Global Ganja Report

Multiple court cases in Nevada are prompting a second look at the state's medical marijuana law. In a sometimes heated courtroom session, Clark County District Judge Douglas Smith heard arguments Sept. 16 in the case of six defendants arrested last November in a raid of Jolly Green Meds co-op on Las Vegas' famed Sahara Ave. On Sept. 12, the county's Judge Donald Mosley threw out a grand jury indictment in a case concerning the Sin City Co-Op, also of Las Vegas, and also shut down in a raid. Mosley ruled that the grand jury wasn't shown enough evidence to indicate that an undercover officer illegally obtained cannabis at the co-op. (Las Vegas Sun, Sept. 16)

Robert Draskovich, attorney for the Sin City defendants, said the courts have now acknowledged that the law's provisions for purchasing cannabis are unclear. "Mosley was very clear on Monday. He stated the law was mind-boggling, and he couldn't make heads or tales of it, said the law was void for vagueness," Draskovich said. (8NewsNow, Las Vegas, Sept. 17)

Nevada voters approved Question 9 in November 2000 by 65%, amendeding the atate constitution to recognize the medical use of cannabis. The law removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of cannabis by patients who have "written documentation" from their physician of their medicinal need. The law establishes a confidential state-run patient registry that issues identification cards to qualifying patients. (Americans for Safe Access)

Graphic by Americans for Safe Access