Source: http://chrisconrad.com/author/office-assistant/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 17:13:36+00:00

Document:
Chris Conrad's assistant is here to help you arrange for legal and professional consultations, book purchases, book signings, interviews, media appearances and speaking engagements.
PATRICK K. KELLY, Defendant and Appellant.
Footnote 1 All further statutory references are to the Health and Safety Code unless otherwise indicated.
as Proposition 215 in 1996. We conclude, consistently with the decision of the Court of Appeal below (and with the position of both parties in the present litigation), that insofar as section 11362.77 burdens a defense under the CUA to a criminal charge of possessing or cultivating marijuana, it impermissibly amends the CUA and in that respect is invalid under article II, section 10, subdivision (c). We also conclude, consistently with the views of both parties in the present litigation, that the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that section 11362.77 must be severed from the MMP and hence voided.
5. designated primary caregivers from civil penalties or disciplinary actions by licensing boards.
§ 11362.71, subd. (f) [“[i]t shall not be necessary for a person to obtain an identification card in order to claim the protections of Section 11362.5 [the CUA]”].) Second, section 11362.77, subdivision (f) of the MMP would allow these same persons to “possess amounts of marijuana consistent with this article” (italics added) — that is, up to eight ounces of dried marijuana (id., subd. (a)), or even more than that amount if a physician so recommends (id., subd. (b)), or if a city or county allows (id., subd. (c)). By specifying an allowable quantity, the MMP would enhance the protections afforded to those who are covered by the CUA. And in other ways as well, the MMP would enhance protections afforded to those who are covered by the CUA. As observed ante, footnote 5, the MMP provides, in sections 11362.765 and 11362.775, immunity from criminal liability for other crimes, in addition to the offenses of marijuana possession and cultivation. In the present litigation, however, we address only the propriety of the MMP insofar as it burdens a defense otherwise afforded by the CUA. We do not consider, or intimate any view concerning, provisions of the MMP that would enhance protections afforded to those who are covered by the CUA.
quantity “consistent with the patient‟s needs” that is greater than the amount set out in subdivision (a), it affords this protection only if a physician so recommends — a qualification not found in the CUA.
hepatitis C, back problems (including ruptured disks), a fused neck, nausea, fatigue, cirrhosis, loss of appetite, and depression. Over the course of 10 years, defendant attempted to treat the pain caused by these conditions with multiple epidurals, pain therapy, nerve simulators, and various medications — some of which were very costly, exceeding his monthly income. Dissatisfied with this treatment plan, defendant decided to seek a recommendation to use marijuana as permitted by the CUA.
In mid-February 2005, Dr. Eve Elting, a medical doctor employed by Medicann, a physician-owned entity that evaluates patients who wish to use marijuana for medical purposes, met with defendant. Dr. Elting reviewed defendant‟s medical records and a 15- page form that defendant had been asked to complete, spoke with him, and then gave him a written recommendation for marijuana use that expired in one year. Dr. Elting did not recommend a dosage,10 and defendant apparently did not register under the MMP.
Because defendant was unable to afford marijuana from a dispensary, he began to grow it at home for his personal use. Defendant consumes approximately one to two ounces of marijuana each week by smoking it, using it in a vaporizer, and consuming it in brownies. He testified that the marijuana lessens his nausea, but that its effectiveness has decreased over time.
We note that the United States Department of Justice recently clarified its enforcement priorities with regard to states, such as California, that have enacted laws authorizing the medical use of marijuana. (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Memorandum for Selected United States Attorneys (Oct. 19, 2009) <http://www.justice.gov/opa/documents/medical-marijuana.pdf> [as of ____, 2009].) Although this policy change may give physicians somewhat increased confidence in their ability lawfully to recommend the use of marijuana for medical treatment, it is clear that there has been no substantive change in federal law.
seven to nine other officers, arrested defendant and searched his home. They found seven potted marijuana plants and additional marijuana plants growing in the soil outside the garage in the backyard of defendant‟s home. They also discovered seven plastic bags, most of which were vacuum sealed, each containing one to two ounces of dried marijuana, along with a small amount of marijuana in a jar. In total, deputies seized slightly more than 12 usable ounces of dried marijuana. Deputies also recovered a scale and a loaded firearm from a nightstand in the master bedroom. No other traditional indicia of sales — such as pagers, cell phones, “pay-owe sheets,” cash money in bills, “nickel and dime bags” (bags used to hold small amounts of marijuana, to be sold for $5 or $10), safes, or sophisticated growing systems — were found during the search. Nor was there any record of complaints by neighbors specifically concerning excessive foot traffic at defendant‟s home.
approximately one to two ounces, instead of the one-ounce and much smaller nickel and dime bags typically used in sales. The deputy surmised that defendant had packaged the marijuana in larger quantities in order to supply other sellers, who in turn would repackage smaller amounts of the product into smaller containers. On earlier cross- examination, however, it was revealed that Deputy Bartman had minimal experience concerning marijuana used for medicinal purposes.
Christopher Conrad testified as a medical marijuana expert for the defense. Conrad explained that storing marijuana in vacuum-packed baggies is consistent with medicinal use, and that the total amount found (slightly more than 12 ounces of “dried mature processed flowers”) also was consistent with personal use. Conrad observed that, assuming defendant consumed the marijuana found in his home at a rate of two ounces a week, the supply would last him slightly more than six weeks.13 Dr. Elting testified concerning her recommendation that defendant use marijuana to treat his ailments.
13 Conrad testified that smoking marijuana produces a faster medicinal effect, but that the effect does not last as long as when marijuana is eaten. On the other hand, Conrad testified, approximately four times the amount of marijuana must be eaten in order to achieve the equivalent effect of smoking it.
Subsequently, the jury was given an instruction modeled on CALCRIM No. 2370, which, consistently with the CUA, explained that defendant was permitted to possess or cultivate an amount of marijuana reasonably related to his current medical needs.14 Notably, the jury was not instructed that, in the absence of a physician‟s recommendation that eight dried ounces was insufficient, defendant had a right to possess only that amount.
Thereafter, defense counsel‟s closing argument urged the jury to determine that defendant neither sold marijuana nor intended to do so, and that the amount possessed and cultivated by defendant was reasonable for his personal medical use and hence was protected by the CUA. In response, the prosecutor, in his final summation to the jury, argued that defense counsel was “asking you to be legislators” and “interpreters of the law,” but “[t]hat‟s not your job here, ladies and gentlemen. Your job is to follow the law.
The jury deliberated for approximately 90 minutes and found defendant guilty of “possessing more than 28.5 grams [one ounce] of marijuana (§ 11357, subd. (c))” — a lesser offense of the charged count of possessing marijuana for sale (§ 11359). The jury also found defendant guilty as charged of cultivating marijuana (§ 11358). The trial court placed defendant on three years‟ probation under various terms and conditions, including that he serve two days in jail, less credit for two days already served.
Third and finally, addressing an issue concerning which we did not grant review, the Court of Appeal determined that although the trial court properly instructed the jury under the CUA that defendant could possess an amount of marijuana reasonably related to his current medical needs, the court improperly permitted the prosecutor to elicit testimony indicating that the quantity limitations set out in section 11362.77 applied to defendant and to his defense under the CUA — and to extensively so argue to the jury.
Defendant also filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, asserting that his trial counsel performed deficiently by failing to move to suppress evidence seized during the search of petitioner‟s home pursuant to a search warrant. The petition asserted, in essence, that the officers had a duty to investigate the possible existence of a physician‟s recommendation for the use of marijuana, before a search warrant could be issued. The Court of Appeal consolidated the writ proceeding with the appeal, and denied the writ, explaining that, contrary to petitioner‟s view, our opinion in Mower, supra, 28 Cal.4th 457, 463-464, does not support the proposition advanced by petitioner. This issue was not included in our order granting review in this matter, and we do not consider it.
limitation on the Legislature‟s power to amend initiative statutes is to „protect the people‟s initiative powers by precluding the Legislature from undoing what the people have done, without the electorate‟s consent.‟ [Citations.]” (Proposition 103 Enforcement Project v. Quackenbush (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 1473, 1484 (Proposition 103 Enforcement Project).) In this vein, decisions frequently have asserted that courts have a duty to “ „ “jealously guard” ‟ ” the people‟s initiative power, and hence to “ „ “apply a liberal construction to this power wherever it is challenged in order that the right” ‟ ” to resort to the initiative process “ „ “be not improperly annulled” ‟ ” by a legislative body.
17 All further undesignated constitutional references are to the California Constitution.
the court described an amendment as „ “a legislative act designed to change some prior or existing law by adding or taking from it some particular provision.” ‟ And in Balian Ice Cream Co. v. Arden Farms Co. (S.D.Cal. 1950) 94 F.Supp. 796, 798-799, the analysis necessary to determine whether a particular act is or is not an amendment to a prior statute is described as follows: „Whether an act is amendatory of existing law is determined not by title alone, or by declarations in the new act that it purports to amend existing law. On the contrary, it is determined by an examination and comparison of its provisions with existing law. If its aim is to clarify or correct uncertainties which arose from the enforcement of the existing law, or to reach situations which were not covered by the original statute, the act is amendatory, even though in its wording it does not purport to amend the language of the prior act.‟ ” (Italics omitted.) Although various aspects of this language quoted from Cory have been repeated with apparent approval by subsequent decisions (see, e.g., Huening v. Eu (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 766, 774-775 (Huening)), we observe that none of the cases or authorities cited in the quoted passage considered or construed the term “amendment” in the context of a constitutional provision that restricts legislative amendment of an initiative statute.
As the Court of Appeal was careful to specify, subdivision (b) of section 11362.77 speaks only of the right to “possess” dried marijuana in a quantity consistent with a patient‟s needs — it does not expressly track subdivision (a) by covering both possession of dried marijuana and maintenance (cultivation) of plants. Moreover, insofar as the right to possess marijuana is concerned, subdivision (b) contemplates a standard similar to the “reasonable amount” standard afforded under the CUA as construed by Trippet, supra, 56 Cal.App.4th 1542, 1549. That subdivision, however, imposes a substantial qualification on that right, not imposed by the CUA, by requiring a physician‟s recommendation that an eight-ounce allotment does not meet the person‟s medical needs.
The Court of Appeal further observed: “The Legislature‟s imposition of quantity limits in section 11362.77 . . . imposes a numeric cap [and the requirement of a physician‟s recommendation in order to possess more than eight ounces] where the CUA imposed none. Indeed, the Legislature itself recognized it had overstepped its bounds in imposing the cap. In 2004, Senator John Vasconcellos, who introduced the MMP, authored and introduced Senate Bill No. 1494. . . . [That bill] would have amended section 11362.77 by, among other things, deleting the eight-ounce and plant limits [and substituting a new subd. (a)] as follows: „A qualified patient, a person with an identification card, or any designated primary caregiver may possess any amount of marijuana consistent with the medical needs of that qualified patient or person with an identification card.‟ (Italics added.) [¶] In introducing Senate Bill No. 1494 . . .
by the Court of Appeal. The Attorney General, who petitioned for this court‟s review of the appellate decision, states at the outset of his opening brief: “Respondent does not contest the Court of Appeal‟s conclusion that section 11362.77 is unconstitutionally amendatory insofar as it limits an in-court CUA defense.” The Attorney General subsequently concludes that “application of section 11362.77‟s limits to the in-court CUA defense exceeds the boundaries of legislative power under article II, section 10, subdivision (c) . . . by replacing the CUA‟s „reasonableness‟ standard with specified, numeric guidelines.” Defendant, unsurprisingly, agrees with Attorney General in these respects.
The interpretation and application of article II, section 10, subdivision (c) adopted by the Court of Appeal and the parties — namely, that it prohibits an amendment that arguably merely clarifies an initiative statute by substituting seemingly reasonable, objective standards and restrictions, in place of a difficult-to-apply “reasonable amount” test — may at first blush seem to be overly strict. Indeed, as discussed below, a determination that a statute such as section 11362.77 is unconstitutional in this regard almost certainly would not be the conclusion reached by a court faced with similar legislation under the law of any other state. And yet, as explained below, the conclusion reached by the Court of Appeal and the parties is amply supported by, and indeed compelled by, not only the prior California cases that have discussed the initiative power and applied the foregoing constitutional provision, but also by the history of our state‟s initiative process.
In addition to California‟s Constitution (Cal. Const., art. II, §§ 8 & 10), those state constitutions include: Alaska Constitution, article XI; Arizona Constitution, article 4, part 1, section 1 (1) and (2); Arkansas Constitution, article 5, section 1; Colorado Constitution, article V, section 1 (1); Idaho Constitution, article III, section 1; Maine Constitution, article IV, part 3d, section 18; Massachusetts Constitution, amendment article XLVIII; Michigan Constitution, article II, section 9; Missouri Constitution, article III, section 49; Montana Constitution, article III, section 4; Nebraska Constitution, article III, section 2; Nevada Constitution, article 19, section 2; North Dakota Constitution, article III, section 1; Ohio Constitution, article II, sections 2.01, 2.01a, and 2.01b; Oklahoma Constitution, article 5, sections 1 and 2; Oregon Constitution, article IV, section 1 (2); South Dakota Constitution, article III, section 1; Utah Constitution, article VI, section 1; Washington Constitution, article II, section 1; Wyoming Constitution, article 3, section 52.
These states are: Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, and Utah.
See Alaska Constitution, article XI, section 6; Wyoming Constitution, article 3, section 52 (f).
See Nevada Constitution, article 19, section 2, paragraph 3 (moratorium on repeal and amendment for three years); North Dakota Constitution, article III, section 8 (moratorium on repeal and amendment for seven years, but the legislature may amend by two-thirds vote during that period); Washington Constitution, article II, section 1 (c) (moratorium on repeal and amendment for two years, but the legislature may amend by two-thirds vote during that period).
In order to illuminate the scope and effect of California‟s constitutional provision prohibiting the Legislature from amending an initiative adopted by the people, we describe below the history of the provision and of the various attempts and proposals to change it.
See Arizona Constitution, article 4, part 1, section 1 (6)(C) (three-quarters vote required); Arkansas Constitution, article 5, section 1 (two-thirds vote required); Michigan Constitution, article II, section 9 (three-quarters vote required).
See, e.g., Sullivan, Direct Legislation by the Citizenship Through the Initiative and Referendum (1893) pages 5-14; see generally Goebel, A Government by the People: Direct Democracy in America, 1890-1940 (2002) pages 31-33, and authorities cited (hereafter Goebel); Schmidt, Citizen Lawmakers: The Ballot Initiative Revolution (1989) pages 5-6; Dubois & Feeney, Lawmaking by Initiative, supra, at pages 46-70.
See Key and Crouch, The Initiative and Referendum in California (1939) pages 425-426 (recounting the efforts of Dr. John Randolph Haynes) (hereafter Key and Crouch); Goebel, supra, at pages 85-90 (same).
See, for example, the provisions of the Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, and South Dakota Constitutions, cited ante, footnote 30.
the majority view in the United States, allowing legislative amendment of statutes adopted by initiative.37 No matter how framed, however, each effort to create a statewide initiative power met the same fate: it failed to secure the necessary support of two-thirds of each house of the Legislature, and hence no such proposal was submitted to the electorate.
No. 6 (introduced Jan. 14, 1907, by Sen. Anthony, p. 2 [same]).
Sen. Black, p. 3 [proposing that “[a] statute adopted by direct vote of the people can be repealed or amended only by direct vote of the people”]); Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 9 (introduced Jan. 8, 1909, by Sen. Anthony, p. 2 [proposing that “[n]o measure adopted or approved by vote of the electorate shall be subject to veto, or be amended or repealed [except] by vote of the electorate”]); Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 11 (introduced Jan. 11, 1909, by Mr. Drew, p. 3 [same as Sen. Const. Amend. No. 6, introduced by Sen. Black]); see generally Hichborn, The Story of the Session of the California Legislature of 1909 (1909) pages 192-201 (colorfully describing the drafting and defeat of the 1909 proposals).
See Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 17, introduced January 31, 1907, by Mr. Davis, pages 1-2 (containing no provision limiting veto by Governor, or limiting legislative amendment of initiative measures); Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 25, introduced January 21, 1907, by Senator Caminetti, page 2 (same; and also providing — as in a number of other state constitutions (ante, fn. 32): “This section shall not be construed to deprive any member of the legislature of the right to introduce any measure”).
The drafters of the statewide initiative also departed from the approach that had been employed by the Legislature with respect to the use of the initiative and referendum at the county level. On April 3, 1911, the Legislature had approved former Political Code section 4058, providing for initiative and referendum ordinances by counties, and in doing so it had embraced the San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Michigan model, providing that “[t]he board of supervisors may submit to the people, without a petition therefor, a proposition for the repeal of any adopted ordinance or for amendments thereto . . . to be voted upon at any succeeding general or special election and if such proposition so submitted receive a majority of the votes cast thereon at such election, such ordinance shall be repealed or amended accordingly.” (Stats. 1911, ch. 342, § 1, p. 579; see also Stats. 1912, 1911 Ex. Sess. ch. 31, § 1, p. 127.) As observed ante, footnote 35, the Legislature subsequently reverted to the strict “Sacramento version” of the rule, permitting no amendment of a local (city or county) initiative unless that initiative itself so allows.
At the next legislative session, two proposed constitutional amendments were introduced, each of which endeavored to change the new initiative provision by, among other things, giving the Legislature authority to amend initiative statutes upon a supermajority vote of each house.39 Neither effort secured the necessary legislative support of two-thirds of each house, and hence neither proposal was submitted to the voters.
See Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 56, introduced February 3, 1913, by Senator Gates, pages 2-3, 7 (proposing to increase the number of signatures required for initiative statutes and constitutional amendments, and proposing to adopt a new subd. (j) to former art. IV, § 1, providing that any initiative law “may be repealed or amended by the legislature by three fourths of the members elected to each house”); Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 59, introduced February 3, 1913, by Mr. Clark (same).
See Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 11, introduced January 19, 1923, by Mr. Dozier (proposing to adopt a new § “1b” of former art. IV).
See Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 22, introduced January 23, 1925, by Mr. Cleveland, page 3 (proposing to amend former art. IV, § 1 to read: “[A]ll initiative laws which are now enforced or may hereafter be adopted by the people are subject to amendment by the legislature; provided, that the legislature shall not have the power to destroy the intent and purpose of the act or to cripple or prevent the carrying out of the provisions thereof”).
See Ballot Pamphlet, General Election (Nov. 5, 1946) argument in favor of Proposition 12, part I, page 12 (“It is uncertain under the wording of [former art. IV, § 1] whether a proposal to amend an initiative measure may be submitted by the Legislature to the people for their consideration”).
initiative, to become effective only when submitted to and approved by the electors.” (Stats. 1945, ch. 147, p. 3164, italics added.)47 The ballot argument in favor of Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 22, submitted to the voters as Proposition 12, explained that “adoption . . . will do away with our present cumbersome methods and will provide an orderly and responsible way in which amendments to initiative laws may be proposed, and at the same time preserve to the people their primary right to approve or reject all such measures.” (Ballot Pamp., Gen. Elec. (Nov. 5, 1946) argument in favor of Prop. 12, pt. I, p. 12, italics added.) The voters adopted Proposition 12 at the 1946 General Election.
section 1 — authority which, by virtue of its omission from California Constitution, former article IV, section 1, the Legislature assumed it did not possess.
The voters enacted both Proposition 16 (Gen. Elec., Nov. 2, 1948) and Proposition 7 (Gen. Elec., Nov. 7, 1950), but rejected Proposition 17 (Gen. Elec., Nov. 4, 1952).
See Ballot Pamphlet, General Election (Nov. 2, 1954) text of Proposition 7, part II, page 7 (amending the 1914 Land Title Law (Torrens Act) to add § 116, providing: “The Legislature may amend or repeal all or any part of this act at any time”).
As observed ante, footnote 33, by 1964 Michigan — which since 1909 had employed a similarly strict rule, and yet at the same time allowed the state legislature to at least propose to the electorate that an initiative statute be amended — had amended its own constitutional provision to allow legislative repeal or amendment of an initiative statute at any time, by a supermajority vote.
p. 3.) The proposal failed to secure the required two-thirds vote of each house, however, and hence no such measure was submitted to the voters.
In the 1966 General Election, the voters adopted Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 13 as Proposition 1-a, which relocated the initiative provisions to article IV, section 22 et seq. Revised article IV, section 24, subdivision (c) rephrased the former provision concerning repeal and amendment, without substantive change, to read as it does today: “The Legislature may . . . amend or repeal an initiative statute by another statute that becomes effective only when approved by the electors unless the initiative statute permits amendment or repeal without their approval.” Thereafter, following two more failed attempts to change the provision to allow amendment by the Legislature, without voter approval, of statutes adopted by initiative,56 the provision was renumbered in 1976, and remains today, as article II, section 10, subdivision (c).
With regard to the Constitution‟s initiative provisions, the California Constitution Revision Commission recommended two substantive changes to former article IV that the Legislature endorsed in Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 13 (as enrolled July 18, 1966). The first change lowered the number of signatures necessary to place a statutory initiative on the ballot, from eight percent of all votes cast for candidates for governor at the preceding gubernatorial election, to five percent of all such votes cast. (Proposed Revision, supra, pp. 43-44.) The second change removed the optional “indirect initiative” (that is, a petition to the Legislature, which then had the option to adopt the measure or to submit it, along with a competing measure, to the electorate).
Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 15, introduced January 24, 1973, would have required a two-thirds vote of the electorate for initiative constitutional amendments, and would have permitted legislative amendment of an initiative-enacted statute by a two-thirds vote of each house. (Id., at p. 2.) Assembly Constitutional Amendment No.
so amend the Constitution.58 But again, no such proposal has secured the necessary two- thirds vote of each house of the Legislature, and hence no such proposal has been submitted to the electorate.
L.Rev. 1037, 1067-1068 (recommending that the Legislature be afforded power to amend initiative statutes, but recognizing that such a rule would give initiative proponents “greater incentives to pursue constitutional initiatives rather than statutory initiatives for ordinary policies,” and hence recommending reforms to make constitutional initiatives more difficult); but see Speaker‟s Commission on the California Initiative Process, Final Report (Jan. 2002) page 23 (listing, as a matter “considered but not adopted,” a proposal to “[a]llow the Legislature and the Governor to amend a statutory initiative after a period of time without a confirming vote of the voters”); League of Women Voters of California, Action Policies and Positions (2008) page 2 (continuing to recommend — as originally adopted in 1984 and updated in 1999 — that “[a]pproval by the voters should be required for any changes made by the legislature in a statute adopted by initiative, unless the statute permits amendment without the approval of voters”).
Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 44, introduced January 5, 1984, would have allowed the Legislature to amend or repeal an initiative statute (1) by a two-thirds vote, if the initiative statute had been adopted within the prior six years; or (2) by a majority vote, if the amendment or repeal was enacted more than six years following adoption of the initiative statute. (Id., at p. 3.) Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 49, introduced May 13, 1996, was an omnibus measure that, among other things, would have permitted the Legislature to amend or repeal an initiative statute by a two-thirds vote, but only after a moratorium of six years following enactment of the initiative statute. (Id., at p. 20.) Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 39, as amended June 6, 1996, page 20, tracked, in relevant part, Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 49.
solely “by another statute that becomes effective only when approved by the electors” — unless “the initiative statute permits” such amendment explicitly.
merely propose the MMP and submit it to the electorate for approval. Instead, the Legislature adopted that scheme on its own, without seeking ratification by the electorate.
The problem with the Legislative Counsel‟s theory — and perhaps the reason that the Attorney General does not advance it in this court — is that subdivision (b) of section 11362.77 of the MMP does not truly “substantially” or “essentially” replicate the “reasonable amount” test of the CUA, as construed in Trippet, supra, 56 Cal.App.4th at page 1549. Instead, as alluded to ante, footnote 21, in two ways, the rights conferred by subdivision (b) of section 11362.77 fall significantly short of matching the rights established by the CUA.
First, on its face, subdivision (b) speaks only of the right to “possess” dried marijuana consistent with a patient‟s needs — it does not expressly track subdivision (a) by covering both possession of dried marijuana and maintenance (cultivation) of plants. Presumably, this limitation was intentional. The Legislature may have concluded that physicians would be able to estimate the amount of dried marijuana that a patient would need to possess for personal medical use, but would not be qualified to estimate the number of plants that a patient additionally would need to cultivate in order to maintain a regular supply for such use. In any event, in this respect, subdivision (b) of section 11362.77 addresses only part of what is covered by the CUA. Accordingly, even if a physician recommends under subdivision (a) of section 11362.77 that eight ounces is insufficient for a patient‟s needs, subdivision (b) of that section provides no similar “override” for the cultivation limitation (“six mature and 12 immature plants”), and hence, in this respect at least, the MMP clearly “takes away” from a right created by the CUA.
In light of the restricted scope of coverage provided by 11362.77, subdivision (b) (that is, its creation of an exception to the quantity limitations set forth in subdivision (a) for possession but not for cultivation), and in light of the added obligation this subdivision places upon a qualified patient‟s ability to argue that he or she possessed an amount of marijuana reasonably related to his or her medical needs (that is, the requirement of obtaining a physician‟s recommendation that the amount set forth in subdivision (a) is insufficient), we conclude that the MMP burdens, and “takes away” from, rights established by the CUA.
or simply make alterations that have been proved by experience to be warranted.61 And yet, as demonstrated by the history and case law set forth above, the flexibility to make desirable or even necessary adjustments to initiative statutes long has been, and remains, foreclosed by article II, section 10, subdivision (c), and its predecessor incarnations.
As observed earlier, beginning almost immediately after adoption of the initiative provision in 1911, and continuing through a number of efforts in recent decades, various proposals have been advanced, and legislative attempts have been made, to change California‟s constitutional system in order to bring the state in line with our sister jurisdictions. These efforts have aimed to eliminate the strict limitation on the power of the Legislature (or at least to moderate that power) by, for example, allowing amendments that “further the purpose” of the original initiative measure, or allowing amendments after a moratorium of years, or allowing amendments by a supermajority vote of both houses. And yet all such efforts have failed.
Over the course of the decades during which California has had the initiative process, the sole substantive alteration to the governing constitutional provision occurred in 1946, when it was changed to allow the Legislature at least to propose an amendment to an initiative statute, subject to ratification by the statewide electorate at the ballot. That minor adjustment to the strict rule of nonamendability highlights and reinforces the closely circumscribed limits of the Legislature‟s authority in this regard: the Legislature is powerless to act on its own to amend an initiative statute. Any change in this authority must come in the form of a constitutional revision or amendment to article II, section 10, subdivision (c). Therefore, we are compelled to conclude that section 11362.77 impermissibly amends the CUA and, as we explain below, is unconstitutional as applied in this case.
(together with its quantity limitations) is unconstitutional insofar as this statute burdens a defense otherwise available under the CUA, that court further held that section 11362.77 “must be severed from the MMP” and hence voided in its entirety. The Attorney General asserts that the Court of Appeal erred in imposing this remedy. Instead, the Attorney General argues, although section 11362.77 can have no effect insofar as it would burden a defense afforded by the CUA, in a defendant‟s attempt to establish that a quantity of marijuana possessed was reasonable for a person‟s current medical needs, the statute need not and should not be severed from the MMP and voided in its entirety. The Attorney General advocates that section 11362.77 should remain an enforceable part of the MMP, applicable to the extent possible — including to those persons who voluntarily participate in the program by registering and obtaining identification cards that provide protection against arrest. Defendant essentially agrees with the Attorney General in this respect.
We agree with the parties that the Court of Appeal below erred in concluding that section 11362.77 must be severed from the MMP and voided in its entirety.
The Court of Appeal provided no reason for its conclusion that section 11362.77 must be severed from the MMP and hence voided in its entirety — and we discern no principled basis for doing so. A determination that section 11362.77 is unconstitutional insofar as it might be applied in a manner that burdens a defense authorized by the CUA does not, in and of itself, require invalidation of the remaining aspects of this statute; there is no operational or functional reason for such a conclusion. Section 11362.77 continues to have legal significance, and can operate as part of the MMP, even if it cannot constitutionally restrict a CUA defense.
(1989) 48 Cal.3d 805, 821.) In this regard, and in view of the history set forth in our opinion in the present case, we are confident that the Legislature would have extended the severability provisions of section 11362.82 to include invalid applications of the MMP had it foreseen the circumstances here at issue.
Accordingly, although we disallow the invalid application of section 11362.77 — that is, insofar as the terms of the statute purport to burden a defense otherwise available to qualified patients or primary caregivers under the CUA — we conclude that the Court of Appeal erred in holding that section 11362.77 must be severed from the MMP and hence voided in its entirety.
individual, so long as he or she meets the definition of a patient or primary caregiver under the CUA, retains all the rights afforded by the CUA. Thus, such a person may assert, as a defense in court, that he or she possessed or cultivated an amount of marijuana reasonably related to meet his or her current medical needs (see Trippet, supra, 56 Cal.App.4th 1532, 1549), without reference to the specific quanitative limitations specified by the MMP.
its entirety. To the extent the judgment of the Court of Appeal purports to sever section 11362.77 from the MMP and to void this statute in its entirety, the judgment is reversed. In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed.
KENNARD, J. BAXTER, J. WERDEGAR, J. CHIN, J. MORENO, J. CORRIGAN, J.
Gloria C. Cohen and Gerald F. Uelman , under appointments by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.
Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorneys General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Donald E. De Nicola, Deputy State Solicitor General, Lawrence M. Daniels, Ana R. Duarte, Kristofer Jorstad and Michael R. Johnsen, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Robert E. Harris, in pro. per., for Proposition 215 as Amicus Curiae.
*Pursuant to California Constitution, article VI, section 21.

References: § 11362
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 § 1
 § 1
 § 1
 § 1
 § 1
 § 116