Big Week for Medical Marijuana Proponents
Michigan this week became the thirteenth state to legalize medical marijuana, though the law won’t be fully effective until April. Until that time, medical marijuana users find themselves in an odd gray zone, in which they haven’t yet been issued the cards that will allow them to use the drug legally, but may raise medical use as a defense should they be charged.
But the more controversial development came earlier this week, from the U.S. Supreme Court. Three years ago, an Orange County Superior Court ordered law enforcement officials to return seized marijuana to Felix Kha after a doctor confirmed that he was using marijuana on medical advice and charges against him were dropped. But prosecutors balked. The Court of Appeals sided with Kha and the Superior Court, citing a federally protected property right. Prosecutors appealed to the California Supreme Court, arguing that no such federally protected right could exist, since federal law makes marijuana possession illegal.
The California Supreme Court declined to hear the case, leaving prosecutors with only two options–honor the lower court ruling or take the matter one step further. They chose to continue the fight, and asked the United States Supreme Court to decide the issue.
When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to address the issue, the 3+ year battle came to an end. However, because the ruling is only binding in one appellate district in California, the question remains open in other jurisdictions and the issue is likely to arise again, eventually forcing state supreme courts and/or the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the issue as jurisdictions split and the law varies from place to place.
