End of medical marijuana case may come next week

The vagueness of Nevada's medical marijuana law can be shown with a hug, a defense lawyer argued Friday.

Attorney Bob Draskovich asked District Judge Douglas Smith to dismiss a criminal case because the state's medical marijuana law makes it illegal to deliver the drug for "consideration" but does not define what that consideration -- or payment -- could be.

"How about a hug?" Draskovich asked Smith, explaining that if his client, Kimberly Simons, had given marijuana to an undercover Las Vegas police officer and was then hugged, she could be charged with breaking the law.

Draskovich said the lack of a definition is only one of the problems with Nevada Revised Statute 435a, which allows patients registered with the state to possess medical marijuana but makes it illegal to obtain it.

Authorities have cracked down and eliminated nearly all the local entities distributing marijuana to state-registered patients because, they held, the cooperatives are receiving compensation in the form of donations, violating Nevada law.

Before ruling on several motions to dismiss, Smith said he needed to review evidence presented to a grand jury that led to an indictment of six people from a co-op, Jolly Green Meds, that was distributing marijuana. The judge expected he would rule on the motions next week.

More than three dozen medical marijuana defendants and advocates crammed into Smith's courtroom to hear the arguments, which were contentious at times between Smith and several defense attorneys.

Draskovich and other defense lawyers say their clients were filling a void left by the law and trying to legally distribute marijuana to those patients who had no ability to produce it themselves.

The defendants -- Kimberly Simons, Sean Kinshella, Daniel Kinshella, Christine Kinshella, Jesse Moffett and Ryan Bondhus -- were charged under the controlled substances act and face several counts of conspiracy and trafficking and distributing drugs.

Earlier this week, Judge Donald Mosley tossed a similar indictment against two men because the grand jury had not seen certain evidence, including paperwork filled out by the officer showing that the marijuana was not for sale and that a donation to the co-op was not necessary to obtain it. Prosecutors quickly brought the case back to the grand jury to re-indict the two men -- Nathan Hamilton and Leonard Schwingdorf -- several days later.

Smith is expected to rule on the same issue in the Jolly Green Meds case.

During Friday's hourlong hearing, prosecutor Tina Sedlock said the medical marijuana law is clear that marijuana cannot be given for any consideration and described Jolly Green Meds as a "drug trafficking organization."

Sedlock said there was a list of prices for different marijuana products at Jolly Green Meds -- equivalent to top- and lower-shelf scotch in a liquor store.

Draskovich said the list contained only suggested donations -- not payments for the marijuana -- to support the co-op's efforts to grow and maintain marijuana plants.

The lawyer added there is video evidence that Jolly Green Meds has given marijuana away without a donation.

Defense attorney Michael Cristalli said afterward that if Smith denies the motions to dismiss, the next action will be to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court. Medical marijuana advocates have hoped for a review of the Nevada law by the state's high court the Legislature to address the paradox.

"There's a hole in the law. And it needs to be corrected," Cristalli said.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.