Ariz. court orders county sheriff to return pot to California woman
Source: Arizona Republic
The Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office must give back marijuana that was seized from a California woman who had permission to use the drug for medical purposes.
Valerie Okun was stopped in 2011 at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Yuma. Authorities seized marijuana and other contraband from her car. She was cited for violating Arizona drug laws and the case was turned over to Yuma County officials. The charges were dismissed after she showed she was authorized to possess marijuana under California law.
The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act honors other states’ medical marijuana cards and allows them to possess up to 2 1/2 ounces of the drug.
After the charges were dropped, Okun asked sheriff’s officials to return her marijuana, and the Superior Court granted her request. But the Yuma County sheriff argued he could not return the pot because doing so may violate the federal Controlled Substances Act, which makes possession, sale or use of marijuana a crime.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/20130110ariz-court-orders-county-sheriff-return-pot-california-woman.html
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Source: Yuma Sun
(This happened at one of the internal travel checkpoints staffed by the Border Patrol, not at a Mexico border crossing)
... Okun was stopped nearly two years ago at a Border Patrol checkpoint along Interstate 8. Officers searched her vehicle after a dog alerted on it, finding marijuana and hashish.
... Appellate Judge Diane Johnsen, writing for the unanimous court, ... and her colleagues sidestepped the question of whether the federal Controlled Substances Act pre-empts and thereby invalidates Arizona's medical marijuana law. They said it was not necessary for them to decide that issue in concluding she could get her drugs back.
Whether Okun's possession of marijuana may subject her to federal prosecution despite her state-law right to possess it is not a controversy before this court because the federal government has not charged Okun with any crime,' Johnsen wrote. “Nor does public policy require us to decide the abstract issue the state presents.''
Read more: http://www.yumasun.com/news/marijuana-84471-law-court.html
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