Supreme Court Upholds State Marijuana Law

Although the DEA still can (and will) interfere in states' lawful creation and enforcement of medical marijuana laws, the US Supreme court has made a landmark decision. The Court has effectively said that states cannot arrest or detain medical marijuana patients who are in compliance with state laws even if those state laws contradict federal law. This is a huge bonus to medical marijuana patients who now no longer have to fear state and local authorities while seeking medical treatment. They do, however, still need to watch out for federal authorities. I hope this will prevent more cases like this from occurring.

California medical marijuana patient Felix Kha was pulled over by the Garden Grove Police Department and cited for possession of marijuana, despite Kha showing the officers proper documentation. The charge against Kha was subsequently dismissed, with the Superior Court of Orange County issuing an order to return Kha's wrongfully seized 8 grams of medical marijuana. The police, backed by the City of Garden Grove, refused to return Kha's medicine and the city appealed. Before the 41-page decision was issued a year ago by California's Fourth District Court of Appeal, the California Attorney General filed a “friend of the court” brief on behalf of Kha's right to possess his medicine. The California Supreme Court then denied review in March.
​