cannabisnews.com: Transporting Pot is Legal for Medicinal Users





Transporting Pot is Legal for Medicinal Users
Posted by CN Staff on November 28, 2006 at 07:10:41 PT
By Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco -- Medical-marijuana patients who take the drug from one place to another for personal therapeutic use can't be convicted of transporting narcotics under California law, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. A law signed by then-Gov. Gray Davis in 2003 filled a gap in the state's 1996 medical marijuana initiative, Proposition 215, the court said in a unanimous ruling.
That gap was Prop. 215's failure to address whether the initiative expressly protected patients or their caregivers from being prosecuted for transporting marijuana. The 2003 law applied retroactively to cases that were pending when it took effect, the justices said. The court nevertheless reinstated an Orange County man's conviction for transporting more than a pound of marijuana that Huntington Beach police found in his truck and his clothing in 2001. Shaun Eric Wright had his doctor's recommendation to use marijuana for chronic pain and testified that he needed large amounts because he preferred to consume the drug in food rather than smoking it. Although jurors should have been told that Wright was entitled to transport marijuana for personal use, they made it clear that they would have rejected that claim when they convicted Wright of possessing the marijuana for sale, the court said. Wright has already served his one-year jail sentence, with time off for good behavior.  Snipped:Complete Article: http://tinyurl.com/y2rfdeSource: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 Copyright: 2006 Hearst Communications Inc.Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Article:Court Expands Protections for Marijuana Usershttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22408.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by OverwhelmSam on November 28, 2006 at 14:17:38 PT
Keep Up The Heat
Fight that ridiculous charge, sue that abusive officer and state, bust that corrupt narc and fire that jerk politician whenever it's discovered that they support marijuana prohibition.
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Comment #4 posted by Truth on November 28, 2006 at 11:19:00 PT
Deaths
Marijuana has never killed.http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BOOT_CAMP_DEATH?SITE=NVLAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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Comment #3 posted by OverwhelmSam on November 28, 2006 at 08:38:13 PT
Max
The muck and mire of prohibition is getting thicker and stinkier. At some point law enforcement personnel are going to have to relent and realize that it's just not worth it. It would be nice if they called for an end to marijuana prohibition. As pervasive as marijuana is, it might as well be legal anyway. 
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Comment #2 posted by Max Flowers on November 28, 2006 at 08:29:50 PT
This is going to ruin the fun for
huge numbers of CHP officers out there. How excellent.
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Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on November 28, 2006 at 08:24:23 PT
Woo Hoo!
This is a ruling we can take to the bank. Time to start filing law suits left and right against law enforcement agencies for abuse of power if they harass medical marijuana consumers. Hit them in the pocketbook and make them bleed money.
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