TENTATIVE RULING NIXES CHALLENGE TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA

A judge in San Diego indicated Thursday that he would reject three
counties' challenge to California's medical marijuana law, saying the
state could enforce a law allowing people to use the drug even if the
federal government bans it.

Federal officers are free to enforce the U.S. law prohibiting
possession and cultivation of marijuana, but that doesn't prohibit
California from allowing medical use of the drug under its own law,
Superior Court Judge William Nevitt said. The voters did just that
when they approved Proposition 215 in 1996.

The two laws would be in conflict only if California required its
residents or officials to do something that specifically was banned
by the federal law, Nevitt said. California's decision to allow
medicinal use of marijuana doesn't qualify, he said.

After issuing his tentative ruling, the judge heard arguments from
lawyers for San Diego, Merced and San Bernardino counties, the state
and medical marijuana advocates, but did not issue a final decision.
A ruling is due within 90 days.

Supporters of the medical marijuana law said they were encouraged.

"The core issue is nothing less than the integrity of our democratic
process," said Adam Wolf, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties
Union, which represented patients and doctors. "An overwhelming
majority of California voters went to the polls 10 years ago to cast
a vote for compassion. ... Three counties are saying they are above the law."

State Deputy Attorney General Leslie Lopez said Congress, in
punishing marijuana use under federal law, never intended to require
states to enact identical laws.

Thomas Bunton, a senior deputy counsel for San Diego County, said he
hoped the judge would change his mind and conclude that the state law
interferes with the federal marijuana ban.

"California authorized use of marijuana for medical purposes, but
federal law has said marijuana has no legitimate medical use," Bunton
said. "California authorizes, and in fact encourages, people to use
marijuana, when that is in fact forbidden by federal law."

The counties' lawsuit could dismantle Prop. 215.

Since the initiative took effect, the federal government has raided
and prosecuted medical marijuana suppliers, has won U.S. Supreme
Court rulings allowing enforcement of federal law against
Californians who were complying with the state initiative, and has
sought unsuccessfully to punish doctors who recommended marijuana to
their patients. But federal authorities have not argued that
California's law is unenforceable.

That argument was advanced in this case by county officials who
refused to issue identification cards for medical marijuana users, as
required by a state law that took effect last year. Patients and
their caregivers can show the cards to police as evidence of a
doctor's approval.

Nevitt's tentative ruling rejected the counties' challenge to the
identification cards.

The case before Nevitt involves enforcement of Prop. 215 in just
those three counties. But a higher state or federal court could
invalidate the law statewide if it ruled in the counties' favor.