Can delivering medical marijuana to patients that have a medical marijuana license get you in trouble?

As a criminal defense lawyer, with an emphasis on medical marijuana, I couldn't disagree more with the above answer. First of all, to correct some misinformation, dispensaries are not required to grow their own, they are collectives and anyone who is a member of the collective can grow for them. Most Southern California dispensaries are supplied by marijuana grown by collective members in Northern California. However, I'm assuming that your son is talking about a job delivering small amounts of marijuana to patients of a particular dispensary, not transporting multiple pounds of marijuana from Northern California growers to LA dispensaries (this I would not advise, although someone's got to do it). People who do deliveries for dispensaries, tend to carry small amounts of marijuana at a time and have not been targeted for rip offs any more than cab drivers or any other delivery profession. While technically illegal under federal law, the feds really don't care about some kid delivering a few grams of marijuana here and there. However, the state law on delivery is a gray area. I know of nobody who has ever been prosecuted for doing a legitimate delivery service in conjunction with a legitimate dispensary, but there is no black and white law around this and the cases on transportation of medical marijuana have been mixed. Most dispensaries that do deliveries have local permission to do so and deliveries take place only within the county or city within which they are permitted. Nevertheless, because of the gray area in the law, your 19 yr. old faces at least some possible risk of local prosecution, if he delivers for a dispensary. Whether they could ever get a jury to convict him would be another story.

The answer to your questions is actually fairly complicated and I don't think it has been fully addressed in the previous responses. Generally, marijuana possession, distribution, transportation, and cultivation are all illegal both Federally and in California. Delivering marijuana, for example, can be charged in California as felony violations of both Health and Safety Code §11359 and §11360; subjecting the accused to up to 4 years in custody. In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, which is the nation's first law decriminalizing the use, possession, and cultivation of medical marijuana. The CUA, as it is often referred to, is codified as Health and Safety Code §11362.5 and provides both a limited immunity and affirmative defense for qualified patients and primary caregivers to charges of possession and cultivation. Subsequent case law interpreted the CUA's protections to extend to the crime of transportation. In order to qualify for the protections afforded by California's medical cannabis laws, a person must be either a qualified patient or a primary caregiver. A person is considered to be a qualified patient if a physician recommends or approves of their medical use of marijuana. Typically, this means that the doctor will give a written recommendation to the patient as proof of the patient's status that entitles them to use, possess, transport, and cultivate cannabis. In 2003, the California State Legislature enacted the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMPA), which is codified as Health and Safety Code §11362.7-11362.83. One of the most significant components of the MMPA is Health and Safety Code §11362.765 which provides additional immunity from prosecution for violations of H&S §§ 11359(Possession for Sale), 11360 (Sales/Transportation), and other associated statutes such as criminal nuisance. Another important component of the MMPA is Health and Safety Code §11362.775, which bestows all of the rights and protections enjoyed by individual patients to associations of patients who operate collectively or cooperatively. It is this section that is widely interpreted to give authorization for storefront dispensaries and medical cannabis delivery services. This has been further enshrined into law with the California Attorney General's Opinion on the issue. The answer to your question is therefore, both: Yes person can lawfully deliver medical marijuana and Yes, a person delivering medical cannabis can get into trouble depending on the facts of the situation. Typically, it is critical that anyone possessing, transporting, or cultivating medical marijuana keep the appropriate documentation with them so that they can evidence the legality of their conduct. Conversely, it is equally important for a person attempting to lawfully deliver medical marijuana to not possess weapons, other drugs, large amounts of currency, or other so called "indicia of sales". It is also essential that no incriminating statements are made to law enforcement or via electronic means such as text messages. As you can see, the analysis as to whether someone can lawfully deliver medical marijuana without getting into trouble has lots of components. For this reason, the best response I have for you is to consult with a skilled and experienced attorney who focuses on cannabis related criminal defense before your 19 year old gets involved in a canna-business. If he/she is interested in getting involved in the movement, there are other political avenues such as the Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act of 2012 that could certainly use his support. I hope this answer is helpful.

This is more of a criminal question than licensing, but my answer is needed for its local content. In Long Beach, about 6 months ago, a "marijuana deliverer" was murdered and relieved of a large sum of cash. Its a dangerous occupation. Most "licensed dispensaries" have to follow state, county and city licensing restrictions which may have provisions wholly unrelated to each other. We had a facility in Belmont Shore that was licensed by the city and state, but it was shut down due it having "some relation" to a criminal investigationl in another county. Your 19-year old is considering a dangerous path and putting himself in the cross fire. Crossfire between criminals who want to rob and kill him to take his deliveries, crossfire between DEA who does not recognize the CA system, crossfire between states and counties, and crossfire between cities and counties, between cities and states, and more. Dispensaries are required to grow their own, so who is moving product? This means that some entities are not wholly growing their own. There is no golden defense to any of this. Your MM license does virtually nothing to mitigate the crossfire in any quarter and is not a defense. This path will likely take this 19 year old to placess, situations and dangers from which he or she would very much like to escape. The reason for the dispensaries is to try and control the traffic. By requiring dispensaries to grow their own, the input is intended to be shut down. Requiring people to come to the dispensaries gives some modicom of legitimacy and protection for buyers. Even if the rules in one locale permitted delivery and thus a "dispensary on wheels" look at the danger involved. Lots of cash and lots of valuable product to attract thieves.

It doesn't get much better than the thoughtful analysis provided by the first answer. Your son should seriously re-consider getting involved in this matter. I have always supported the medical use of marijuana (even though I do not personally use), but it is seriously abused and -- as the earlier answer highlighted -- a strong criminal element has become involved to the detriment of those who are not abusing.

The simple answer to your question is "yes, delivering marijuana can get you into a lot of trouble." I am a defense attorney in San Diego and very familar with the local U.S. Attorney's policy concerning medical marijuana. Regardless of state law, federal law considers marijuana illegal to possess and federal prosecutors in San Diego do go after the collectives. While I have a great deal of sympathy for the movement, that doesn't change the fact that becoming involved in an operation to transport and deliver marijuana can get a person in a great deal of trouble. It is a federal crime, plain and simple.