5/8/13 Ca Supreme Court Affirms Bans On Disps

[pic book]

WA and CO got to pot; CA not so much!

[cristinew]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The California Supreme Court dealt a blow to the state's faltering medical-marijuana industry on Monday by ruling that local governments may outlaw dispensaries that sell the federally banned drug.

The unanimous opinion, which comes as elected officials across the nation grapple with regulating a growing medical pot industry, upheld a ban the southern California city of Riverside enacted on pot shops in 2010.

California's highest court concluded that nothing in California law preempts the authority of the state's cities and counties from using their authority to "allow, restrict, limit, or entirely exclude facilities that distribute medical marijuana."

The case pitted Riverside against the Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center, a medical-pot dispensary it has sought to shut down. The decision allows the city to use its power to shutter all marijuana stores.

California became the first state in the nation to approve medical marijuana 17 years ago, but some residents have complained that pot stores blight their neighborhoods. Court papers show more than 180 California cities and counties have imposed bans on marijuana dispensaries.

The seven justices agreed with Jeffrey Dunn, the city of Riverside's attorney, who argued in oral arguments on the case in February that California legislation on medical pot in no way diluted local governments' ability to regulate land use.

The dispensary's attorney, J. David Nick, had argued that a 2003 law setting out rules governing medicinal pot, as well as subsequent amendments, directed municipalities to regulate, not prohibit, dispensaries.

In Monday's decision, the justices described state laws as "incremental steps toward freer access to medical marijuana." But they said the law did not "mandate that local jurisdictions permit such activities."

The District of Columbia and 18 states currently allow pot as medicine. Washington state and Colorado legalized it for recreational use in November, though federal law continues to classify cannabis as an illegal narcotic.

The conflicting state and federal laws have set up confrontations in some states that allow medical marijuana. U.S. prosecutors in California began using civil-forfeiture laws last year to threaten to seize properties in which dispensaries operate, forcing scores of evictions and dispensary shutdowns.

After the federal government cracked down on the world's largest dispensary, the city of Oakland sued the government in an effort to allow Harborside Health Center to continue selling marijuana to its 100,000 patients.

Steve DeAngelo, director of Harborside, bemoaned Monday's ruling. "The court's decision will force patients to obtain cannabis from gangs and cartels instead of from licensed dispensaries, needlessly exposing those patients, and the communities they live in, to potential harm," he said.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Richard Chang)

[+Malamute]

Steve DeAngelo, director of Harborside, bemoaned Monday's ruling. "The court's decision will force patients to obtain cannabis from gangs and cartels instead of from licensed dispensaries, needlessly exposing those patients, and the communities they live in, to potential harm," he said.

 

 

Or caregivers, or co-ops, etc....

[GanjaWarrior]

Or caregivers, or co-ops, etc....

you might be confusing here and there...in some communities in cali what you call a co-op, is what they call a disp. either way its a hardship on pts that's not needed. I do think this is more proof of gmobamas tyranny. its obvious by this ruling the disp are legal in cali, up to the cities to say otherwise.

[+Malamute]

You are right.

 I should have said caregivers, collectives, etc.

 

Dispensaries are not legal in California, but would fall under "co-op" if run properly. :-)

 

Californias law is kinda a mess actually.

 

http://www.ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/pdfs/n1601_medicalmarijuanaguidelines.pdf

[HempHero]

It's sad to see the most developed medical state in the country still faces such hardships. Nothing short of a unified effort nation wide is needed to oppose the federalies

[+Malamute]

This wasn't even a federal issue. This was the STATE supreme court. ;-)

[HempHero]

This wasn't even a federal issue. This was the STATE supreme court. ;-)

It's what it represents chum.

[GanjaWarrior]

This wasn't even a federal issue. This was the STATE supreme court. ;-)

i always wonder about your gleeful approach to others suffering..... yes it was the sate court, yes they affirmed the right for places to ban disp..... thanks to gmobammers push.....

 

as a side not to all those who kept screaming that obammer was raiding illegal disp....um see how wrong you were.

Edited May 15, 2013 by GanjaWarrior

[mibrains]

i cleaned this thread about CA law up and removed some posts that were drifting off topic.

 

if any of the affected parties wish to discuss it please feel free to contact me via the PM system.

[SFC]

It is fine but you still missed one.