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Court: Medical marijuana law trumps law on transporting pot

Posted at 3:23 PM, Dec 21, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-21 15:23:22-05

ST. JOHNS, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan appeals court says the state’s medical marijuana law protects people who are accused of illegally transporting pot.

In a 2-1 decision, the court threw out the misdemeanor conviction of a man in Clinton County, north of Lansing.

Callen Latz is a registered medical marijuana user. But he was charged in 2014 with violating a law that requires pot to be stored in a case in the trunk of a vehicle or in a spot that’s not easily accessible.

The marijuana transportation law was signed in 2012, four years after voters approved medical marijuana for certain illnesses. The appeals court says the transportation law doesn’t fit because it puts additional requirements on compliant medical marijuana users.

The court says that conflict can’t stand. The decision was released Wednesday.