Appropriations Rider Gives Sliver Of Hope For California Dispensary Owner Caught Between Conflicting State And Federal Laws

In a split decision last Thursday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of Morro Bay marijuana dispensary owner Charles Lynch and remanded the case to the district court for a factual determination as to whether Lynch's activities were in strict compliance with California law. [Link to case here.]

The panel rejected all but one of Lynch's arguments he proffered after his conviction, finding merit in the potential application of a congressional appropriations rider to his case. [See Section 538 of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015.Congress extended the rider in its most recent legislation, which became law on March 23, 2018.]

The rider, substantively identical to the Rohrabacher-Farr (or Rohrabacher-Blumenauer) amendments, bars the Department of Justice from prosecuting individuals in strict compliance with state medical marijuana laws, and operates to annul a properly obtained conviction. Judge John M. Rogers of the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation, wrote for the majority: "The rider covers only...