California medical marijuana

December 4, 2017

Honolulu Police Aim to Get Guns Out of The Hands of Medical Marijuana Patients

Even in states where medical marijuana is legal under the relevant state law, it is still illegal under federal law. This conflict of law manifests in many ways, most recently in a directive in Hawaii, where medical marijuana users in Honolulu are being asked to voluntarily surrender any firearms they may own. Officials have given them 30 days to comply with this voluntary directive. While this may sound strange, according to a recent article from Task & Purposes, that is what the police are doing now that the state’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened a few months prior to this new plan.

marijuana defense According to the local police department, a state statute essentially says that a fugitive shall not own a firearm, and neither can any person who is prohibited from owing or possessing a firearm under a relevant federal statute. The felon in possession portion of the statute is present is in the criminal code of most if not every state’s criminal code, so this is not a new argument, but those using medical marijuana are not convicted felons for the reason of using medical cannabis. They may be convicted felons for other reasons, and if that is the case, there is no question they are not allowed to own or possess a firearm.

As our Orange County medical cannabis attorneys can explain, the second part of the statute is where it gets a bit murkier. Continue reading

December 2, 2017

Medical Marijuana Expands to More States

By Cannabis Law Group

Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996 as our state was the first to legalize. Since that time, more than half of the states and the District of Columbia have legalized either medical marijuana, recreational marijuana use, or both. California, while not leading the legal recreational use movement, has recently legalized it for anyone over the age of 21 as of 2018.

cannabis defense attorneys According to a recent news article from the Washington Post, medical marijuana has finally arrived in dispensaries throughout the state of Maryland, and more are opening each month. This is not to say marijuana has just been legalized for medical use in the state, but it is finally in dispensaries. The law was passed years ago, but there were so many delays and legal battles, many patients desperately in need of medical cannabis were wondering if this day would ever come. Continue reading

July 11, 2017

Social Security Beneficiaries Fear They Could Lose Benefits Due to Medical Marijuana

By Cannabis Law Group

A recent article from THV 11 news involved some growing fears among those in Arkansas who receive Social Security benefits and wish to apply for medical marijuana cards. This is a novel issue there. Even though some states, like California, have had medical marijuana programs since 1996 or shortly thereafter, these residents are living in one of the latest states to issue medical marijuana cards.

The fear is that if they obtain a medical marijuana card, they will be on a list that the federal government can use to terminate their Social Security benefits. One patient interviewed for this story suffers from chronic pain. She has pain in her neck that radiates to her head, where it causes very severe migraines. She also has a painful medical condition known as peripheral neuropathy. This condition causes her arms and legs to constantly feel like they are burning. Continue reading

April 16, 2017

International Church of Cannabis Draws Mixed Feelings

By Cannabis Law Group

Colorado was among the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational use. While it is legal to purchase marijuana, it is not legal to smoke in public. This means that are not the famous hash coffee shops as there are in Amsterdam. There are many different efforts to get around that public marijuana smoking prohibition. Some worry that a new church might be one of these efforts.

church According to a recent news article from the Cannabist, a new church, known as the International Church of Cannabis, allows people to smoke cannabis in a public setting. The church is in an historic church building that was purchased and renovated so that it could be used as a church for the newly founded religious movement known as “Elevationists.” The church was approved as a not-for-profit organization and its opening was on April 20, 2017. Continue reading

April 4, 2017

School Bus Driver Arrested – Allegedly Smoking Marijuana Before Work

By Cannabis Law Group

California was the first state in the nation to legalize medical marijuana. This occurred in 1996. Since that time, more than half of the states in the U.S. have either legalized medical marijuana or recreational use of marijuana. California is one of the states that has also legalized recreational use of marijuana. However, this new legalized status does not mean users can expect leniency in all situations, including at work or on the road.

school-bus Even though marijuana use and possession is permitted, there are still many legal issues that are very much up in the air, and these laws in flux can make things very difficult for those in the marijuana industry, as well as patients and recreational users of marijuana. Continue reading

September 25, 2016

Report: Legal Medical Pot User in Canada Denied U.S. Access for Life

By Cannabis Law Group

All Matthew Harvey wanted to do was take his 3-year-old daughter on a special trip to Disneyland in California. However, the Canadian man’s hopes have been dashed after he was reportedly banned from the U.S. for life. According to Canadian media outlet CBC, the ban had nothing to do with a prior criminal record. He hadn’t been trying to smuggle drugs – or anything else – into the country. Instead, he honestly answered a question posed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service: Have you ever used marijuana? canada

He’s a legal medical marijuana patient in Canada. In 2014, he was driving from Vancouver to Seattle, WA, where marijuana is legal both for recreational and medicinal purposes. He had been stopped and questioned by federal border patrol agents for six hours after they spotted a marijuana magazine in his car. During his detention, he was repeatedly questioned about his marijuana use. He did not think to lie, considering Washington state’s policy on the drug and the fact that he legally uses the drug in his home country. He conceded that for a time before he became a legal medical marijuana patient, he’d smoked the drug on occasion recreationally – before Canada had a legal marijuana program. This apparently was enough to trigger the ban.

And of course, while Washington state allows visitors and residents alike to purchase, possess and privately use the drug (with some restrictions), marijuana is still illegal under federal law. And federal law is what governs the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Although he wasn’t carrying any marijuana with him when he tried to cross the border, he can still be denied access because, U.S. law states that any foreign national who admits to violating his or her country’s own controlled substance laws at some point previously can be deemed ineligible for admission into the U.S. Continue reading