California high court: Inmates can't have cannabis in prison

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Prison inmates can’t legally possess marijuana under California’s law allowing recreational pot, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in overturning a lower court that found prisoners could have the drug as long as they didn’t consume it.

The justices said the 2019 appellate court ruling allowing prisoners to have up to 1 ounce (28.5 grams) of marijuana went against common sense. The high court sided with the state attorney general in finding the state's marijuana law approved by voters did not apply to Californians in prison.

“It seems implausible" that the voters intended to essentially decriminalize marijuana in prisons, Associate Justice Joshua Groban wrote for the majority.

“We agree with the Attorney General that if the drafters had intended to so dramatically change the laws regarding cannabis in prison, we would expect them to have been more explicit about their goals,” he wrote.

California in 1996 became the first state to legalize medical marijuana, which also is illegal in its prisons. Twenty years later, voters approved Proposition 64 establishing the world's largest legal recreational pot marketplace. People 21 or older can legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Cannabis is now legal in some form in more than 30 states. But Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he was unaware of any state that allows either recreational or medicinal cannabis in prison.

The case before the California Supreme Court arose from the conviction of five men who were found with marijuana in their cells. The Sacramento-based 3rd District Court of Appeal overturned the convictions, ruling that while state law made it illegal to smoke or eat pot in prison, it didn’t specifically criminalize possession.