A California appeals court has ruled that a person on probation for a felony can smoke marijuana for medical purposes.

This is the right decision. It would seem obvious that if a probationer had a medical marijuana certificate issued by the state, his use of the substance should be no different than taking any prescription drug while on probation. The problem arises in two ways. First, judges will arbitrarily decree that a probationer cannot use marijuana. Second, the terms of most state probation agreements specify that the probationer cannot violate any state or federal law, and the use of marijuana is a federal offense. Drug felons are subjected to urine analysis which shows if they smoked marijuana. The lab is obligated to forwards the positive report to the probation officer, and the rest is obvious.

We have faced this problem in our own cases. We're heartened to see this California decision, and hope other states will adopt its reasoning. [Thanks to Oakland attorney Dennis Roberts for the tip]