Pot Dispute Still Unresolved
via The San Bernardino County Sun

If state Attorney General Jerry Brown’s medical-marijuana recommendations released this week were meant to clarify a muddied issue caused by conflicting state and federal law, not all local officials saw the light.

… San Bernardino County and its Sheriff’s Department are challenging Brown’s recommendations with a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We still think the recommendation is in direct conflict with federal law,” said San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire. “Our sheriffs believe federal law supersedes state law.”

… “I’m not sure if the new determinations make a difference or not, it’s too soon to tell,” said Fontana police Sgt. Jeff Decker. “We still treat a violation of marijuana possession as a violation of the federal law.”

This, of course, would be humorous if it wasn’t so pathetic.

Let’s review shall we.

The voters of the state of California approved legislation to exempt qualified medical marijuana patients from state arrest and prosecution in 1996 — that’s 12 years ago.

Since then, the Legislative Counsel of California, the state Attorney General’s Office, the Superior Court of California, the 4th District Court of Appeals, and a majority of the California legislature have all determined that local politicians and law enforcement are obligated to uphold the provisions of California’s medical marijuana laws.

California’s constitution is also quite clear on this point — mandating that police have a sworn duty to uphold state law, not to enforce federal statutes.

In short, there is no ‘confusion’ regarding the legality of California’s pot laws.

There is only arrogance and recalcitrance on the part of those who have chosen to abuse their power and position to hamstring the will of the voters, the legislature, and the courts.