STATE TOP COURT TO REVIEW MEDICAL POT LIMIT

The state Supreme Court returned to the medical marijuana wars
Wednesday, agreeing to decide the validity of a law that shields
doctor-approved pot users from arrest for possessing up to eight
ounces of dried marijuana or growing six plants.

The justices voted unanimously to review the issue after a prosecution
appeal of a lower-court ruling in May. In that ruling, an appellate
court found the 2003 law conflicted with California's 1996 medical
marijuana initiative, which allows possession of an amount of
marijuana "reasonably related to the patient's current medical needs,"
but did not set specific limits.

The appellate panel overturned the conviction of a Los Angeles County
man who possessed more than eight ounces of marijuana and ruled that
the 1996 initiative bars the Legislature from specifying the amount a
patient can possess.

The case has divided medical marijuana advocates, with some arguing
that the court should have left some standards in place to guide
police and protect patients.

The 1996 initiative, Proposition 215, allowed Californians to possess
and cultivate marijuana for medical use with their doctor's approval.
The court has interpreted Prop. 215 to provide broad protections for
medical patients in criminal cases, but has not extended those
protections to the workplace. Notwithstanding the law, the justices
ruled in January that employers could fire workers who used medical
marijuana away from the job, a ruling that advocates are trying to
overturn in the Legislature.

Wednesday's case began in 2005, when officers in Los Angeles County
searched Patrick Kelly's home and found seven plants in his back yard,
12 ounces of marijuana in plastic baggies, and a doctor's note saying
he needed marijuana for hepatitis C, back problems and other ailments.

The prosecutor told jurors that Kelly was not a legitimate medical
marijuana user because he exceeded the limits of the 2003 law. He was
convicted of illegal possession and cultivation and sentenced to two
days in jail and three years' probation.

The Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles overturned the
conviction in May, agreeing with Kelly's lawyer that the 2003 law was
invalid because it set limits that conflicted with Prop. 215, which
does not specify the amount of marijuana a patient may possess for
medical use.

But one advocacy group, Americans for Safe Access, argued that the
2003 law did not limit the amount of marijuana a patient could
possess; it merely set guidelines for police. Striking down the law
would eliminate a statewide standard that "protects qualified patients
from unnecessary arrests," attorney Joseph Elford argued in court papers.

The American Civil Liberties Union offered a different interpretation:
The eight-ounce limit and protection from arrest is an option that
applies to the more than 18,000 patients who have obtained medical
marijuana identification cards, also authorized by the 2003 law.

All patients remain covered by Prop. 215, which allows doctors to
recommend greater amounts of marijuana and leaves local governments
free to set higher limits, ACLU lawyer M. Allen Hopper said. San
Francisco, for example, allows possession of up to 24 marijuana
plants, he said.

Deputy Attorney General Michael Johnsen took a similar view, arguing
that without the numerical standards, "law enforcement has no clear
legislative guidance ... and medical marijuana patients have little
incentive to volunteer for the cardholder program."

The Supreme Court has not set a hearing date.

The case is People vs. Kelly, S164830.