cannabisnews.com: Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Case on Seized MMJ





Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Case on Seized MMJ
Posted by CN Staff on December 02, 2008 at 06:21:22 PT
By Christopher Goffard
Source: Los Angeles Times
California -- More than three years after Garden Grove police seized a small amount of marijuana from a chronic pain patient, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider the city's argument -- which divided California's major law enforcement organizations -- that it should not have to give the drugs back.Advocates cheered the development as a step forward for medical marijuana users to get their "medicine" back from police.
"This is our biggest legal victory to date, and we're very glad it's now become final," said Joe Elford, an attorney with Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based medical marijuana advocacy group. City officials expressed disappointment and said their position was never to challenge the constitutionality of California's medical marijuana law, only whether police could be forced to return the drug.Police pulled over Felix Kha, a Garden Grove resident, in June 2005 for a traffic violation and found him in possession of one-third of an ounce of marijuana.Though Orange County prosecutors dropped drug charges after a doctor confirmed that the cannabis was for medical use, police refused to return the drugs on the grounds that to do so violated federal drug distribution laws.A judge in Orange County Superior Court sided with Kha, ordering the police to return his marijuana. But the city again refused and instead appealed to California's 4th District Court of Appeal. The court of appeal also sided with Kha, declaring that patients enjoy a federally protected property right to their medical marijuana. Garden Grove argued that such a right doesn't exist since federal law makes marijuana possession illegal in almost all circumstances, and asked the California Supreme Court to look at the case, but in March the court refused.Now, the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to review the decision brings the case to a close.Elford said his group has received hundreds of complaints from medical marijuana patients about local police seizing their drugs on the logic that "we'll take it from you and let the courts sort it out."With the Kha case closed, he said, "There will be hundreds, if not thousands of patients who will no longer be subject to the confiscation of their medicine." Elford said that California, one of 13 states that had declared medical marijuana to be legal, has as many as 300,000 valid medical marijuana patients.A litany of the state's major law enforcement organizations opposed the return of Kha's marijuana, including the California State Sheriffs' Assn., the California Police Chiefs Assn., the California Peace Officers' Assn., and the California District Attorneys Assn., along with 15 cities or counties. But Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown supported Kha's position. Lawyers for Garden Grove argued that California law didn't contain a specific provision for the return of medical marijuana, and contended that to return the drugs would violated federal law. M. Lois Bobak, an attorney for Garden Grove, called the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to review the case a disappointment. She said police lawfully seized Kha's marijuana since, at the time he was pulled over, he could not prove he had a legal right to possess marijuana .She said Garden Grove did not challenge the constitutionality of California's medical marijuana law, called the Compassionate Use Act."The only thing Garden Grove argued was that requiring police to return properly seized marijuana would conflict with federal law," Bobak said. "There's nothing in the Compassionate Use Act that says police have to return marijuana that is properly seized."Elford said Kha's marijuana was never returned, and that his client moved out of Garden Grove as the case was making its way through the courts. Despite his victories, given the amount of marijuana involved, "it wasn't worth his while" to return and claim it now. "I'm in good spirits today. I've been litigating this thing for over three years," Elford said Monday. "It's been a long, strange journey."Goffard is a Times staff writer.Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)Author: Christopher GoffardPublished: December 2, 2008Copyright: 2008 Los Angeles TimesContact: letters latimes.comWebsite: http://www.latimes.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by museman on December 03, 2008 at 08:58:57 PT
 a litany
"A litany of the state's major law enforcement organizations opposed the return of Kha's marijuana, including the California State Sheriffs' Assn., the California Police Chiefs Assn., the California Peace Officers' Assn., and the California District Attorneys Assn., "Who is the public enemy #1? Read above list, all selected, and appointed 'authorities' -without the consent and electorate of the people, but with express agendas and interest in maintaining the class/economic status quo as mandated by the wealthy elite.Want to change the situation? Stop empowering these corrupted individuals with our forced belief and capitulation in their corrupt system. Just say no to thugs.FREE WHITE RHINO FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #10 posted by runruff on December 03, 2008 at 08:00:16 PT
This is you brain...............
[John Lennon, Sigmond Frued, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Tom Wolf, Hunter S. Thompson, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama, Newt Gingrich, Gene Krupa, Robert Mitchum, Bob Dylan, William F. Buckley Jr. Peter Fonda, Robert De Niro, Willie Nelson, Carl Sagan, Arnold Scharzeneggar, Jerry Brown, Vincent Van Gough, Salvatore Dali, Andy Warhol, Picasso. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin.]This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?
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Comment #9 posted by John Tyler on December 02, 2008 at 22:24:09 PT
Natl Geo II
I hope a lot of people get to see it. It might get some of them thinking about cannabis in a positive way.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on December 02, 2008 at 20:51:12 PT
John Tyler
I thought it was very well done.
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Comment #7 posted by John Tyler on December 02, 2008 at 20:39:23 PT
Natl Geo
I just watched the Natl Geo program. Except for the cops babbling their usual nonsense, it was overall, decent. 
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Comment #6 posted by OverwhelmSam on December 02, 2008 at 14:31:32 PT
Open Video to Barack Obama
Good video message to Obamam from MPP:http://tv.mpp.org/news/an-open-letter-to-president-elect-barack-obama/
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Comment #5 posted by ezrydn on December 02, 2008 at 11:45:46 PT
Let Me See If I Understand This Correctly
The police said they won't return the MMJ because it would be considered "distribution." However, they dropped any and all drug charges against Kha.Wouldn't the "distribution" idea also hold true when the MMJ passed hands from Kha to the police? Sorry but this marble ain't exactly round!
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Comment #4 posted by mykeyb420 on December 02, 2008 at 09:23:06 PT
I love the line:
Dismissing police arguments that they have a duty to enforce and uphold the federal marijuana ban, the court said, "It is not the job of the local police to enforce the federal drug laws."Ive been saying this for YEARS !!!
and im just a pothead...
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on December 02, 2008 at 09:02:08 PT
City Must Relinquish Seized Medical Pot
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/02/BAR014FHLG.DTL
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Comment #2 posted by Vincent on December 02, 2008 at 07:22:10 PT:
Garden Grove
Right on! I can only hope that cases like this one make Conservatives see the error of their ways. It probably won't though. Anyway, I hope that they eat their hearts out!
And I'm glad that Jerry Brown did the right thing. Too bad he didn't win the presidential election of '92. He would've been better than Clinton.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on December 02, 2008 at 06:48:33 PT
Related Article From The Oakland Tribune
Oakland Group Hails Supreme Court Action in Medical Pot Casehttp://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_11113552
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