Calif. cuts limits on medical marijuana

SACRAMENTO, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- The California Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, has declared unconstitutional the state's limits on how much medical marijuana can be legally possessed.

The ruling means patients with a doctor's recommendation can possess and cultivate as much as is "reasonably necessary," The Los Angeles Times reported.

The court's action Thursday struck down a provision of a 2003 state law passed to clarify the amount allowable under the marijuana initiative but affirmed an appellate decision to abolish limits but retain ID cards.

The court invalidated the portion of the law that allowed patients or their primary caregivers to have no more than eight ounces of dried marijuana and to grow no more than six mature or 12 immature plants.

The law, however, also allowed patients to have more than that if they had a statement from a doctor that the amount was insufficient.

"They gave us exactly what we wanted," said Gerald F. Uelmen, a law professor at Santa Clara University who argued the case for Patrick K. Kelly, a medical marijuana patient from Lakewood, Calif.