STATE SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN MEDICAL MARIJUANA LIMITS

A unanimous California Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a law
that limited the amount of marijuana a medical patient could legally
possess.

The California Supreme Court ruled that state lawmakers were wrong to
change provisions of the voter-approved Proposition 215, which limited
to eight ounces the amount of marijuana one person could have.

Lawmakers wanted to give law enforcement guidance on when to make
marijuana possession arrests.

The 1996 measure allowed patients with a doctor's recommendation to
possess an unspecified amount of marijuana.

Jeff Fisher, a medical-marijuana distributor in Covina, welcomed the
high court's decision.

"That's definitely a step in the right direction," said Fisher,
operator of Northern Lights Nursery. "It's always nice when something
like that happens and a restriction is lifted."

The high court said Thursday that only voters can change amendments
they've added to California's constitution through the initiative process.

The ruling by Chief Justice Ron George left in place the portion of
the new law that protects patients possessing a state-issued
medical-marijuana identification card from arrest.

George noted, however, that police were still authorized to make
arrests if they believe the cards to be forgeries or reasonably
suspect a crime has been committed.

What the court left open for interpretation is what amount of
marijuana constitutes personal medical consumption and how much is
illegal trafficking.

"The California Supreme Court did the right thing by abolishing limits
on medical marijuana possession and cultivation," said Joe Elford,
Chief Counsel for the

Oakland-based marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, in a
written statement. "At the same time, the court may have left too much
discretion to law enforcement in deciding what are reasonable amounts
of medicine for patients to possess and cultivate."

Fisher acknowledged that police will struggle with limits on medical
marijuana.

"There's always that," he said. "For local law enforcement, it's
always been a gray area."