Pubdate: Sat, 16 Aug 2008 Source: Ukiah Daily Journal, The (CA) Copyright: 2008 The Ukiah Daily Journal Contact: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/feedback Website: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/581 Author: Ben Brown, The Daily Journal Cited: Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board http://www.mmmab.net/ Referenced: People v. Kelly http://www.canorml.org/news/kellyruling.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+215 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/SB+420 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal) MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULES CONFUSED UNDER RULING DA Says Big Commercial Grows Still the Target Recent court decisions have muddied the already unclear waters of medical marijuana law in California, but in Mendocino County District Attorney Meredith Lintott said it will be business as usual. Last week Mendocino County Superior Court Judge John Behnke ruled that the medical marijuana possession limits established by voter-approved Measure B could not stand as written in light of the California Appellate Court decision in People v. Kelly. In the Kelly decision, the court ruled that the statewide medical marijuana possession limit of six mature or 12 immature plants and eight ounces of marijuana was unconstitutional because the limits were an amendment by the legislature to the Compassionate Use Act which legalized medical marijuana but contained no possession limits. In the ruling, judges wrote that the legislature cannot amend a voter initiative unless the initiative permits it. The CUA does not. Based on that ruling, Behnke ruled that if the legislature cannot amend the CUA than neither can an individual county. Without Measure B or the statewide limits established by Proposition 420, medical marijuana possession limits are now in flux. "For right in the present day, now, there are no limits," Lintott said. Lintott said the lack of a limit will not change how her office prosecutes marijuana cultivation cases. She said her attorneys will continue to focus on large commercial marijuana gardens. "That will remain our chief concern," she said. The District Attorney's Office will continue to review cases as they come in and take into account all of the evidence gathered before making a charging decision. "We do reject a certain amount of cases," Lintott said. Because the current legal rulings remove some of the protection for medical marijuana patients enacted under the state's regulations (now struck down), suspects who go to trial for growing marijuana and wish to mount a medical marijuana defense will have to provide evidence and witnesses to prove that they had a medical marijuana recommendation and that all of the marijuana they had was for medical use. Calls to the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board for comment were not returned Friday, but on their website the group wrote that it was a confusing time for medical marijuana patients. "Some overzealous Deputies are likely to regard the current situation as open season on patients, who do not currently have any particular number of protected plants," the group wrote on their website. The board encourages anyone who has a negative contact with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office to contact the MMMAB. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake