Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Ban of Medical Cannabis in Kentucky

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Ban of Medical Cannabis in Kentucky

Flickr / Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0

Residents of the Bluegrass State won’t be smoking grass anytime soon. On Sept. 20, 2017, a judge dismissed a lawsuit fighting for the legalization of medical cannabis in Kentucky.

According to the Courier-Journal, residents Dan Seum Jr., Amy Stalker and Danny Belcher filed a lawsuit against Gov. Matt Bevin and Attorney General Andy Beshear, asking that the two officials overturn the state’s current law regarding medical cannabis in Kentucky.

Seum Jr., Stalker and Belcher all use medical cannabis to treat their varying medical conditions. In the lawsuit, the three patients claim that Kentucky’s cannabis prohibition violates their constitutional rights to be free of the state’s arbitrary power over their lives.

Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate acknowledged that medical cannabis has potential benefits, but dismissed the patients’ case.

Wingate wrote a 12-page order in which he concluded that “no constitutional right exists to violate a controlled substances law.” With Wingate explaining, “The court finds … that a good reason exists to curtail citizens’ possession of a narcotic, hallucinogenic drug.”

According to the Herald Leader, Bevin and Beshear’s lawyers argued that in all of the states that have legalized medical cannabis up until this point, lawmakers have always been the ones who went about legalizing the drug, not courts.

“The Bevin administration applauds Judge Wingate’s decision to follow the law and dismiss this lawsuit. Any change to Kentucky law should go through the legislative process,” said Bevin spokeswoman, Amanda Stamper.

While Kentucky lawmakers haven’t been able to approve medical cannabis legalization, 29 states and Washington, D.C., currently have legalized medical cannabis.

Wingate advised that the plaintiffs take their argument out of the court and straight to lawmakers instead.

“The plaintiffs are directed to turn their attention toward the General Assembly of Kentucky,” Wingate said.

Under current Kentucky law, if any of the plaintiffs were to be found with up to 8 ounces of marijuana, they could face penalties ranging from a fine to a felony charge.

This past June, Stalker spoke on the prohibition of medical cannabis in Kentucky, saying, “It becomes cruel when you have a solution that works and is helping people in other states, but if people use it here, they’re criminals.”

Amanda Taylor was the editorial assistant for Marijuana Industry News from September 2016 through February 2018. She earned a BA in English and an MA in Writing from Coastal Carolina University.

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