[ASA Field]

CA Supreme Court Affirms ASA Win!
Appellate ruling that local police must uphold state law is now binding statewide

Dear ASA supporter,

On Wednesday, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) quietly scored one of the most important legal victories since voters approved Proposition 215, when the California Supreme Court decided not to review or de-publish last year’s landmark return of property decision in Garden Grove v. Superior Court. By affirming the appellate court’s decision, the Supreme Court has made protection against wrongful seizure of medical marijuana legally binding throughout the state of California.

ASA needs your help right now to make the most of this victory and to keep fighting for patients’ rights. Please take a moment right now to join ASA or make a special contribution?

Last year, the California Court of Appeal ruled that state law enforcement could not use federal law as an excuse for not upholding California’s medical cannabis laws – therefore police must return medicine wrongfully seized from legal patients. ASA filed the successful appeal on behalf of Garden Grove patient Felix Kha in hopes of stemming the tide of hundreds of wrongful confiscations of medicine all over California. Our November victory should have ended the debate about “enforcing federal law,” but the decision was quickly appealed to the State Supreme Court.

As a result of literally hundreds of cases of wrongful medical marijuana confiscation, and careful legal planning and research, ASA’s legal team strongly defended the rights of Felix Kha and others like him. The whole process took more than two years! Think for a moment how lucky we are to have a dedicated legal team at ASA working full time to defend patients’ rights.

This victory would not have been possible without the ongoing and generous support of people like you – people who believe in the right to legally use medical cannabis in California. But now what? We need to make sure that the more than 250,000 legal patients, and thousands of attorneys and public defenders are sufficiently educated about patients’ rights and protection from medicine confiscation to which patients are now entitled. We also need to educate police officers, prosecutors, and judges. We need to tell this story in the media to end patient harassment and to ensure that police no longer hide behind the excuse that marijuana is illegal under federal law.

We can do all of this and press on to new victories for patients if we have your continued support! Please take a moment to join ASA or make a new pledge of monthly support right now. Your gift of $10, $25, $50, or more per month will help us make the most of this case and finally succeed in defending patients’ rights to medicine. Please do it today, so we can keep fighting!

Thank you in advance for your generosity,

Don Duncan
California Director
Americans for Safe Access

P.S. For more information, please see ASA's page about the Garden Grove case: http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.or...le.php?id=4412

Americans for Safe Access is the nation's largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.

[CBDTHCCBN]

YES!!!!

$$ on the way...

edit: almost for got, thank you ASA!

edit edit:: i just can't believe how excited i am to hear this, can't even smoke a bowl i'm so hootin happy.... everybody, send what ever you can...
let's keeep the progression of this victory moving forward! in spite o ftoday's events! this is releaving news!!!! so, now i wonder if all the clubs affected today can now go back and sue the lapd for assisting the DEA... well at least those clubs with lapd involvment.

So then all the meds taken in todays raids will be returned?

[kusher]

way to go a.s.a.... thank god for you guys and the legal tem.

[silvercloud]

Originally Posted by YorMother

So then all the meds taken in todays raids will be returned?

Supreme Court of Cali has jurisdiction on all 'state' issues ,not 'fed' ... still ,a fine move forward ; hopefully ,some 'press' ,print/air carrying additional publicity for us .....

[Ulalume]

After reading the sad news about DEA raids all day, I can't tell you happy I am to finally have some good news to read!

Thank you for posting this!

And thank you, ASA, for your commitment and hard work! It is so very much appreciated!

Originally Posted by YorMother

So then all the meds taken in todays raids will be returned?

Unfortunatly no...

This ruling strengthens the Kha ruling so it can be used as case law by any patient who has had meds take illlegally by State or Local LEOS.

So if a patient has meds taken by local or state law enforcement, they can't say "It's illegal Federally, so we are keeping it".

This forces State and local law enforcement give back your meds or face the State Supreme Courts ruling: It's legal in California. You can't take meds based on their status in the Feds eyes.

The ruling today sets case law in stone and it's a HUGE victory for patients and States rights, PLUS it tells the LEO's that the game is played on our home court, they can't just decide to use Federal law becuse they don't like Californias laws on MMJ.

End result: You can sue the pants off any state or local agency that takes your legal meds. And have the backing of the State Supreme Court behind it (in case law).

[dakindsmoke]

I love you guys at ASA. Thank you!!!!!!

[gobig714]

small step in the right direction.

This was great to hear. Way to go!

[flylightly]

Congrats! And THANK YOU!!!

The second I can get some cash I will definitely be joining. Might even do it tomorrow.

Just know I throw my 5 to 10 bucks in the ASA donation jar at the club everytime Im there. We love what you guys are doing!

[Medpatient]

excellent news ASA so glad to hear the supreme court backed the appellate courts decision.

[Harley Dude]

WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO. Thats why we all need to be members of ASA. The bigger we get and more organized. The quicker we can get big brother from telling us how to live.

YAY!!!!! Y ou just made my day!!!!! bp

[hajpoj]

California should just straight up secede from the union!

[ASA Field]

Thanks for all the kind words. We're extremely excited that the CA Supreme Court allowed this ruling to stand and now that we know it's binding, we plan to embark on a statewide campaign to get property returned.

You'll be hearing much more about this from us soon :)

[squatter420]

Yes, now the wave of lawsuits will begin crashing on these recalcitrant Counties! Sue the fuck out of these localities. Let the bastards fund this movement!

[HappaGuy]

This is great.

But I want to be clear about where we stand now.

The CA state supreme court sez MMJ patients and providers who are arrested should have their meds returned, because SB420 is state law and so state and local LEOs must follow it, regardless of any Federal law to the contrary.

Does this mean that the California state courts have upheld SB420 in it's entirety, and thus all state and local LEOs statewide are obligated to leave MMJ patients and SB420 compliant providers alone?

At this point, has the entirety of SB420 and MMJ been locked-in by the courts at the state level, law and enforcement both?

That'd be nice, but somehow I don't think so. You'd think the decision would have reaffirmed that MMJ patients and compliant providers are not to be arrested in the first place.

What's up? I beg a clue.

:rainbownote

[ASA Field]

I urge you to read the Kha decision and decide for yourself: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions...ts/G036250.PDF

It's the most exciting court decision I've ever read.

[O.C. Remedy Group]

:partysmile:HELL YAH!!!!!:partysmile:

[palmspringsbum]

Will you answer me a question?

I was arrested last year on another charge, and they took my medicine.

I had a trial on that charge a couple of weeks ago with a hung jury.

The date of the arrest was the day before last Thanksgiving, about Nov. 24/25.

My recommendation for one year was dated Nov 18, so it had expired. I had an appointment at the time for a 'renewal'. That was on December 13.

After the hung jury on the arrest charge they offered me a 'deal'. They also had arrested me for possession on a subsequent date (which should be thrown out of court as I did have a valid recommendation at the time) anyway, they said they would drop both charges if I stayed 'out of trouble' for a year. And the way things were going I said OK.

But I didn't really have time to think about it, and when I did I realized that would mean it would be a year before I got my medicine back.

But in the meantime they arrested me again (possession of concentrated marijuana), and this time I had to post bail to get out. I was medicating in a secluded courtyard behind the museum, about 10 in the morning, it's a long story....

So as far as I'm concerned, all deals are off.

Mind you, this is in Compassion Central U.S.A., aka Santa Cruz, California.

Anyway, what was the question?

Oh yes, when they arrested me in between recommendations I had an ounce I had gotten at a Thanksgiving discount of some very nice bud. Now, is there any reason I can't demand that back? And why isn't my public defender concerned about it? I mentioned it numerous times and she at first said it was 'bullshit' and we were going to get it back, and now she doesn't seem to care about it...

...but after I had a chance to think about this so-called 'deal', which my public defender urged me to accept, I realized they will have stolen my medicine twice, and there's nothing I can do about it for a year.