Phomphakdy

In this case we decide whether the Medical Marijuana Program Act enacted in 2003 (Health & Saf. Code, [1] § 11362.7 et seq.) unconstitutionally amends the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (§ 11362.5). The Compassionate Use Act relieves a defendant of criminal liability for certain marijuana-related offenses if the defendant possesses or cultivates marijuana for his "personal medical purposes . . . upon . . . approval of a physician." (§ 11362.5, subd. (d).) The Medical Marijuana Program Act limits the amount of marijuana a qualified patient can possess to "no more than eight ounces of dried marijuana" and "no more than six mature or 12 immature marijuana plants" if there is no doctor's recommendation that these quantities are insufficient to meet the patient's needs. (§ 11362.77, subds. (a), (b).)

We hold that the Medical Marijuana Program Act's numerical limits are an unconstitutional amendment to the Compassionate Use Act. [2] Finding application of the unconstitutional amendment prejudicial here, we reverse the judgment against defendant Chanh Phomphakdy, whom a jury found guilty of two counts of misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Defendant was charged with…