The California Supreme Court this week denied Harris' appeal in People v. Colvin ( http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1595351.html ), in which the attorney general sought to uphold charges against a Hollywood-based dispensary operator. Harris had argued that every member of a collective -- the legal model under which medical marijuana dispensaries operate -- must "come together" in "some way" in order for the collective to enjoy legal protection.

The idea of forcing wheelchair-using AIDS and cancer patients to turn the dirt in order to enjoy their preferred medicine was a bit absurd, but it appeared Harris was serious about it. So both the seriously ill and healthy-looking young folk alike have the court to thank for keeping their hands clean (aside from the sticky, that is).

In this case, dispensary operator William Frank Colvin was driving a pound of marijuana from Hollywood Holistic Inc to a second dispensary he owned. He was denied a medical defense (and was prosecuted by Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who Harris defeated in the 2010 AG race), and was convicted because, the trial court found, "transportation had nothing to do with the cultivation process."

On appeal, an appeals court in February overturned his conviction, allowed the state's medical marijuana laws to be entered as a defense, and questioned Harris' "vague" definition of a collective.