Pubdate: Wed, 17 Aug 2016
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2016 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321
Authors: Paul Elias and Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

FEDS BARRED FROM PROSECUTING SOME MEDICAL MARIJUANA CASES

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court Tuesday banned the 
Justice Department from prosecuting medical marijuana cases if no 
state laws were broken.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San 
Francisco ordered the federal agency to show that 10 pending cases in 
California and Washington state violated medical marijuana laws in 
those states before continuing with prosecutions.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but Congress barred the 
Justice Department from spending money to prevent states from 
regulating the use or sale of medical pot under a bipartisan measure 
co-authored by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa.

Federal prosecutors argued unsuccessfully that Congress meant only to 
bar the department from taking legal action against states and that 
it could still prosecute individuals who violate federal marijuana 
laws. The court rejected that, saying that medical marijuana-based 
prosecutions prevent the states from giving full effect to their own measures.

"If DOJ wishes to continue these prosecutions, Appellants are 
entitled to evidentiary hearings to determine whether their conduct 
was completely authorized by state law, by which we mean that they 
strictly complied with all relevant conditions imposed by state law 
on the use, distribution, possession, and cultivation of medical 
marijuana," Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain wrote for the panel.

Federal prosecutors could ask the 9th Circuit to reconsider the case 
or petition the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the issue. Justice 
Department spokesman Peter Carr said officials are still reviewing 
the decision.

Rohrabacher praised the ruling, calling it a victory over 
"nanny-state control" and saying it stays true to the intent of the 
so-called Rohrabacher-Farr amendment passed by Congress in 2014.

"The court decision today is a victory for states' rights, the 
constitutional process of establishing law, and a great victory for 
men and women across America who are utilizing medical marijuana to 
deal with a health problem in those states that have legalized the 
medical use of marijuana," he said. "The Justice Department needs to 
go on notice that there should be no more prosecutions and raiding of 
dispensaries in those states where the state government has legalized 
medical marijuana."

Marijuana activists and lawyers representing medical pot suppliers 
say the ruling is a significant addition to the growing support for 
broad legalization of the drug. Marijuana is legal for medicinal or 
recreational use in 25 states and the District of Columbia. In 
addition, 10 states have marijuana legalization measures on the 
November ballot.

"This is the beginning of the end of federal prosecutions of state 
medical marijuana dispensary operators, growers and patients," said 
Marc Zilversmit, an attorney representing marijuana growers and sellers.

Still, Zilversmit and other medical marijuana supporters said the 
Obama administration and federal authorities are still fighting the 
drug's legalization.

On Thursday, the Obama administration announced that marijuana will 
remain on the list of most dangerous drugs, but said it will allow 
more research into its medical uses.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said the agency's decision came 
after a lengthy review and consultation with the Health and Human 
Services Department, which said marijuana "has a high potential for 
abuse" and "no accepted medical use." The decision means that pot 
will remain illegal for any purpose under federal law.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat who helped draft the 
language barring the Justice Department and its 93 U.S attorneys 
across the country from spending money on medical marijuana 
prosecutions, said the "DOJ has been a little slow to pick up on" 
lawmakers' desire that prosecutors go after organized drug rings and 
leave alone medicinal pot sellers and users.

"Congress is increasingly united in the recognition that we should 
not interfere with what states are doing with medical marijuana," 
Blumenauer said. "Unfortunately we've got the DEA and 93 U.S. 
attorneys who have people that are still frying little fish."

Staff writer Brooke Edwards Staggs contributed to this report.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom