Federal ruling protects pot dispensaries that follow state law

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Congressional action prohibits federal drug enforcers from shutting medical marijuana dispensaries that comply with state law, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Monday in a potentially precedent-setting case.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer is the first known ruling by a federal judge to protect pot dispensaries under a budget amendment approved by Congress in December 2014 and in effect through this December, when backers plan to renew it for another year. It bars the Justice Department from spending any money to prevent California and other states from “implementing their own state laws” that authorize the medical use of marijuana.

... Breyer did not say whether his reasoning would also apply to criminal prosecutions. But he emphatically rejected the Obama administration’s argument that the congressional action allows federal agents to act against individual marijuana suppliers as long as the Justice Department doesn’t directly challenge state laws.

... He cited a letter to then-Attorney General Eric Holder in April by the lead House authors of the congressional amendment, Republican Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa (Orange County) and Democrat Sam Farr of Carmel. They said the department had misinterpreted their amendment, which was intended to prevent the government from “wasting its limited law enforcement resources on prosecutions and asset forfeiture actions against medical marijuana patients and suppliers.”

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Federal-ruling-protects-pot-dispensaries-that-6578613.php