In 2017, defendant Richard Langley plead guilty to possession of child pornography (per 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B)) in federal court.  He was sentenced to time served (56 days) with ten years of supervised release (i.e., probation).  The conditions of Langley’s supervised release included that he “not commit [a] federal, state or local crime,” “not illegally possess a controlled substance,” and “refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance.”  It is a statutory requirement under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 3583(d)) that these conditions be imposed. Defendant accepted these conditions (the alternative being that he stay in jail) despite being prone to smoking a little doobie once in a while.  He claimed that smoking marijuana was necessary for him in order to alleviate the pain he felt from a previous amputation of his right leg below the knee; the result of a motorcycle accident.  Sometime that same year, defendant returned to the federal district court and asked that his supervised release conditions be amended to permit him to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, as was then allowed under California law.  Marijuana possession and use still being illegal under federal law, his motion was denied.  In 2020, defendant renewed his motion, coming to court this time with a physician’s report opining that marijuana was the best medical solution to his pain issues.  His motion was denied again.  Defendant appealed from this denial.