Dealers are trying to hide behind the Compassionate Use Act:

Half the calls to criminal defense attorney Ben Rice are people busted for growing, selling or using marijuana.

Rice has developed a reputation for protecting the rights of those who buy and sell the drug under the 10-year-old state law that makes marijuana legal for sick people.

While most of those seeking Rice’s services are legitimate medical marijuana patients or caregivers, he estimates 30 percent are not. These people aren’t sick, he says, and are simply trying to hide behind the Compassionate Use Act for recreational or profit-making reasons.

“Absolutely, no question about it, some people do take advantage of the law,” Rice said during an interview at his Soquel Avenue office. “There are some people who have no medical defense, and I tell them, ‘No.'”