It is no secret that for the entirety of the war on drugs’ decades-long span, minority communities suffered the devastating impact to a hugely disproportionate degree. Los Angeles marijuana attorneys have watched how these communities are still punished with a cyclical merry-go-round of arrest, limited employment options and poverty. Increasingly, as marijuana legalization gains traction across the country, many advocates are taking it a step further, asking for a remedy for the racist application of law and policy. In cases where those calls have been heeded, criminal records for marijuana dealing and possession are being automatically expunged. There is also help for members of minority groups looking to launch their own California cannabis businesses.

Still, even current enforcement policies aren’t totally equal. In Oakland, where voters passed a ballot initiative to order police to make marijuana enforcement the lowest priority – even lower than jaywalking – evidence showed a decade later police were still arresting black men for criminal marijuana offenses at rates exponentially higher than their white counterparts. The city’s own statistics revealed nearly 80 percent of marijuana arrests in Oakland were African Americans. Four percent were white people, even though the population of the city is 30 percent white. Although legalization of marijuana has slashed the overall number of marijuana arrests, people of color are still police targets.

Even where whites dominate the population, our Los Angeles marijuana attorneys know we still find that black people who sell or use marijuana are arrested at higher rates. This is true despite the fact that data overwhelmingly shows there is very little variation in the percentage of whites v. blacks who use the drug. Take Colorado for instance, which about 85 percent white. As reported by USA Today, this was the first state to legalize marijuana. There, the rate of marijuana arrests plummeted by more than 50 percent in just five years – 12,700 to 6,150, per state data. BUT – arrest rates for African Americans was nearly double that of white people. In Alaska, one-third of marijuana arrests involved black defendants, despite them being just 4 percent of the state’s population.

Los Angeles marijuana defense lawyers point out to people who don’t understand why this is a major issue: Imagine a 15-year-old black teen in Southern California whose father has been locked up in an orange jumpsuit for a decade on minor marijuana charges, only to look across the street and see white men in collared shirts and ties making getting wealthy off the same, out in the open.

That’s the kind of scenario California voters wanted to remedy. It was important to do so expressly because the first states that legalized marijuana recreationally made it difficult for anyone with anything less than a squeaky clean record to enter the market. Now many cities are offering special licensing preference to members of minority communities harmed by the war on drugs.

Other areas are catching on. For example, Maryland decriminalized marijuana in 2014, though police can and do still issue tickets. Of the more than 430 citations issued by police in Baltimore in calendar year 2017 – 95 percent were black. This is despite the fact the black population is 60 percent of the total. More than 40 percent of those citations were issued in primarily black neighborhoods.

Whether you’re trying to have your criminal marijuana record cleared or open up a licensed marijuana dispensary, our team can help.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

New marijuana laws in 2019 could help black and Latino drug dealers go legal, Feb. 21, 2019, By Trevor Hughes, USA Today

More Blog Entries:

California Cannabis Companies Lament Cash-Heavy Practices With Tax Season in Full Swing, Feb. 22, 2019, Los Angeles Marijuana Attorney Blog

Case-in-point: A man in Arizona was arrested while sitting in his vehicle, listening to music and smoking a little marijuana. Now, as our L.A. marijuana lawyers will tell you, there is more than one flaw in his thinking. The first is that even in states like California where use and possession of marijuana are legal for recreation, public use is not legal. Beyond that, it’s illegal to operate a motor vehicle under the influence or impaired. Even if the vehicle was not on, authorities could make the argument that he was “in control” of the vehicle and, depending on state DUI or OUI statutes, that could mean even just sitting in the car with the keys in the ignition.

But this defendant’s biggest problem was that marijuana is not even legal in Arizona, at least not for recreational use.

The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act passed in 2010. But that didn’t automatically mean all weed was legal. As the Arizona Republic explained in this 2015 article:

• The Arizona Supreme Court ruled the odor of marijuana can be used as probable cause to search a car or premises, even in spite of the state’s medical marijuana statute.
• A person who takes medical marijuana can legally be fired if he or she is in possession of or under the influence of marijuana at work, but it’s illegal for an employer to fire a worker because of his/ her cardholder status or testing positive for the presence of marijuana, unless federal funding is in jeopardy (which is even greater protections than California workers are afforded).
• The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled the state’s medical marijuana law does not extend prosecutorial immunity to patients who test positive for marijuana or related compound.
• Patients can use or possess marijuana on a college campus, due to the campus ban statute passed in 2012.
• There are specific conditions that qualify a person for medical marijuana, including cancer, HIV/ AIDS and severe and chronic pain, nausea or epilepsy.
• Patients with a valid medical marijuana card can use marijuana while on probation.

In the case of the man who was arrested, the incident occurred in Mohave County. Police were called to the scene on reports of a man who was intoxicated and playing loud music at 1:30 a.m. Deputies reportedly approached and asked him to turn down the music, which he did. However, officers then detected the smell of burnt marijuana and there was a small bag in his shirt pocket. Officers asked to see the bag, which he showed to them. He “freely admitted” it was marijuana and that he had no medical license to possess it. However, when police initiated the marijuana arrest, defendant reportedly resisted, apparently believing he was being detained unjustly. He demanded to know why he was being arrested, and he was advised it was because he was in possession of marijuana absent a prescription or a medical marijuana card.

Voters in Arizona did consider in November a measure that would legalize marijuana for recreation, but it was ultimately defeated by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Man arrested for marijuana didn’t realize weed is still illegal in his state, Jan. 7, 2017, By Greg Hadley, Miami-Herald

More Blog Entries:

California Pot Dispensaries Seek Sleeker Look, Jan. 16, 2017, L.A. Marijuana Arrest Lawyer

Some of the latest data to have emerged in recent weeks on marijuana arrests gives us a little hope, but also illustrates how much farther we have to go on this issue.

The first analysis was conducted by The Washington Post after receiving the latest FBI unified crime statistics from 2015. Reporters learned that the number of marijuana possession arrests last year – 575,000 – was the lowest its been since 1996. It also shows us a 7 percent year-over-year drop, and an approximately 35 percent dip since 2007, when pot possession arrests were at their peak of 800,000. Now, this would suggest that police are overall spending less time to marijuana enforcement, particularly with regard to other drugs. But then, we consider a joint report by the Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union that shows the 575,000 marijuana arrests in 2015 for low-level personal use last year numbered 13.6 percent more than the 506,000 arrests made for all violent crimes that same year – including for murder, rape and serious assaults.

The joint report, titled, “Every 25 Seconds: The Human Toll of Criminalizing Drug Use in the United States,” highlights the disparate treatment black Americans receive in the criminal justice system. This includes the disproportionate number who are sent to jail when they are unable to cover the cost of those court-imposed fines. They are also disproportionately stopped in traffic and even while riding bicycles.

The joint report also highlights the fact that our justice system coerces guilty pleas, even from innocent people. In 2009, more than 99 percent of those convicted for drug possession in the 75 biggest counties in the country pleaded guilty. Data obtained from Florida and Alabama shows that at least in two states, most drug possession defendants were poor enough to qualify for court-appointed counsel and yet, the average bail amount for these offenses was $39,900. For lower income defendants, bail that’s this high means they will stay in jail until their case is resolved. That creates a significant incentive to get it over with. This is especially true when prosecutors offer probation, relatively short sentences or “time served” in exchange for a guilty plea – something that starts to look very attractive when the alternative is to stay in jail to fight a conviction. Then you also take into consideration the so-called “trial penalty.” That is, the plea deal may involve a short stint behind bars, while a conviction upon trial may result in decades behind bars.

So even as marijuana arrests for possession are the lowest they have been in years, it still works out to an arrest every single minute.

A widely-cited report in 2013 by the ACLU revealed that taxpayers paid $3.6 billion in marijuana possession enforcement every year. The study also indicated that while white Americans and black Americans use the drug at the same rates, black users were four times more likely to be arrested.

If you have been arrested, there are a myriad of pre-trial defenses that should be explored to minimize your risk of conviction.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Marijuana arrests fall to lowest level since 1996, Sept. 26, 2016, By Christopher Ingraham, The Washington Post

More Blog Entries:

Report: California Arrested 500k People in 10 Years for Marijuana, Sept. 5, 2016, Los Angeles Marijuana Arrest Lawyer Blog

In one case, there was an expansion of the exception to a long-standing rule that unlawfully-gathered evidence had to be discarded. In the second ruling, the court held that those who deal drugs – even those who only selling locally to their neighbors – were in effect a part of some larger interstate commerce.

As Phillip Smith of StopTheDrugWar.org pointed out, these two decisions:

• Widen local police’s ability to sidestep the law without accountability;
• Give prosecutors the muscle of the federal government to crush small-time, low-level drug dealers and other criminals.

The high court has long deferred to the position of law enforcement officers. But this is often done to the detriment of the public at-large.

Let’s look at each case individually.

First up is Utah v. Strieff, in which a detective investigating possible drug sales at a private residence stopped defendant absent reasonable cause as soon as he stepped outside his home. During this encounter, the officer discovered defendant had an outstanding traffic warrant. At that point, officer arrested defendant and searched him. In the course of that search discovered meth and paraphernalia, for which defendant was charged.

Defendant sought a motion to suppress evidence of the items discovered in the search because it was the result of an investigatory stop that was unlawful. At both the trial and the appellate court, he lost. However, his conviction was overturned by the state high court, which determined the “attentuation doctrine” – which is an exception to the exclusionary rule – was not applicable. However, the U.S. Supreme Court did not agree and reversed.

The attenuation doctrine, for those not familiar, is the principle that evidence unlawfully obtained can be used even if it is the result of a search that is affected by an unlawful initial detention if there is a circumstance that is intervening. The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-3 decision determined the police misconduct was basically not severe enough to suppress the evidence. But of course, that’s pure speculation, and one that or Los Angeles marijuana lawyers believe takes a rosy view of law enforcement.

The second case, Taylor v. U.S., the high court ruled that federal prosecutors can use federal law to pursue those who commit robbery against drug dealers – even when the dealers are only peddling marijuana that is locally grown and there is no evidence the sales were occurring across state lines.

That decision, which was reached 7-1, was the latest in a string of cases that has ruled in favor of the federal government’s use of the interstate commerce clause in drug cases. Another was the 2005 case of Gonzales v. Raich, in which the high court upheld the right of the federal government to take action against those who grow and sell marijuana, even in states where doing so is legal.

In Taylor, defendant as part of a gang that targeted marijuana cultivators and dealers for robbery. The majority ruled he could be charged federally per the Hobbs Act. The sole dissenting Justice Clarence Thomas ruled the use of the commerce clause in these cases granted too much power to the federal government.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Supreme Court Opens Door for More Lawless Police Searches, June 20, 2016, By Phillip Smith, The Daily Chronic

More Blog Entries:

Marijuana Possession Arrests Up in NYC, Despite Decriminalization, June 14, 2016, Los Angeles Marijuana Lawyer Blog

And yet, as it was recently reported by The Village Voice, the number of marijuana arrests in state in 2013 was the highest of any other in the country. With an average of more than 535 marijuana arrests per 100,000 people, it was more than double the national average.

Then in 2014, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio updated police policy to allow officers to issue a summons rather than initiate an arrest for anyone caught with 25 grams or less. That slashed the number of misdemeanor marijuana arrests virtually overnight by nearly 60 percent between 2014 and 2015.

But now, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services indicates those statistics have risen once again.

The NYPD marijuana arrests involving low-level possession and sales for the first three months of this year spiked 30 percent. There were 5,311 such arrests from January to March 2016, compared to 3,973 during the same time frame a year ago.

What’s going on?

If an eight-year veteran of the force and plaintiff in a pending class action lawsuit is to be believed, the issue is the department’s heavy reliance on “quota-based policing,” and the fact that the police department is being used to drum up dollars for the city. Bear in mind, the average misdemeanor arrest allows the city to rake in about $2,000.

For a long time, officers could lean on “Stop-and-Frisk” policies (otherwise known as “Terry Stops”) in which police routinely stopped and questioned pedestrians – more often than not, African Americans and Latinos – and initiated a “voluntary” search that could lead to an arrest. But de Blasio promised to scrap the program in 2014 amid widespread criticism.

The class action lawsuit plaintiff alleges every officer on the force is expected to make five arrests monthly. Marijuana offenses, he said, are the “low-hanging fruit.”

Another serious issue is that once again, the majority of defendants in these cases, according to the Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP), are black. The director of PROP alleges the high-profile reforms intended to get rid of racial profiling haven’t meant much to the average officer on the streets.

The executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) was quoted as saying the department’s current commissioner Bill Bratton, who has been touting the evils of marijuana in a series of recent public statements. Bratton was quoted as saying that marijuana was the driving force behind the “vast majority” of violent crimes in the city. He put the drug on par with heroin in terms of danger.

But even top-level brass at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration concede heroin is “clearly” more harmful than cannabis, and in fact, may even be much safer than alcohol in many respects.

Still that kind of attitude – and public statement – powers police, prosecutors and others in the system to continue the marijuana shakedown of low-level offenders.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

If Marijuana is decriminalized in NYC, then why are possession arrests on the rise? June 1, 2016, By Anita Abedian, The Village Voice

More Blog Entries:

Driver Allegedly High on Medical Marijuana Caused Crash Resulting in Trooper’s Death, June 1, 2016, L.A. Marijuana Arrest Lawyer Blog

That’s according to the latest from The Coloradoan, which also noted the district court judge tacked on two years of probation as well.

Defendant had pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of providing marijuana to a person who was younger than 21. However, she was deemed not guilty of the felony charge of witness tampering.

Our L.A. marijuana defense lawyers know that had this case unfolded in California, this mother would likely be looking at a more serious charge. That’s because marijuana is only legal via medical prescription from a doctor. Distributing a Schedule I narcotic to someone without a prescription is a crime that becomes much more serious when the person receiving the drug is a minor. She likely would have been looking at felony charges had the case been filed here in Orange County.

But in Colorado, where this case occurred, marijuana is legal for recreational use. But just like alcohol, marijuana is regulated to prevent minors from having ready access – unless there is a medical reason for it and they have a doctor’s prescription.

The incident in question occurred in April 2015. It was then the 39-year-old defendant’s 19-year-old son threw himself out of a third-story window. It occurred shortly after 9 p.m. He suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries as a result of his fall.

The teen reportedly admitted to investigators that he had consumed edible marijuana. Investigators already knew that he had consumed it at some point because a drug test completed at the hospital revealed it was the only drug in his system. However, it was only later that he conceded he had consumed the drug that night and in edible form. At the time, he had refused to say who supplied him with the pot brownie.

The case was reminiscent of a 2014 case in which a 19-year-old college student from Wyoming plummeted to his death in Denver after jumping from his hotel room window while under the influence of a cannabis-infused cookie. His autopsy indicated intoxication by marijuana was a significant contributing factor.

Now this case – and another in which a Colorado man accused of murdering his wife blames a marijuana-infused candy he consumed – are raising questions about if and how states and the federal government should regulate edible marijuana products.

According to the news report, the teen’s mother purchased the marijuana for his roommate, who was also then just 19.

The witness tampering charge stemmed from a statement by the roommate to police in which he said the injured teen urged him to lie about where he’d gotten the brownie.

At her sentencing hearing, defendant insisted she thought that a marijuana edible she purchased from a dispensary would be safe and she would never have purchased it if she had known this type of reaction was possible.

The judge indicated that while he believed defendant to be “a good person,” as noted by the numerous individuals who testified on her behalf as to her character, he noted that in a pre-sentencing self-evaluation, she indicated there was “no victim” for her alleged crime. The judge was quick to say this was not a victimless crime.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

30 days in jail for mom in marijuana window-jumper case, June 1, 2016, By Jacy Marmaduke, The Coloradoan

More Blog Entries:

LA County Democratic Party Endorses Adult Use of Marijuana Act, May 23, 2016, Orange County Marijuana Lawyer Blog

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is expected to rule on the case soon, and the outcome could have a significant impact on the future of federal marijuana prosecutions of medical marijuana dispensaries and users in the eight Western states that allow them. It also would overturn or stop half a dozen federal marijuana convictions/ prosecutions in both California and Washington.

Last year, a jury in a Washington state federal court convicted Rolland Gregg, his former wife and his mother for growing about 70 marijuana plants on their property in Washington. The family has insisted in the three years since their arrest that they were doing nothing wrong because that all the marijuana they grew was for the purpose of their own private medicinal use. They insist their actions 100 percent complied with state law. The problem, in the eyes of the government, is that marijuana cultivation is not legal under federal law. So according to prosecutors, it didn’t matter that the actions of Gregg and the others met state law standards.

The 9th Circuit is not only the biggest federal appeals court in the country, it is also the one that contains the most pro-marijuana states. Our Los Angeles marijuana defense lawyers know a ruling from those justices saying federal prosecutors are barred from enforcing medical marijuana law would be significant. Will it be the absolute last word on the issue? Probably not. But it would be a powerful weapon for defendants facing federal criminal marijuana charges.

The crux of defendant Gregg’s argument is a bipartisan amendment passed by Congress that instructed the Department of Justice not to use money allocated from the federal government in 2015 and 2016 to stop medical marijuana states from implementing laws that allow the drug’s use, possession and distribution.

The sponsors of the bill – a California Republican and Democrat – have said explicitly the intent of the bill was to prevent the DOJ from initiating prosecutions against people who are in compliance with state medical marijuana laws. California and Washington are two of among 20 states that have legalized the drug for medicinal purposes.

Not so fast, says the DOJ. They have interpreted this measure to mean prosecutors are prevented from trying to block state medical marijuana laws or from taking action against state officials who try to put them in place. However, there is nothing in the language of the law, they say, that prevents them from pursuing criminal charges against marijuana growers and dispensaries.

And that’s where Gregg and his family are in trouble.

The 9th Circuit is being asked to clarify the law, and Gregg is among three defendants seeking review, arguing the Congressional action should result in a dismissal of their marijuana charges.

Another defendant is Steve McIntosh, a marijuana dispensary owner from Los Angeles. His permits showed he was in compliance with state law. The most the feds should have been able to do was hand him over to state-level prosecutors. And yet, he was convicted of federal marijuana crimes.

Essentially, federal prosecutors are seeking to override the will of the voters in Washington, California and even Congress. At some point, the courts will need to step in and stop these wasteful and unnecessary actions. We hope that time is now.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Looming Marijuana Ruling Could Limit Federal Prosecutions, May 2016, By Sudhin Thanawala, Associated Press

More Blog Entries:

Rescheduling Marijuana Could Help Researchers, April 22, 2016, Los Angeles Marijuana Lawyer Blog