Court says feds can’t prosecute for medical pot use OKd by state

[jpak]

Source: sfgate.com

In a potential legal breakthrough for medical marijuana, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Justice Department cannot prosecute anyone who grows, supplies or uses the drug for medical purposes under state law because Congress has barred federal intervention.

The decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco was written by one of its most conservative judges, Diarmuid O’Scannlain, and was the first by any appeals court to prohibit federal prosecutions under spending restrictions enacted by Congress. First passed in 2014 and renewed through September, the budget amendment forbids the Justice Department to spend any money to prevent California and other states from “implementing their own state laws” that authorize the medical use of marijuana.

The restrictions do not apply to state laws authorizing the personal use of marijuana, which California voters will consider in November. Although the drug remains illegal under federal law, the Obama administration says it has instructed federal prosecutors not to file charges against those who are following state laws.

But prosecutions and other federal actions against state-authorized marijuana suppliers have not ended. The government is still trying to shut down dispensaries, like the huge Harborside Medical Center in Oakland, and has refused to dismiss criminal cases it filed in the past, like those of the medical marijuana retailers and growers in Tuesday’s case.

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Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Court-says-feds-can-t-prosecute-for-legal-9146275.php

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