Local law-enforcement officials have not yet taken a firm stance on how they will deal with legal users of medical marijuana in light of conflicting state and federal laws.

An amendment to the state constitution approved by Colorado voters in November allows people with debilitating medical conditions such as HIV, cancer, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma to carry a license permitting them to have up to two ounces of marijuana or six plants — three of them mature.

However, in May the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there is no legitimate medical use for marijuana, thus establishing federal law in opposition to that of Colorado state law.

Local officials say they aren’t sure how to handle persons who possess marijuana and also have a state-issued license for the drug.

"At this point I really don’t know," said Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane. "That’s one of those things where the state passes a law and then they don’t give anybody any guidance. Until somebody rules it one way or another, I think we’re hanging out there in the middle of nowhere. I guess that’s something the DA would have to tell us what he wanted to have done with it."

District Attorney Joe Olt said his first priority is to uphold state law and he will have to address the federal issue on a case-by-case basis.

"I hate to say that we’ll never charge it," Olt said. "It is my discretion, of course, to turn it over to the feds. In some cases I would imagine we would do that."

Olt said that unless an individual who is permitted to use marijuana is doing something illegal in addition to possession of marijuana, he or she will probably be safe from prosecution.

"If they’re not involved in any other type of illegality no one would probably ever know. But I’m trying to warn people that if they’re doing something wrong besides just using marijuana for medical purposes, they’re going to get caught doing it, and theygoing to get punished for it."

The state began issuing cards to medical-marijuana users on June 1, and as of this week, 22 cards had been issued and more were pending application verification, according to Gail Kelsey of the Colorado Department of Health and Environment in Denver. Because of confidentiality reasons Kelsey could not release information specific to Montezuma County.

A card applicant must submit information about his or her medical illness, accompanied by a signed statement from a physician stating that marijuana use would be beneficial in easing the patient’s symptoms.

Local physician and medical director of hospice care Dr. Leonard Cain said some locals have likely submitted applications in an effort to obtain a license.

"I’ve been asked to write a letter (to the state) by a couple of patients who have used it (marijuana) and found it to be beneficial," Cain said. "I didn’t exactly state that I recommended it, but I stated that the patient had found it beneficial and I saw no reason they shouldn’t be using it."

Cain said determining the benefits of marijuana for medical purposes is somewhat subjective.

"It has to do with how they feel and nothing I can really observe on examination. I can’t be too clear about the benefit other than what they tell me, but that’s the case with many things."

As in the case with treating depression with medication, often doctors have to rely on what the patient says is or is not helpful, Cain said.

"We have to make judgments like that all the time."

Although the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes is now legal in the state, there is no way to obtain the drug legally. It is not carried by pharmacists, nor are doctors allowed to possess marijuana, so patients are left with the predicament of obtaining the drug through alternative means.

Additionally, patients using marijuana will also be faced with the problem that the drug can be detected by tests in the body for a month or more, muddling the determination of driving under the influence of drugs.

"Even though you might be entitled to use marijuana for medicinal purposes under this statute, it not an affirmative defense to driving under the influence of drugs," said Montezuma County Court Judge Chris Leroi.

Patients who travel out of state may also be confronted with laws that contradict Colorado’s, as well as the fact that crossing state borders with marijuana is considered a federal crime — drug-trafficking.

Leroi said he expects that there will have to be a test case to draw the lines more clearly between the state and federal laws.

"For the issue to even come before the court, someone will have to be charged with it and bring it as a defense," Leroi said. "I think probably what’s going to have to happen is that they’ll have to litigate that amendment with the attorney general’s office and see if the constitutional amendment to allow marijuana for medicinal purposes has to be struck down as a result of federal statute."

Leroi added that he did not envy local law officers when it came to making judgment calls if they come across someone who has the card.

"I think they totally have the authority under the U.S. Supreme Court case to file charges, but it runs straight in the face of voters," he said.

In the event that an officer does come across an individual with the card, the officer can call the state’s central registry to verify the validity of the license.

Illegal possession of marijuana in the state of Colorado is considered a petty offense resulting in a $100 fine, $100 drug surcharge and no jail time. However, under federal law, the penalties are much more stringent, Leroi said.