POT CASE A GO

San Diego County won a big victory last Friday in its attempt to
overturn Prop. 215, the California law that allows sick people to use
marijuana for medicinal purposes with a doctor's recommendation.

Though Prop. 215 was approved by voters 10 years ago, the San Diego
County Board of Supervisors decided late last year to challenge the
law after the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws,
or NORML, threatened to sue the county for failing to implement a 2004
state law requiring I.D. cards to be issued to medical-marijuana
patients. Supervisors argued that both Prop. 215 and the I.D.-card law
are preempted by federal law, which prohibits any kind of marijuana
use.

After hearing arguments from San Diego and San Bernardino counties
over the "ripeness" of the case-essentially that Prop.215 creates
friction between the state and federal governments-San Diego County
Superior Court Judge William Nevitt ruled there was enough merit for
the case to proceed.

Nevitt did point out that arguments about the medicinal value of
marijuana were outside the scope of the case. He said his role is to
rule on the alleged conflict between federal and state laws and not
"between the wisdom or the propriety" of either.

Nevitt's ruling didn't dampen the spirits of medical-marijuana
advocates who gathered for the hearing.

"We're confident that federal law does not preempt [Prop. 215]," said
Kris Hermes, legal director Americans for Safe Access. "Over
two-thirds of San Diego voters approved Prop. 215."

Rudy Reyes, who suffered burns over 65 percent of his body in the
Cedar fire and now uses marijuana for pain control, said the judge's
decision not to throw out the county's lawsuit made sense.

"We have to let it play out," he said. "At least we're going to have a
chance to present the arguments."