By:  LINDSEY O’NEILL, ESQ.

I recently saw a documentary about the medical marijuana debate.  It ended up to be interesting timing because the U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to review a California court decision finding the state medical marijuana law was not preempted by federal law.  In the California case, police were ordered to return marijuana seized from a qualified medical marijuana user once the drug charge against him was dismissed. The police had apparently pulled over the defendant for a traffic violation and confiscated his medical marijuna.  Later, the police refused to return the marijuana to him on the basis that marijuana possession is illegal under federal drug laws.  The California Fourth District Court of Appeal found that “it is not the job of local police to enforce federal drug laws” and ordered the marijuana returned to him.

In the past ten or so years, various states have enacted laws protecting the cultivation, posession, and/or use of medical marijuana for qualified patients.  Patients qualified by the doctors are free from criminal prosecution under these laws.  However, federal law remains agaist the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes.

Read some of the research yourself and let me know your thoughts on the issue:

U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration:

Speaking Out Against Drug Legalization

Exposing the Myth of Smoked Medical Marijuana – Marijuana: The Facts

Selected State Program Information:

Alaska

California

Colorado

Hawaii

Maine

Michigan

Montana

Nevada

New Mexico

Oregon

Rhode Island

Vermont

Washington