Category: Blog

WHAT IS ILLEGAL UNDER THE RECREATIONAL POT LAW

It is still illegal to sell pot. It is illegal to give pot to a person under 21.
Persons under 21 are prohibited from all activity involving pot.
If you are negligent, while impaired from smoking, and harm another, you can be
sued for damages.

Your employer can restrict use of cannabis at the work site, and even prohibit
use off hours if you are given a drug test as part of your employment and there is
evidence of use.

Your landlord can prohibit use of cannabis in your home and on your property.

POSSESSION FOR SALE:
Despite the new law legalizing the use and possession of pot, there remain
criminal penalties for possession of pot with the intent to sell. However, the offense was reduced to a misdemeanor. Officers will arrest for this offense if one is carrying an amount over the permitted limits, or the pot is packaged in such a manner as to indicate you are selling. The burden is on the prosecution to prove the intent to sell; but they are proficient at raising negative inferences from the circumstances, so just do not engage in selling. This provision was left in the law to discourage the black market of pot, so that the new businesses will have a fair opportunity to prosper and the State will receive the taxes due under the new law.

Health and Safety Code 11359, 11360, 11361.
The misdemeanor punishment for possession for sale, transport, import, will be county jail for not more than six months or by a fine of not more than $500, or both. If the offender involves a minor in the prohibited conduct, or has a prior serious/violent felony conviction, or prior marijuana convictions, the punishment could include a prisonsentence.

PRIOR CONVICTIONS CAN BE REDUCED:
Health and Safety Code 11361.8.
Anyone with a prior felony offense for possession for sale, now reduced to a
misdemeanor, can petition the court to recall and reduce the felony to a misdemeanor.

LEGAL POT: NOT SO FAST – WHAT CAN & CANNOT DO

The pot heads demanded, marched, protested for years, but they achieved their goal. You can now legally smoke your pot. But there are restrictions as to where, when, how much, with whom.

Health and Safety Code 11362.1. (What You Can Do If You Are 21):
If you are 21, you can purchase, possess and use or share with another adult over 21, 28.5 grams of cannibas; possess and use and share with another adult over 21, 8 grams of concentrated cannibas, including edibles; cultivate not more than 6 cannabis plants.

Health and Safety Code 11362.2.(What You Cannot Do):
The six plants you grow must be on your private property and not visible from a
public place. The grow must be in a locked space. You must follow local restrictions on the conditions, such as ventilation.

Health and Safety Code 11362.3. (If Smoking Cigarettes Is Prohibited, So Is Pot:
Wherever smoking tobacco is prohibited, you cannot smoke your pot. Prohibition
against smoking includes using vape devices.

  • You cannot smoke within 1000 feet of facilities that serve children.
  • You cannot possess or smoke on grounds of school, day care center, or youth center while children are present.
  • You cannot have an open container of pot while driving, or riding in vehicle, boat,
    aircraft. Carry your cannabis in your trunk, not your purses.
  • You cannot manufacture concentrated cannabis using a volatile solvent unless
    you comply with license requirements.
  • You cannot smoke or ingest cannabis while driving or riding as passenger in
    vehicle, boat, aircraft. The Vehicle Code against driving while impaired will apply to those impaired by cannabis.

Violations of any of these provisions, except the driving while impaired, will be an
infraction punished with a fine and drug education programs for those under 21.
Medical marijuana continues to be lawful and guided by the Compassionate Use
Act of 1996.

HOW TO LEGALLY CARRY YOUR LEGAL FIREARM IN A VEHICLE

Penal Code, section 25400 prohibits carrying concealed in any vehicle any firearm capable of being concealed upon the person. Any person who has control or direction over the vehicle will be responsible. Any occupant of the vehicle is also prohibited from carrying a concealed weapon in the vehicle.

A person who is over the age of 18 and is not prohibited from possessing firearms may carry an unloaded, concealed handgun inside a motor vehicle that is in a public place when it is in an appropriate “locked container” or while being carried directly to or from a motor vehicle in such a container “for any lawful purpose.” (Penal Code,§ 26060; 2561 0(a); People v. Marotta (1981) 128 Cal.App.3d Supp. 1; _People v. Wooten (1985) 168 Cal.App.3d 168.)

LOCKED CONTAINER:

A “locked container” means a secure container that is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, key lock, combination lock, or similar locking device. A “locked container” also includes a locked trunk of a vehicle, but does not include a vehicle’s “utility or glove compartment” even if it is locked. (Penal Code, § 16850, 2561 0(a)(I).)

The law does not define “utility compartment”. Because this is a gray area of the law, you should not transport a handgun in the vehicle’s center console or in the storage area behind the rear seat in most “hatchback” type automobiles. It is not advised to use the various storage compartments found in today’s popular sport utility vehicles. While most of us would consider a cross-bed toolbox in a pickup truck to be the functional equivalent to a vehicle’s trunk, it could be considered a “utility compartment” where a firearm could not be legally stored. To be safe, carry the gun in a locked container inside the tool box.

Even if your vehicle has a locked trunk, you should still use an appropriate “locked container” that is solely for transporting your handgun. If you need to open the trunk, the container could then be considered “unlocked”, violating the concealed and/or open carry restrictions. (Penal Code, § 25400, 26350)

The best way to be sure you are in compliance with the law, the locked container should have hard sides even though the law does not specifically require it.

LOADED:

You need to store your weapon and ammunition separately in containers. If the weapon and ammunition are stored in the same container, law enforcement may find the weapon is ready for firing. (People v. Clark 1996) 45 Cal.App.4th 1147, 1154.)

LAWFUL PURPOSE OF TRANSPORTATION:

For the unloaded and locked transportation exemption to apply, the course of travel shall include only those purposes and destinations listed in the Penal Code, § 25510-25595. We will discuss these restrictions soon.