Diane Monson Faces Battle with DMV over License

Medical marijuana user tries to stop DMV from taking her license

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/10470457.htm?1c

BRIAN MELLEY

Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - The Department of Motor Vehicles postponed a driver's license
test for a medical marijuana user with a case before the Supreme Court
after her lawyer claimed she was being unfairly targeted for review without
any driving violations.

Diane Monson received notice from the DMV earlier this month that she
needed to appear at a re-examination hearing Thursday or would lose her
license. The notice did not say why she was selected, but she said with the
exception of a speeding ticket 15 years ago she had spotless record.

"I still feel very strongly that I've done nothing whatsoever to warrant
this investigation," Monson said Tuesday after being notified the hearing
was scrapped.

DMV brass put the hearing on hold and launched a "top to bottom" internal
review of the case after Monson and her lawyer hand-delivered a
cease-and-desist notice to the agency's headquarters, said spokesman Bill
Branch. Inquiries from news reporters brought the matter to the attention
of officials.

"So far as top-level DMV officials can recall, we are not aware of any
other cases involving medicinal marijuana," Branch said.

The agency would not say why Monson was selected for a re-examination
hearing, which are held routinely in cases involving drivers involved in
serious crashes or who have been cited for driving under the influence of
drugs or alcohol at least three times over three years.

Monson had just passed and eye exam to renew her license when she was
notified of the so-called re-examination. It arrived shortly after her
medical marijuana case was heard by the Supreme Court.

Monson, 47, an accountant from Oroville, is a plaintiff in a case that will
determine whether federal law enforcement agents can seize pot grown by
users in states where it can be legally prescribed as medicine. Monson
takes the drug to relieve back pain.

She and another California woman filed suit against Attorney General John
Ashcroft because they feared their supply would disappear after federal
agents seized six pot plants in 2002 on her rural property on Rattlesnake Peak.

They won in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that federal
prosecution of medical marijuana users is unconstitutional if the pot is
not sold, transported across state lines or used for nonmedicinal purposes.

California law allows people to grow, smoke or obtain marijuana for medical
needs with a doctor's recommendation. Other states with such laws are
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont
and Washington.

While the order from DMV did not specify why Monson was singled out,
attorney David Michael said it was unheard of that someone with a
near-perfect record would be selected. He said it was unconstitutional,
illegal and an abuse of authority.

"The important thing is that Diane was given this notice not because of any
driving, but solely because of the fact she's a medical cannabis patient,"
Michael said.

Advocates for the use of pot as medicine said it's not uncommon for law
enforcement to harass and intimidate patients.

"This whole landscape represents a culture of resistance by law enforcement
and public officials to enforce state law," said Kris Hermes of Americans
for Safe Access, a national marijuana advocacy group.

Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said there
has been some confusion because of the unclear wording of Proposition 215,
which legalized marijuana in 1996. He also said the state could improve its
regulation of the drug. He said he had never heard of an instance such as
Monson's with a DMV hearing required.

"Quite frankly, I find it strange," Barankin said. "It seems odd that this
would happen."