Fresno upheld his conviction, finding that the initiative "simply gives those arrested a day in court." Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/07/19/MN210109.DTLSource: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Legal Affairs WriterPublished: Friday, July 19, 2002 Copyright: San Francisco Chronicle - Page A - 1 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMedical Marijuana Users Can Get Some Immunity http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13463.shtmlState's Pot Laws Provide Protection for Patientshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13462.shtmlCalifornia Justices Look at Medicinal Pot Ruleshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13052.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment