Neal Sanders has 25 years experience representing people accused of marijuana-related offenses in Humboldt County. Neal Sanders and his staff are dedicated to representing medical marijuana (215) clients with professionalism and dignity.
If you have a legal issue involving marijuana, please feel free to contact Neal Sanders' experienced staff for an appointment and a fee estimate.
For more information about medical marijuana (215) in California, please read below and see our faq page.
(Proposition 215 passed by the voters in 1996; amended by the legislature in 2003 by enactment of the Medical Marijuana Program.)
Currently, the laws relating to medical marijuana are, to put it kindly, unclear. The initiative, Proposition 215, as passed did not answer significant questions such as whether the initiative prevents the district attorney from prosecuting the case or is the medical recommendation simply a defense at trial. The distinction is important because if the law only allowed a medical marijuana defense at trial then the patient would have to spend thousands of dollars on an attorney to go to trial and prove their defense. Other problems included lack of guidelines as to how much marijuana someone was allowed to possess pursuant to the recommendation, what exactly was a 'primary caregiver', could someone be a primary caregiver for more than one person, could someone transport their medically recommended marijuana since the code section making transportation illegal was not changed by the initiative, and were medical marijuana cooperatives allowed. The list went on. The courts struggled with these questions for years, which created great uncertainty for patients and the lower courts.
In 2003 the California legislature attempted to clarify the law with the passage of the 'Medical Marijuana Program'. This law allows each individual county to establish an amount of marijuana that a patient can possess and if a county fails to act, the statute establishes an amount (8 ounces) as a baseline allowable amount. The statute also allows the doctor to set the amount of marijuana a patient can have to be greater than that set by the statute if it is consistent with the patient's needs. The Medical Marijuana Program also provides for an identification card system for medical marijuana users that appears to provide little advantage over a simple doctor recommendation while creating a large new bureaucracy.
The 2003 law has its own set of uncertainties: Does this law also allow the doctor to exceed the county's limits if it is consistent with the patient's needs? The 2003 law adds to the list of offenses that a doctor's recommendation will protect against including the transportation statute. But that statute is the same statute that makes selling and giving away marijuana illegal. So is selling or giving away marijuana illegal? I'm sure a court would so find if the purpose of the transaction is to make a profit. But the Medical Marijuana Program does allow a primary caregiver to receive 'compensation for actual expenses, including reasonable compensation incurred for services provided to [a patient] to enable that person to use marijuana under this article, or for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in providing those services, or both...'(Health and Safety Code section 11362.765(c).) A person receiving such compensation solely on that basis, is not subject to prosecution for possessing marijuana for sale, or sale of marijuana. To what extent is a person protected by this provision? There are currently no appellate cases that discuss how broad or narrow this protection is. The statute says that only the dried mature flowers of the female cannabis plant shall be considered in determining the quantities allowed pursuant to the act. So can a patient possess an unlimited amount of shake or male plants. How much damp flowering marijuana can a patient possess? How is it determined whether marijuana is dried or not? The act also purports to authorize cooperatives. That provision states that patients and caregivers 'who associate within the State of California in order to collectively or cooperatively... .cultivate marijuana for medical purposes, shall not solely on the basis of that fact be subject to state criminal sanctions' for possession, cultivation, possession for sale, sale, transportation, opening or maintaining a place for trafficking marijuana, and maintaining a place to store or sell marijuana. It is unclear what this allows. Can the cooperative possess more than the county.s allowable limit for a single patient? Is the amount a cooperative can possess equal to the counties amount times the number of cooperative members with recommendations? If the members of the cooperative are from different counties, which county limit applies? These are just some of the uncertainties in the current law, there are many more.
The ideal, that patients should be able to obtain the medicine their doctors recommend, was overwhelmingly approved by the electorate with the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996 and was subsequently endorsed by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor with the passage of the Medical Marijuana Program in 2003. Unfortunately, that ideal is far from being realized. Currently, California's Medical Marijuana law allows law enforcement agents to harass patients by arresting them for doing what patients believe is legal and requiring these patients to spend thousands of dollars to prove their conduct was, in fact, protected. There appear to be two avenues available to correct this injustice 1) amend the current law to clarify exactly what are the rights and responsibilities of patients receiving a medical marijuana recommendation, or; 2) simply legalize marijuana. Either way, the California legislature needs to act quickly to relieve the suffering caused by the current system. It is also necessary for the federal government to amend its laws to allow each state the ability to protect their citizens from federal prosecution for conduct the state deems lawful. Only then can patients in need of medical marijuana be confident that their activities, approved and recommended by their physician, are not going to result in criminal sanctions.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF HUMBOLDT ADDING CHAPTER 1 OF
DIVISION 8 OR TITLE V TO THE HUMBOLDT COUNTY CODE RELATING TO
MEDICAL MARIJUANA GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF PROPOSITION 215 (California Health & Safety Code § 11361.5 et seq.)
AND CALIFORNIA SENATE BILL 420 (Health & Safety Code 11362.7 et seq.)
The Board of Supervisors of the County of Humboldt ordains as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 581-1 through 581-5 of Chapter 1 of Division 8 of Title V of the Humboldt County Code is hereby added as shown on the attached pages,
SECTION 2. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30) days from the date of its passage. A summary shall be published at least five (5) days before the date set for adoption and again fifteen (15) days after passage of this ordinance. It shall be published once with the names of the Board of Supervisors voting for and against the ordinance in a newspaper of general circulation published in the County of Humboldt, State of California.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 17th day of August 2004.
AYES: Supervisors Smith, Rodoni, Woolley, Neely, and Geist
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
[Jill Geist]
Chair of the Board of Supervisors of the
County of Humboldt, State of California
ATTEST:
[Lora Canzoneri]
Lora Canzoneri, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
County of Humboldt
| (C-11) | § 581-1 |
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TITLE V . HEALTH AND SAFETY
DIVISION 8 MEDICAL MARIJUANA CHAPTER 1 GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROPOSITION 215 [California Health and Safety Code section 11361.5 et. seq.] AND CALIFORNIA SENATE BILL 420 [California Health and Safety Code section 11362.7 et. seq.]. 581-1 FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) In 1996, the voters of the State of California approved Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, creating California Health and Safety Code section 11362.5. (Ord. , § , / /2004) (b) California Health and Safety Code section 11362.5(d) states: "Section 11357, relating to the possession of marijuana (cannabis), and section 11358, relating to the cultivation of marijuana, shall not apply to a patient or to a patient's primary caregiver, who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician." (Ord. , § , / /2004) (c) For the purposes of this ordinance, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors determines that three (3) pounds of dried cannabis bud per year is a reasonable amount for medical marijuana patients to cultivate, possess and consume their medicine, absent a demonstrated medically prescribed need for a greater amount than three (3) pounds. (Ord. , § , / /2004) (d) For the purposes of this ordinance, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors determines that a one-hundred (100) square foot canopy of mature female cannabis plants, typically will yield three (3) pounds of dried and processed cannabis bud per year, outdoor, regardless of the number of marijuana plants. (Ord. , § , / /2004) (e) The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors through this ordinance exercises its authority under California Health and Safety Code section 11362.77(c) to enact medical marijuana guidelines which allow qualified medical marijuana patients or their primary caregivers to exceed the default threshold of the State of California of eight (8) ounces of dried female cannabis flowers in addition to six (6) mature or twelve (12) immature plants per qualified patient. (Ord. , § , / /2004) (f) The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors through this ordinance set a simple, reasonable and efficient guideline for law enforcement officers to use in evaluating individual and collective patient medical marijuana gardens and on-hand supplies. (Ord. , § , / /2004) (g) This ordinance does not prohibit a jail, correctional facility, or other penal institution in which prisoners reside or persons under arrest who has an identification card, to use marijuana for medical purposes under circumstances that will not endanger the health or safety of other prisoners or security of the facility. (Ord. , § , / /2004)
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| 419.13 | § 581-1 |
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This ordinance does not require any accommodation of any medical use of marijuana on the property or premises of any jail, correctional facility, or other type of penal institution in which prisoners reside or persons under arrest are detained. (Ord. , § , / /2004)
(h) This ordinance does not address the enforcement of federal law. (Ord. , § , / /2004) (i) This ordinance does not address, nor is it intended to limit or restrict, the enforcement of any law, ordinance, or regulation (1) within the boundaries of any Indian reservation or incorporated city, (2) on any property owned or leased by either the federal or state government, or (3) by any federal, state, tribal, or city officers or employees. (Ord. , § , / /2004) (j) This ordinance does not address, nor is it intended to limit or restrict, the enforcement of any state or federal law or ordinance, policy, regulation, or rule adopted by any school, community college district, university or any other local public agency whose governing body is not the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors. (Ord. , § , / /2004) (k) This ordinance does not address, nor is it intended to require, any accommodation of any medical use of marijuana on the property or premises of any place of employment or during the hours of employment. (Ord. , § , / /2004) (l) This ordinance does not authorize a qualified patient or person with an identification card to engage in the possession of medical marijuana under any of the following circumstances: 1. In any place where smoking is prohibited by law. (Ord. , § , / /2004) 2. In or within 1,000 feet of the grounds of a school, recreation center, or youth center, unless the medical use occurs within a residence. (Ord. , § , / /2004) 3. On a school bus. (Ord. , § , / /2004) 4. While in a motor vehicle that is being operated. (Ord. , § , / /2004) 5. While operating a boat. (Ord. , § , / /2004) 581-2 DEFINITIONS. (a) "Attending physician" means an individual who possesses a license in good standing to practice medicine or osteopathy issued by the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California and who has taken responsibility for an aspect of the medical care, treatment, diagnosis, counseling, or referral of a patient and who has conducted a medical examination of that patient before recording in the patient.s medical record the physician.s assessment of whether the patient has a serious medical condition and whether the medical use of marijuana which exceeds the amount contained in sections A. and B. of section 3 of this Chapter is indicated. (Ord. , § , / /2004) (b) As defined in California Health and Safety Code, section 11362.5, "Primary caregiver means the individual designated by the person exempted under this act that has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health or safety of that person." (Ord. , § , / /2004) | |