In response to medical marijuana activists who have protested the arrest of Jamie Wilson, a legal medical marijuana patient and home cultivator charged with marijuana possession, Lyndall Fraker, DHSS Director of Missouri Medical Marijuana has issued an opinion letter clarifying the law under Article XIV.
“At the request of several law enforcement entities and legislators,” wrote Fraker on January 28, 2020, “we are writing to express the Department of Health and Senior Services’ understanding of the law and regulations applicable to the question of whether medical marijuana patients may be in possession of medical marijuana before licensed dispensaries are operating. “
Wilson was arrested near Independence, MO by the Missouri Highway Patrol after an alert from the Nitro Drug Task Force. The task force officers alleged Wilson had received illegal contraband in Trenton, MO.
Even though Wilson presented a valid Missouri Medical Marijuana ID card which showed he was well within his legal right to possess the approximate eight ounces of cannabis flower he was charged with, Davis County Prosecutor Annie Gibson proceeded with marijuana possession charges, drug paraphernalia and traffic charges, plus charges relating to endangering the welfare of a minor. Wilson’s had a grandchild in close proximity to the alleged illegal cannabis.
Director Fraker wrote that Article XIV does not directly address the question of how a legal medical marijuana patient can obtain cannabis before there are any legal, licensed dispensaries to sell cannabis.
“However, what does appear throughout Article XIV,” wrote Fraker, “are rights and protections for authorized medical marijuana patients that are not activated by circumstances other than possession of a valid medical marijuana identification card.”
Those rights were explained by Fraker. “Article XIV establishes a right to possess and use medical marijuana once approved by DHSS, mandates that DHSS approve qualifying patients well before DHSS is required to license dispensaries, and never specifies that these patient rights are only applicable after dispensaries are operating.”
The DHSS’ official opinion in regards to cannabis possession by authorized medical marijuana patients before legal sales begin has been established. Fraker stated, “that pursuant to Article XIV, individuals who hold a valid medical marijuana identification card are currently authorized to possess and use medical marijuana, and the lack of a mechanism by which those individuals may legally come into possession of medical marijuana does not change their right to possess it.”
The Davies’ County trial court judge denied a request for dismissal of charges under Article XIV’s provisions filed by Wilson’s attorneys. A much anticipated trial date is scheduled for late February 2020.
DHSS’ opinion letter is provided here in PDF form for review. The question of legal cannabis possession by authorized patients for the moment has not be answered by Missouri’s legal process in this court case. Missouri’s medical marijuana patients should be extremely careful in traveling with legal cannabis in areas where law enforcement and the courts disregard Missouri’s new medical marijuana laws.