As the new Cole Memorandum on medical marijuana federal law enforcement continues to sink in, it is notable that it specifically refers to the “caregiver” defense.

California law has permitted the caregiver defense since 1996, however, in the 2005 Mensch case, the California Supreme Court found that to properly raise the caregiver defense, the caregiver must have had an ongoing prior relationship with the patient in which the caregiver provides for the patient’s health, safety and/or housing.  Merely reciting the word “caregiver” is of no legal effect, what is significant is the actual legal relationship of the patient and caregiver.

Since the Cole Memo specifically states that the caregiver defense will, along with the actions of sick patients, qualify for “lowest priority” in terms of the federal government’s enforcement expenditures of time and money, you could say that since the Cole Memorandum, the Caregiver Defense’s stock has gone up!

Stewart Richlin, Esq. is a California lawyer with over 25 years of experience in civil law.  Having represented thousands of patients and hundreds of collectives, Mr. Richlin has been court-qualified as an expert in the field.  Mr. Richlin’s “MEDICAL MARIJUANA COLLEGE” is a one on one legal conference in his Hollywood office which includes a detailed analysis of FEDERAL, STATE, and LOCAL law on the topic; it includes a copy of his book on 420 law, the latest edition of which is just off the presses, and contains about 125 pages of materials to facilitate your mastery of the legal issues raised by medical marijuana rights in the State of California.  Call us at 888-420-LAW-1   or locally at 323-540-4420.