United States v. Harvey

In an order finding defendant in violation of his supervised release conditions based upon his use of marijuana, the Circuit Court held that "[w]hatever else 'order' might mean under § 844(a) of the Controlled Substances Act, it does not include a mere recommendation from a physician pursuant to the Compassionate Use Act."

Roshaja Harvey appealed an "order finding him in violation of his conditions of supervised release based upon his use of marijuana." Harvey argued that since he had a recommendation from a physician to use marijuana in the State of California under the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996, he was not in violation of the possession prohibition of the Federal Controlled Substances Act. The district court had revoked Harvey's term of supervised release for abuse of discretion. The Ninth Circuit agreed with the district court and in addition held: "Whatever else 'order' might mean under § 844(a) of the Controlled Substance Act, it does not include a mere recommendation from a physician pursuant to the Compassionate Use Act." AFFIRMED.