Patient Group Files Injunction to Stop CHP Seizures of Medical Marijuana

For Immediate Release
July 13, 2005

PATIENT GROUP FILES INJUNCTION TO STOP CHP SEIZURES OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

OAKLAND – Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana patient
advocacy group, today filed a motion for a preliminary injunction
against the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger. The injunction seeks an accelerated decision from the
court in putting an end to the CHP's policy of seizing marijuana from
qualified patients. The injunction is a follow-up to ASA’s lawsuit filed
against the CHP on February 15, 2005.

The injunction would also prevent the CHP from working with other law
enforcement officers to seize marijuana from qualified patients; require
the state to train its officers; and require the CHP to return the
medical marijuana it has already seized. “This injunction points to a
widespread failure by police to recognize the state’s medical marijuana
laws,” said ASA Legal Campaign Director Kris Hermes. “We are hopeful
that required training for law enforcement will go a long way in
stemming the tide of unlawful arrests and seizures.”

The CHP has a stated policy of seizing marijuana even when a county
medical marijuana identification card or doctor’s recommendation is
presented. In People v. Mower, the California Supreme Court declared
that probable cause depends on all of the surrounding facts, including
the presentation of documentation indicating one's status as a qualified
medical marijuana patient. The CHP policy blatantly disregards this
state Supreme Court precedent.

The legal grounds for this injunction are based on the state’s
constitutional prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, and
the right to due process. Both the Governor and the CHP are represented
in this suit by the Attorney General's Office, which, on June 22, 2003,
issued a bulletin forbidding state law enforcement from seizing
marijuana from qualified patients on the basis of federal law. In
addition, Attorney General Bill Lockyer recognized in a formal written
opinion filed June 23, 2005, that it is inconsistent with state law for
police officers to seize marijuana from patients only because they do
not have a voluntary identification card.

The group lawsuit filed earlier this year by Americans for Safe Access
involves six patients and seeks to challenge the CHP’s policy, forcing
it to amend that policy so that it is in compliance with state law. One
of the plaintiffs, Mary Jane Winters, a registered nurse who uses
marijuana to treat chronic pain stemming from three herniated discs in
her spine, was pulled over by the CHP on Thanksgiving Day, 2004 while on
her way to deliver flowers to a homeless shelter. The officer seized
her two ounces of marijuana, despite being presented with a physician’s
recommendation to use marijuana medicinally. There was no reason to
believe, much less probable cause to believe, that Ms. Winters was not
in compliance with California law. The same can be said of the
remainder of the class represented by ASA – all are qualified medical
marijuana patients who possessed very small amounts of marijuana, which
they were legally entitled to possess and transport under California law.

For a copy of the preliminary injunction, see:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/CHP_Injunction.pdf

For a copy of the lawsuit filed on February 15, 2005, see:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/CHP_Complaint.pdf

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A national coalition of 12,000 patients, doctors and advocates,
Americans for Safe Access is the largest organization working solely on
medical marijuana. To learn more, see http://www.SafeAccessNow.org

--
Kris Hermes
Legal Campaign Director
Americans for Safe Access
http://www.SafeAccessNow.org
1322 Webster Street, Suite 208
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: 510-251-1856 x307
Fax: 510-251-2036
Email: kris [at] SafeAccessNow.org