Feds Can’t Spend More Prosecuting California Pot Growers

The U.S. Department of Justice is barred from spending any more congressionally appropriated funds to prosecute a pair of California growers who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, the Ninth Circuit affirmed Friday.

The district court correctly concluded that growers Andrew Pisarski and Sonny Moore were in compliance with state law when they entered into agreements to sell not-yet-harvested plants to two marijuana collectives at cost, Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote for the 2-1 panel.

Judge J. Clifford Wallace dissented. He said the court should have focused on the district court’s interpretation of California law, faulting the ...