Can you use medical marijuana as an inmate in a Pennsylvania jail or prison? [Lancaster Watchdog]

• By Dan Nephin/LNP | LancasterOnline

Angie Milanes called LNP | LancasterOnline last month to say that her boyfriend, Alberto Guzman Garcia, has a medical marijuana prescription but Lancaster County Prison is not allowing him to have the drug.

Milanes said Guzman Garcia, 38, uses marijuana for his anxiety. He has been in prison since June 27 after pleading guilty in Lancaster County Court to illegally possessing a gun stemming from a September 2022 arrest in Lancaster in which he fired a gun during a confrontation with another person, according to court records. He’s not allowed to have a gun because of a 2007 robbery conviction in Connecticut.

The Watchdog was wondering: Medical marijuana is legal in Pennsylvania, so why isn’t Guzman Garcia allowed to take his?

Turns out, there’s a straightforward answer for incarcerated people: The state’s 2016 Medical Marijuana Act prohibits it.

The relevant language reads: 

“This act does not permit any person to engage in and does not prevent the imposition of any civil, criminal or other penalty for the following:

“Possessing or using medical marijuana in a State or county correctional facility, including a facility owned or operated or under contract with the Department of Corrections or the county which houses inmates serving a portion of their sentences on parole or other community correction program.”

Ditto for youth detention centers.

Things get a little more interesting for people under court supervision — think probation and parole, or treatment courts, including veterans court and drug court, which are voluntary and can allow participants breaks on their criminal charges upon successful completion.

In a case that went to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Lebanon County sought to preclude people on probation from using medical marijuana. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania sued on behalf of three people, and in June 2020, the court unanimously ruled the policy was unlawful under the Medical Marijuana Act.

Despite the state high court’s seemingly clear ruling on the matter, the ACLU is battling a similar case in Berks County. In June 2023, the ACLU sued Berks on behalf of an Iraq War combat veteran who uses medical marijuana to control his service-related post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain. The suit challenges the county’s ban or limitation on participating in certain treatment court programs for medical marijuana users.

Sara Rose, an ACLU attorney involved in the suit, said the case is pending.

In Lancaster County, people on probation and parole or in treatment court are allowed to use medical marijuana.

“However, use is closely monitored, a baseline is established and strict requirements are imposed on any participant who obtains a properly issued card,” President Judge David Ashworth said in an email last month. “If it becomes clear a participant is abusing marijuana, we address it on a case-by-case basis.”

Going forward

Could things change? Could medical marijuana someday be allowed in jails and prisons?

It doesn’t appear to be on anyone’s radar at the moment.

“The issue we have is that marijuana is still illegal under federal law. A comparable type of medication would be medication for opioid use disorder, like Suboxone. There’s a lot of organizations, including the ACLU, that are fighting to allow people in jails and prisons access to (medications for opioid use disorder) like Suboxone,” Rose said.

Medications to treat opioid use disorder are permissible in state prisons and at Lancaster County Prison, following expansion of a pilot program in 2022. 

“The difference between that and medical marijuana is that Suboxone and similar drugs are legal under federal law. (The) federal Americans with Disabilities Act protects people who are recovering from drug addiction, people who are in recovery from substance use disorders,” Rose said.

The Watchdog followed up with Milanes this week and she said she’s since learned that medical marijuana isn’t legally allowed in prisons, but appreciated The Watchdog having looked into the matter.

She said Guzman Garcia expects to move to a state prison soon to begin serving the remainder of his sentence of 3½ to 7 years.