Medical marijuana advocates are gleeful following a change in state Department of Motor Vehicles policy that instructs agency workers they should treat medical marijuana the same as any other prescription drug when people try to renew their driver’s licenses.

The upshot: State drivers shouldn’t lose their licenses due to having recommendations from doctors for marijuana.

Kris Hermes, of Americans for Safe Access, credited a recent lawsuit for the switch. The lawsuit claimed the DMV took away the license of a 53-year-old Atwater woman due to her use of medical marijuana because she was deemed a habitual drug user. The case was never heard in court, and her license was reinstated in January.

State voters legalized marijuana for medical use through a 1996 proposition.