United States v. Casarez-Bravo, 181 F.3d 1074, 1077 (9th Cir.1999) (conviction of transportation of marijuana under California Health & Safety Code § 11360 cannot serve as a federal career offender predicate conviction, and is not an aggravated felony, because it can be committed for personal use).

United States v. Morales-Perez, ___ F.3d ___ (9th Cir. May 31, 2006) (federal crime of attempted possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell encompasses the California crime of purchasing cocaine base for purposes of sale, so conviction under California Health and Safety Code 11351.5 for possession or purchase of cocaine base with intent to distribute categorically qualifies as a predicate drug trafficking offense under the federal sentencing guidelines), withdrawing from prior decision United States v. Morales-Perez, 438 F.3d 971 (9th Cir. Feb. 22, 2006).

Leocal plus Booker: drug possession is not an aggravated felony. With the tenfold increase in illegal reentry prosecutions in the past decade, one of the most common, and frustrating, sentencing problems is the treatment of prior convictions for simple possession of drugs under U.S.S.G. 2L1.2. Under the guidelines, noncitizens receive an enhancement to offense level 16 for having a conviction that is an "aggravated felony" under the Immigration and Nationality Acts definitional section, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43).

A federal conviction of Interstate Travel in Aid of Racketeering, in violation of 18 U.S.C.

Lopez v. Gonzales, 417 F.3d 934 (8th Cir. Aug. 9, 2005) (South Dakota felony offense of simple possession of marijuana is an aggravated felony for immigration purposes, even though the offense would be a misdemeanor under federal law), accord United States v. Hernandez-Avalos, 251 F.3d 505, 510 (5th Cir.2001); but see Cazarez-Gutierrez v. Ashcroft, 382 F.3d 905, 910-11 (9th Cir.2004).
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/8th/042397p.pdf

Supp. 2d ___, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7676 (N.D. Ill. April 11, 2005) (Illinois conviction of possession of less than 15 grams of a substance containing cocaine found not to be an aggravated felony because conviction would have been only a misdemeanor if prosecuted in federal court), following Cazarez-Gutierrez v. Ashcroft, 382 F.3d 905, 912 (9th Cir. 2004); Gerbier v. Holmes, 280 F.3d 297 (3d Cir. 2002); Aguirre v. INS, 79 F.3d 315 (2d Cir. 1996), and rejecting rule of Matter of Yanez-Garcia, 23 I. & N. Dec. 390, 396 (BIA 2002).

Gonzales-Gomez v. Achim, ___ F.Supp.2d ___ (N.D. Ill. April 11, 2005) (Illinois conviction of possession of cocaine, considered a felony under 720 ILCS 570/402(a), did not constitute a drug trafficking aggravated felony because it would have been no more than a misdemeanor conviction if prosecuted in federal court), following Cazarez-Gutierrez v. Ashcroft, 382 F.3d 905 (9th Cir. 2004); Gerbier v. Holmes, 280 F.3d 297 (3d Cir. 2002); Aguirre v. INS, 79 F.3d 315 (2d Cir. 1996); declining to follow Matter of Yanez-Garcia, 23 I. & N. Dec. 390 (BIA 2002).

United States v. Garza-Lopez, ___ F.3d __, 2005 WL 1178061 (5th Cir. May 19, 2005) (California conviction for "[t]ransport/sell methamphetamine" under Cal.

The Ninth Circuits treatment of felony possession as an aggravated felony in illegal reentry cases is inconsistent with the rule in immigration cases.  This rule should be changed, because of the language in Leocal that the term aggravated felony should be interpreted consistently for both immigration and reentry purposes.

Gousse v. Ashcroft, 339 F.3d 91 (2d Cir. August 6, 2003) (conviction under Conn. Gen. Stat. 21a-277(a) constitutes conviction for "illicit trafficking in a controlled substance" under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(B)).
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/024192p.pdf