San Diego Cannabis Wrap Up

The Good, the Bad and the Lighter Side

The Good . . .

This summer, the publicly traded San Diego based Medical Marijuana Inc. and CanChew Biotechnologies (OTC PINK: MJNA) began moving forward with MedChewRX, a combination CBD/THC gum that will be sold and marketed as a pharmaceutical drug. CanChew Biotechnologies focuses on the treatment of pain and other medical disorders with the application of chewing gum-based cannabis/cannabinoid medical products. It’s anticipated to take approximately three years of clinical trials to get Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency approval for MedChewRX.

The Bad . . .

San Diego Americans for Safe Access reported a few stories last month that are showing that our local courthouse has started taking a hardened stance against the rights of MMJ patients. Judge Peter Gallagher reiterated in court that federal law trumps state law on the issue of medical cannabis by way of the Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution. Victor Marion was found guilty by Gallagher at bench trial earlier this year for manufacturing concentrated cannabis. His attorney Lance Rogers will appeal the verdict and file a motion to release Marion on bail while his appeal is pending.
In another case, attorneys Rogers and Logan Fairfax argued that their clients’ right to privacy was violated when Sheriffs flew over their property, spotted a small cannabis garden and then lied to a judge about the size of it in order to file for the search warrant. Dennis and Deborah Little are seriously ill medical cannabis patients. Last year the Narcotics Task Force raided the Littles’ home, which resulted in charges of felony cultivation and felony possession of marijuana with intent to sell.
Rogers informed David M. Rubin, the judge who signed the warrant and also heard the arguments to quash and traverse it, that Deputy Matt Stevens misrepresented the size of the garden. Stevens failed to investigate whether the Littles were legal patients and did not utilize his own department’s resources to ascertain if the Littles had a permit through the San Diego County Sherriff’s medical marijuana regulation program. Prosecutor George Lloyd stated it is not the job of law enforcement or the District Attorney’s office to determine if the law has been broken. Lloyd claimed that all medical cannabis cases must go before a jury and that is where guilt or innocence should be decided. This shows us that the agenda of DA Bonnie Dumanis is still to convict ill patients and to use tax payers dollars to fill the court with medical cannabis cases, against public opinion.

The Lighter Side . . .

Medical cannabis attorney, Mark Bluemel, has been a busy man defending the rights of MMJ patients. San Diego Chapter of Americans For Safe Access reported only days after the Tim O’Shea case was dismissed in state court in the interest of justice. Bluemel announced that in the federal arena, charges were dropped against his clients, Gary Maddox, the landlord and co-defendant in the Ronnie Chang case. Maddox’s office was raided in 2011 along with Chang’s collective.

The federal government wanted to seize the property because Maddox had rented it to Chang to be used as a MMJ collective, even though the act is legal under California state law. As the case against Maddox went on the U.S. prosecutors offered him a deal to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit and forfeit his property or go to prison for up to five years. The Maddox family is happy that the charges have been dropped and are hoping the same courtesies would be extended to Chang. As the sole defendant in this case, Chang remains in federal custody where he has been for almost two years.