Courts Can Prohibit Medical Marijuana Use While on Probation

On January 27, 2012, the California COurt of Appeals was asked to decide if the trial court property mandated that a defendant could not use medical marijuana while on probation. The Court of Appeals agreed with the trial Judge. It found that Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, does not preclude trial court from imposing a probation requirement that defendant refrain from using marijuana, even for medical purposes. Trial court did not abuse its discretion in imposing probation condition that defendant refrain from using medical marijuana where condition was relevant to defendant's crimes--cultivating marijuana, possessing marijuana for sale, and transporting marijuana--and where defendant purported to rely on Proposition 215 to justify his possession of the marijuana plants he was transporting to sell.
People v. Hughes
Case Citation E051741