A new medical-marijuana policy

LOS ANGELES - Medical-marijuana users and dispensary owners in California have held their breath for years, fearful they would be targeted for prosecution by the federal government.

They finally exhaled last week when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said federal agents would now target marijuana distributors only when they violate both federal and state laws - a departure from the policy of the Bush administration.

It's not seen by many as a move by the Obama administration toward the legalization of marijuana.

However, it could end much of the confusion among state and federal authorities dealing with the mishmash of laws in which cultivating, using, and selling marijuana for medical purposes is allowed by states but outlawed by the federal government.

"This signals, in my mind, a true kind of federalism," said Jody Armour, a University of Southern California law professor. "The federal government is allowing states to take chances, to take experiments, and see what happens."

California is one of 13 states that allow medical use of marijuana. In the last 21/2 years, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has raided at least 80 dispensaries in California.

Yet criminal charges have been filed only in several of those cases against the biggest distributors accused of breaking both federal and state laws, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Central District of California.

He said: "What we have done in all of our narcotics cases is to focus on large-scale traffickers. . . . The federal government will continue to enforce federal narcotics law."

The confusion was reflected in a case against Charles Lynch, who ran a marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay. Federal prosecutors said he should have known his employees sold marijuana outside his store.

Lynch, 47, was convicted in August of distributing more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. His sentencing is set for tomorrow; guidelines allow up to 85 years but prosecutors recommended a five-year prison sentence.

Lynch's attorneys will try to persuade Justice Department officials to drop the case.

"The feds picked the wrong guy," federal public defender Reuven Cohen said. "It's pure fiction that somehow Charlie was not in compliance with state law."

Two of the jurors who convicted Lynch also took issue with the prosecution. They wrote letters to U.S. District Judge George Wu asking for leniency, saying they felt they were forced to find him guilty under federal guidelines.

Juror Reza Iranpour called the verdict a "miscarriage of justice" and said Lynch "faces the prospect of being severely punished for trusting misleading laws and regulations."

Medical-marijuana advocates say the change in federal policy Holder announced mirrors the spirit of the 1996 California ballot initiative that made it legal to sell the drug to people with a prescription.

"I think that if nothing else, it gives people a sense of optimism that the federal government is going to back off," said James Shaw, director of the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients. "But it's not entirely clear to me if they are going to do that."

One federal prosecutor said cases would still be filed against people who violate the law by selling marijuana for non-medicinal purposes and other actions.

Said acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence Brown in Sacramento, "It may be anticipated this does not signal an end to federal enforcement actions but instead a refinement."