10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, October 16, 2008
California's medical marijuana user program survived another challenge when the California Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a bid by San Bernardino and San Diego counties to review a lower court decision upholding the law.
A spokesman for San Bernardino County said it will have to review its legal options. An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union said it was time for the counties to stop their campaign and adhere to the act, approved by the state Legislature in 2003 as a way to regulate the medical marijuana law approved by California voters in 1996.
The counties contend that the state law, which sets standards for counties to review applications and issue medical marijuana user cards, conflicts with federal law that classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug with no medical use.
San Bernardino County has refused to issue the cards. Sheriff Gary Penrod has said it is a conflict, especially with officers cross-deputized to enforce federal law.
But a San Diego superior court judge, then the state 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego, disagreed with the counties.
The appellate court ruled last August that while some state laws may pose obstacles to the intent of Congress, those state laws can still be followed "without requiring a person affirmatively to violate federal laws."
The state Supreme Court's denial of a petition came during its weekly conference. Court records indicate it was denied without comment.
"The county had been hoping that the courts would resolve the conflict between state and federal law for the sake of the law enforcement officers serving on the front lines," county spokesman David Wert said in a statement. He said the county will consult with Penrod "before deciding on how to move forward."
Adam B. Wolf, the ACLU attorney who represented the San Diego chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said the state Supreme Court denial should end the legal challenge by the counties.
"They should stop wasting taxpayers' dollars and recognize what the courts have recognized -- that state medical marijuana laws are a legitimate exercise of state authority," he said in a phone interview.
"It's time for these counties to issue the cards and implement the medical marijuana laws fully."
Reach Richard K. De Atley at 951-368-9573 or rkdeatley@PE.com
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