Pot Group Sues To Stop DMV From Revoking Licenses

[Ganjarden]

A medical marijuana advocacy group has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Motor Vehicles for revoking the driver's license of a woman because of her status as a medical pot patient.

Americans for Safe Access sued the department on behalf of 53-year-old Rose Johnson. Her attorneys say she has had a clean driving record for 37 years. The suit claims the DMV refused to renew her license in July because of her status as a medical marijuana patient.

Attorney Joe Elford said the DMV can't "simply disregard" the state's medical marijuana law. His group asserts that similar situations have occurred in at least eight counties.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Merced Superior Court. DMV spokeswoman Jan Mendoza declined to comment on pending litigation.


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Source: Contra Costa Times
Contact: Contra Costa Times
Copyright: 2008 Contra Costa Times
Website: Pot Group Sues To Stop DMV From Revoking Licenses

 

[darkrail]

Yikes!

Anyone know how the DMV found out she was a patient, or why they decided to single her out?

 

[hawkster7]

Someone needs to check this out SOON!

 

[Ganjarden]

I know in maryland when you have certain illnesses you have to tell them about it. Then they give you a packet to have you and your doctor fill out. She was likely being honest and said she used cannabis to help with her medical issues. So being dicks they revoke her license.

 

[Racefan]

I know in maryland when you have certain illnesses you have to tell them about it. Then they give you a packet to have you and your doctor fill out. She was likely being honest and said she used cannabis to help with her medical issues. So being dicks they revoke her license.

I hope that's the case. It would be a travesty if they had access to the id card records.

 

[darkrail]

Phew! It sounds like she wandered into the DMV, looked messed-up, and then volonteered that she was a MMJ patient.

It's still a terrifying story, and the DMV should lose the lawsuit. But I'm at least a little less concerned for the majority of us who keep our mouths shut.

Moral of the story: Remember your medical treatments are private info between you and your doctor (and your dispensary). Other than that, keep your mouth shut.

Here's the story from today's Reason Hit and Run blog (reason.com/blog).

----

Drug Addict, Patient, Whatever
Jacob Sullum | November 21, 2008, 3:21pm

Last April, Rose Johnson, a 53-year-old resident of Atwater, California, went to the local DMV office to renew her driver's license. A DMV agent noticed that Johnson was moving slowly, due to neck and back injuries caused by a 1990 car crash, and recommended that the department re-examine her license. During this process, the DMV learned that Johnson uses marijuana to relieve her neck and back pain, as she is permitted to do under state law. Although Johnson has a spotless driving record and never drives under the influence of marijuana, using the drug only at night, the DMV decided she was "incapable of safely operating a motor vehicle because of [an] addiction to, or habitual use of, [a] drug."

This week Americans for Safe Access (ASA) sued the DMV on Johnson's behalf, arguing that the department's decision to revoke her driver's license "based solely on her status as a qualified medical marijuana patient under California law" constitutes an abuse of discretion that violates the Compassionate Use Act (which recognizes marijuana as a medicine) and Johnson's constitutional right to direct the course of her medical treatment. Although a DMV spoksman told the San Francisco Chronicle the department does not have a blanket policy of taking away the licenses of medical marijuana users, instead treating cannabis as it would a prescription drug that could cause impairment, ASA says it knows of similar cases in several other counties. "The DMV cannot simply disregard California's medical marijuana law," says ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, who is representing Johnson in her claim against the DMV. "When the voters of California enacted the Compassionate Use Act, they never intended to authorize the DMV to strip medical marijuana patients of their driver's licenses."

 

[Dr. 215]

Uhh, isn't that completely illegal? She has done absolutely nothing wrong, why take her license? I just renewed mine and im a patient in California, glad mine didn't get flagged, it must be that she told them she was a card holder... I'm really sorry to hear about this