San Diego, CA: State provisions condoning the therapeutic use of cannabis do not conflict with federal anti-drug laws, the Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled this week.The 3-0 ruling upheld a 2006 Superior Court decision, which found that an amendment to California’s Compassionate Use Act that requires counties to issue identification cards to state-authorized medical cannabis patients “does not create a ‘positive conflict’ [with federal law.]”
Lawmakers from two southern California counties, San Diego and San Bernardino, filed suit in 2006 against San Diego NORML and the state of California, rather than comply with the state-imposed ID card program – alleging that California’s medical marijuana law violated the federal Controlled Substances Act.
Opining for the Court, Justice Alex McDonald determined: “The purpose of the [federal law] is to combat recreational drug use, not to regulate a state’s medical practices. … Because the [federal] law does not compel the states to impose criminal penalties for marijuana possession, the requirement that counties issue cards identifying those against whom California has opted not to impose criminal penalties does not positive conflict with the US Controlled Substances Act.” San Diego NORML was named because they had publicly threatened to sue the county if the county failed to begin issuing the state ID cards to qualified medical users.
Following the ruling, San Diego County Supervisors voted 4 to 1 to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.
“This latest appeal is not about politicians seeking clarity in the law; it’s about the supervisors opposition to any use of medicinal cannabis,” NORML Legal Counsel Keith Stroup said. “The supervisors’ arrogant behavior is an affront to their constituents and a gross waste of taxpayers’ dollars.”
Justices for the Second District Court of Appeals also ruled last week in a separate decision that state law does not require “a patient to periodically renew a doctor’s recommendation regarding medical marijuana use.”
For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel, at (202) 483-5500. The case is County of San Diego et al. v. San Diego NORML et al.