Court Commissioner Wants Deputies to Return Medical Marijuana to Woman in California

Sheriff's deputies will have to deliver three quarters of an ounce of marijuana to a California woman if a Yuma County court commissioner gets her way.

Lisa Bleich said it's not like she's ordering the deputies to become drug suppliers.

Instead, she pointed out, Valerie Okun had a valid medical marijuana card when the drugs were taken from her. The commissioner said all she is requiring is that the property be returned to its rightful owner.

Bleich acknowledged that marijuana remains illegal under federal law. But she rejected arguments that delivering the drugs to Okun would make the deputies guilty of illegal drug distribution under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Now the case is before the state Court of Appeals. And what the judges rule about conflicts -- or lack thereof -- between state and federal law could set precedent for the entire state, long before Attorney General Tom Horne gets his own case to that point.

- Read the entire article at Verde Independent.