cannabisnews.com: Wacky Tabacky Case Wacky Tabacky Case Posted by CN Staff on December 04, 2007 at 05:29:51 PT Editorial Source: Los Angeles Times California -- There's no denying that it sounds wacky: The California Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court decision ordering the police to give back the marijuana seized from a driver during a routine traffic stop. This is likely to generate a wave of "Only in California" jokes, but just because it's wacky doesn't mean it's wrong. In 2005, Garden Grove police officers stopped Felix Kha for failing to yield at a red light. Kha consented to a search of his car, and police found one-third of an ounce of marijuana that Kha explained was for medicinal purposes. Orange County prosecutors dismissed drug charges against him after contacting his doctor, and Kha sought the return of his property. The police refused, saying that returning the drug would violate federal laws against marijuana distribution and possession. The Superior Court of Orange County found for Kha, saying the state never convicted him of possessing marijuana illegally and therefore, under California law, the stash was not contraband. Garden Grove appealed. Can a city invoke federal law to justify its recalcitrance in complying with state law? This is where things could have gotten sticky. But the court correctly found that in this case federal law did not take precedence over California law. The federal government is perfectly free to seize Kha's marijuana if it chooses, the court found, but medical marijuana is legal in this state and neither the police nor the courts are charged with enforcing federal law. "We would be astonished if prosecutors began filing federal charges in state courts," the court wrote.Numerous law enforcement agencies sided with Garden Grove in its appeal, arguing that returning the marijuana to Kha was practically anti-American. It would turn cops into criminals and damage the high moral standing of local law enforcement, which often cooperates with federal law enforcement. The court responded that police were not likely to be prosecuted for distributing marijuana unless they intentionally began dealing drugs, and that while it's fine for the police to work with federal agencies, their more traditional duty is to uphold state law.As this page has previously noted, there is nothing like a polarizing social issue during a period when conservatives hold sway in Washington to convert liberals into champions of states' rights and conservatives into zealous defenders of the federal government. But the court deftly navigated this territory as well. By returning Kha's marijuana, the court wrote, "Garden Grove police will actually be facilitating a primary principle of federalism, which is to allow the states to innovate in areas bearing on the health and well-being of their citizens." Note: Garden Grove police are ordered to return a suspect's marijuana. But the ruling is not as strange as it sounds.Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)Published: December 4, 2007Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles TimesContact: letters latimes.comWebsite: http://www.latimes.com/Related Articles: Court Orders Police To Return Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23517.shtmlCourt To City: Return Pot User's Stashhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23516.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #9 posted by museman on December 04, 2007 at 20:08:41 PT yeah Don't we have enough monsters playing at their power and superiority games, we wanna glorify what? Raise who to some kind of deserved respect? Time to call a prick a prick, which by any other name would still stink up the place. Let us assist in healing this place, but learn that the difference between a black hole and a bucket is not just fanciful renderings, and distracting information cleverly constructed to decieve, but the actual fact that a bucket holds something, and a black hole does not. Simple applied logic. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by runruff on December 04, 2007 at 18:37:04 PT: Oh ma god! Honest cops! Good cops! Paleeese, Don't even get me started. Just imagine your own worst nightmare. In the world of law enforcement it is reality. Nuff Said! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by museman on December 04, 2007 at 18:12:51 PT Hope Not me! I have no cops. Those'r other folks cops. Doesn't stop 'em from stinkin' and me from smellin' 'em. They don't frighten me, nor am I intimidated by them. I also do not associate 'professional attitude' with actually presenting ones' humanity, and a polite cop is just a gun in a holster. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Hope on December 04, 2007 at 17:59:05 PT What? "addiction to narcotic drugs constitutes a serious evil"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_Drugs [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Hope on December 04, 2007 at 16:39:13 PT It sounds like you've got some bad ones. "Cops are already criminals as a general rule, in fact an arrogant predatory violent attitude is in their profile, They are recruited for it. I think that before one could even begin to worry about 'the high moral standard of law enforcement' (if you don't choke with unbridled guffaws and laughter at the ludicrous attempt to dress up the ugly truth,) there must needs actually BE some first!" [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by museman on December 04, 2007 at 12:31:45 PT obfuscating bustards "Numerous law enforcement agencies sided with Garden Grove in its appeal, arguing that returning the marijuana to Kha was practically anti-American. It would turn cops into criminals and damage the high moral standing of local law enforcement, which often cooperates with federal law enforcement."This entire system of government in it's present state, and it it's present hands of power, hsa never been anything but Anti-American, You want a traitor or two? Start at the top and work down, if there's really anybody that doesn't deserve to be on that list in that rank and file of politicians, diplomats, and carpetbaggers, I have yet to be convinced. Cops are already criminals as a general rule, in fact an arrogant predatory violent attitude is in their profile, They are recruited for it. I think that before one could even begin to worry about 'the high moral standard of law enforcement' (if you don't choke with unbridled guffaws and laughter at the ludicrous attempt to dress up the ugly truth,) there must needs actually BE some first! [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Max Flowers on December 04, 2007 at 09:11:06 PT potpal Cops very often want to search a car they've pulled over... being nosy cops, they just want to. You notice the article says that the guy consented to their search. That was a mistake. They would probably have searched it anyway, but then the whole search would have been illegal unless they could demonstrate a need to search for their safety, which they would not be able to do on a routine traffic stop if there was no threat.I've never had a cop search my car or even ask to. I believe it's the way I comport myself during the interaction that is the reason. I look them square in the eyes, and I'm sure I have a look and speaking style (probably even more important than the look) that, while not hostile, says "I'm not stupid and I know my rights." May sound weird, but there are different looks, and that is one of them, and another far more common look/attitude says to them "I am stupid and don't know my rights." Cops are trained to size people up immediately, so give them the right signal, as you only have a few moments to do it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by dongenero on December 04, 2007 at 07:31:50 PT 3 great lines by the court............... "Garden Grove police will actually be facilitating a primary principle of federalism, which is to allow the states to innovate in areas bearing on the health and well-being of their citizens."---------------------"We would be astonished if prosecutors began filing federal charges in state courts," the court wrote.-----------------------The court responded that police were not likely to be prosecuted for distributing marijuana unless they intentionally began dealing drugs, and that while it's fine for the police to work with federal agencies, their more traditional duty is to uphold state law. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by potpal on December 04, 2007 at 06:04:13 PT whacky indeed So you get pulled over for a moving violation and subsequently your car gets searched. Why are the two related? I do remember our supreme court said it's okay as long as the guard dog barks, it's left up to the discretion of a dog. When they gonna start asking for the keys to your abode? Why not go ahead and have a law that requires everyone to have their shoes tied and if you're spotted with one untied, you get subjected to a search...get it over with. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment