A California appellate court ruled Thursday that state legislators overstepped their bounds in 2003 by limiting the amount of marijuana that patients could possess for medical purposes.

The unanimous opinion by Los Angeles’ 2nd District Court of Appeal said legislators acted unconstitutionally when they passed a statute that effectively amended Proposition 215 — also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 — to allow patients a maximum 8 ounces of dried pot and six mature or 12 immature marijuana plants at any given time.