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Name: People v. Hughes
Case #: E051741
Opinion Date: 01/27/2012
Division: 2
Citation: 202 Cal.App.4th 1473
Summary

A defendant can be prohibited from using medical marijuana as a condition of probation if the use of marijuana has a relationship to the crime of which defendant was convicted and is reasonably related to future criminality. After stopping appellant’s vehicle for an expired registration, the police searched it so that it could be impounded and found 38 marijuana plants. Despite his medical marijuana defense, he was convicted of cultivation of marijuana, possession for sale, and transportation. The appellate court found no abuse of discretion in the imposition of a condition of probation prohibiting appellant from using medical marijuana. Under Health and Safety Code section 11362.795, the trial court is authorized to impose a probation condition prohibiting the use of medical marijuana if the criteria set forth in People v. Lent (1975) 15 Cal.3d 481 is otherwise met. (A condition will not be held invalid unless it has no relationship to crime of which defendant was convicted; it relates to conduct not criminal; and it concerns conduct not reasonably related to future criminality.) Here, although possession/use of medical marijuana is legal, in defendant’s case possessing marijuana, even medical, has a relationship to the crime of which defendant was convicted. Additionally, by imposing a probation condition prohibiting marijuana, appellant will be deterred from future conduct reasonably related to criminality.