The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s medical marijuana registry system is constitutional and there’s no fundamental right to pot, arguing that access to marijuana isn’t so deeply rooted in national tradition “that neither liberty nor justice would exist if the right was sacrificed.”

The high court’s ruling Tuesday comes after a John Doe sued the Legislature, the governor and state health officials in 2015, arguing that the state’s medical marijuana registry and the fees to obtain a card threw up too many barriers to accessing medicine. The unidentified plaintiff said the system put in place in 2013 ran afoul of the 5th and 14th Amendments by violating his due process rights, forcing him to incriminate himself and allowing the state to unjustly enrich itself by charging for the cards — points that the justices disagreed with.

“We hold Nevada’s medical marijuana registry does not violate the United States Constitution’s Due Process, Equal Protection or Self-Incrimination Clauses,”the justices wrote in a unanimous opinion upholding a lower court decision.

Attorney Jacob Hafter, who represented the John Doe, said he planned to file a motion for rehearing but acknowledged it was a long shot that the high court would take it up. He said the court didn’t answer the question at the heart of the case.

“I made it very clear that what we were not asking for was a right to use marijuana,” he said of the ruling. “We were asking for them to enumerate a fundamental right — that we have the right to access the health care that our physicians recommend without undue government influence. There is no other health care at all that requires such hurdles by the government on the part of the patient.”

Nevada medical marijuana registry cards used to cost up to $75 a year, and the state had previously imposed numerous barriers to securing a card out of fear that cartels would hijack the marijuana market. That fee was reduced to a maximum of $50 and the process streamlined this session, amid concerns that the medical marijuana program would dwindle away because adults can now freely access recreational marijuana.

Under the new structure, patients who apply for a registry card can buy medical marijuana immediately under conditional approval, rather than waiting until they receive approval from the state. They also don’t need to attach a copy of their doctor’s recommendation to a seven-page, notarized application packet.

The advantage of having a medical marijuana card now is that pot purchased for medicinal use isn’t subject to the extra 10 percent excise tax applied to recreational marijuana.

In their ruling, Nevada justices pointed out that no court yet has recognized a fundamental right to use medical marijuana recommended by a doctor. They also noted that marijuana remains illegal under federal law and that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected some of the claims the plaintiff made.

With nearly half of states still banning medical marijuana, the justices said it would be imprudent for them to declare marijuana use a fundamental right at this time — something that would move the issue from the arena of public debate and legislative action and into the courts.

As for tracking the identities of marijuana patients, the court said the state had a legitimate interest in doing so because it aids in enforcing laws designed to curb drug abuse.

And justices said the registry doesn’t violate the 5th Amendment’s clause barring people from incriminating themselves because applying for a medical marijuana card is completely voluntary. They cited a case in which students sued because they were required to sign up for the draft to apply for financial aid; a court ruled the government was within its rights to make students affirm they enrolled in the Selective Service because they could choose to seek financial aid benefits or not.

Hafter said the government doesn’t need to interfere with patients filling their doctor’s recommendation, and any regulation needed to control the flow of medical marijuana can be imposed on the dispensary. The hurdles are even less necessary now that any adult can buy recreational marijuana in Nevada.

“That is a deeply entrenched right in our history. This is the only area where the government requires patients who’ve already been seen by a doctor to pay money to the government and get on a list and get their permission before they’re allowed to get the care the doctor recommends,” he said. “There’s absolutely no legitimate government interest in the registry now that people can go into the same dispensaries and get the same marijuana, without having to be on the registry, for recreational use.”

Nevada Supreme Court Ruling - Constitutionality of Medical Marijuana Registry by Michelle Rindels on Scribd