Brown to challenge California pot ruling

SACRAMENTO, June 5 (UPI) -- California Attorney General Jerry Brown is appealing a recent court ruling that struck down the state's guidelines on possession of medical marijuana.

Brown will ask the California Supreme Court to overturn last month's decision by the Los Angeles Court of Appeal, contending it harms the state's attempts to control abuses even while protecting legitimate cannabis access, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

Brown defended a 2003 legislative measure overturned by the court that specified the amount of marijuana that patients could have for medicinal purposes. The Legislature's action attempted to clarify a 1996 public referendum that more generally supporting medicinal marijuana usage.

"The proposition is not as clear as we would like," he told the Times. "You do not need an unlimited quantity of marijuana for medicine. But what is the quantity?"