DMV sued over medical
marijuana
February 16, 2009 - Los Angeles Times
The lawsuit says patients
are unfairly targeted for license suspensions.
 Reporting from San Francisco --
When Matt Vaughn was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 5 in
Northern California early on a Sunday morning, he had a bag of
marijuana on the passenger seat.
The California Highway Patrol officer smelled the weed, searched the
car, took the marijuana and pipe and gave Vaughn a sobriety test, which
he passed. An angry Vaughn showed the officer his doctor's
recommendation to use marijuana for glaucoma. The officer was
unimpressed.
"He said, in Glenn County, they don't recognize those kinds of things,"
said Vaughn, 55, who has a long ponytail, mustache and beard. "He was
not very friendly about it."
The 2005 incident cost Vaughn a speeding ticket, his 1 1/4 ounce of pot
and his driver's license -- and nine months of fighting the California
Department of Motor Vehicles -- before he prevailed.
As a result of that and other encounters involving medical marijuana,
an advocacy group has sued the DMV, asking for a written policy that
says medical marijuana should be treated the same as prescription drugs.
The suit contends that the DMV has a pattern of investigating and
suspending the driver's licenses of people who use pot on the
recommendation of their doctors.
"It happens a disturbing amount," said Joseph D. Elford, chief counsel
for Americans for Safe Access, which promotes legalizing marijuana for
medicinal purposes and research.
Elford said his Oakland-based group has received complaints about the
DMV from patients in several Northern and Central California counties,
though Elford and others involved in the issue said they were unaware
of any Southern California cases.
The DMV can obtain medical information about someone if an
investigation is launched into the person's fitness to drive.
In Vaughn's case, the CHP officer sent the DMV a report about Vaughn,
along with a medical journal article saying marijuana was not the
choice drug for treating glaucoma.
In another case, Rose Johnson, 53, the plaintiff named in the pending
suit, used medical marijuana for back and neck injuries and lost her
license after a DMV worker referred her for an investigation.
The worker had noted that Johnson had difficulty moving when she went
in to renew her driver's license. Despite her perfect driving record,
the DMV cited the Merced woman's marijuana use last year in revoking
her license, the suit said.
Elford said the DMV also learns of medical marijuana patients from law
enforcement officers who ask drivers if they have used drugs in the 24
hours before a traffic stop.
Medical marijuana users usually answer truthfully, thinking they are
protected by law, Elford said. He added that he does not advise them to
lie because defrauding a police officer is a misdemeanor in California.
State officials said in interviews that it is not their policy to take
away licenses from marijuana patients.
DMV spokesman Armando Botello declined to comment on the lawsuit and
said the office does not keep statistics on the number of licenses
yanked as a result of medical marijuana. But he indicated the instances
were probably isolated.
Although medicinal weed is not automatic grounds for revoking a
license, conditions that impair safe driving, including "poor judgment,
aggressive behavior, impaired decision making, slowed motor functions,
impaired coordination . . . and drowsiness" could result in license
removal, he said.
During a DMV investigation, the driver's doctor is asked to fill out a
five-page questionnaire about the patient's medical condition and drug
use.
Jaime Coffee, a spokeswoman for the CHP, said its policy is to comply
with the state medical marijuana law, a policy that Americans for Safe
Access won in an earlier suit. Officers are instructed not to
confiscate marijuana from an unimpaired driver with a valid doctor's
recommendation, Coffee said. She speculated that Vaughn's marijuana
might have been confiscated because he did not have his license with
him.
Vaughn, who operates a medical marijuana collective out of his home,
said he had left the license in another pair of pants, had not smoked
in several hours and was admittedly grouchy.
"I actually am very aggressive when I am not smoking," he said.
In fact, he was just about to pull off the freeway to smoke and rest on
his long drive from Placerville to Vancouver, Wash., to visit family,
he said.
Vaughn said he did not yell at the officer, "but I am able to push
their buttons." The officer called for backup, and two other CHP cars
arrived. After he was cited, Vaughn went home for more marijuana for
his journey.
Vaughn does not work outside the marijuana collective.
"Essentially what I make is what I smoke, which is quite a bit," he
said. "Generally my wife is the regular person with jobs and insurance."
Not even marijuana advocates recommend driving under pot's influence.
California has convicted drivers of being under the influence of
marijuana when they failed field sobriety tests, Elford said.
Studies on the effects of marijuana on driving have reached varying
conclusions. Some found that experienced users are likely to compensate
for their deteriorated state by being especially cautious -- but are
prone to getting lost -- while others showed significant debilitating
effects from THC, the main mind-altering ingredient in marijuana.
Vaughn said he drives well when he smokes but conceded that cannabis
affects people differently.
After nine months of appealing the suspension of his license, Vaughn
contacted Elford, who filed suit. Before trial, the DMV agreed to
return his license and his marijuana and pipe. Vaughn said his DMV
record had incorrectly shown a conviction for driving under the
influence.
"How it got there was never discerned," he said.
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