California Court Rules Cannabis Concentrates are Medicinal

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Dabs Win: California Court Rules Cannabis Concentrates are Medicinal
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By Barry Bard on December 22, 2014 Dabs, Marijuana News
Along with edibles, dabs have become a controversial form of marijuana. Often (erroneously) referred to by the mainstream media as “the crack cocaine of weed”, dab madness has replaced reefer madness over the last year.
Fortunately, a California appellate court has put that discussion to rest by ruling that “concentrated cannabis qualifies as marijuana for purposes of medical use.”  While the ruling won’t stop the national debate on dabs, it should ease extract artists’ and dabbers minds throughout California.
The ruling stems from a bizarre case, as a 22-year-old medical marijuana patient was found in possession of .05 grams of extract and 3.3 grams of marijuana (under an 1/8) in 2013. The defendant, Sean Patrick Mulcrevy, was said to have violated probation by possessing the concentrated cannabis, which was a misdemeanor at the time.
But not so fast, said the California court last Friday. The 3rd District Court Appeal reviewed Judge James Wagoner’s previous ruling on the case, and then quickly reversed course and overturned Wagoner’s folly.
The original ruling by Judge Wagoner contended that dabs were not defended by the states Compassionate Use Act, and therefore, Wagoner was committing some kind of crime by possessing them.
But Mulcrevy was and is a marijuana patient who legally purchased the .05 worth of dabs from a medical marijuana facility and therefore, the 3rd District ruled, was actually in complete compliance with California’s Compassionate Use Act (CUS):

In an opinion issued Wednesday, the justices concluded that Wagoner violated Mulcrevy’s right to defend himself when the judge prevented Mulcrevy from presenting a defense based on the CUA.
Concentrated cannabis “is covered by the CUA, and there is insufficient evidence (Mulcrevy) violated his probation in light of that conclusion,” the justices stated in their unpublished opinion. “Therefore, we also conclude the court’s error was not harmless and we reverse the trial court’s judgment.”

Even better, the ruling could have far wider implications in California and hopefully, beyond. The court recognizes that cannabis concentrates fall under the state’s law and as part of the marijuana plant, is totally kosher for medical use:

“‘when the CUA was approved by voters 18 years ago. Marijuana was defined as “all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L.,whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin.’”

The dab haters just got torched.


Thanks to: http://marijuana.com/news/