The state Supreme Court’s
decision upholding local governments’ right to ban medical marijuana
dispensaries left pro-marijuana advocates to rely on legislative action
to ensure patients access to marijuana.

Although the court recognized the legality of medicinal marijuana
use, they did uphold the constitutional rights of the nearly 200 cities
and counties throughout the state to ban dispensaries.

"I think the take-home from the court’s decision wasn’t a big
surprise, it just really underscored the need of the state to step up
and provide comprehensive regulations which is in everybody’s interest,"
said Tamar Todd, senior staff attorney with Drug Policy Alliance’s
legal affairs office in Berkeley. "The patients need access. Law
enforcement needs clarity, and localities need help in regulating. "

The decision written by Justice Marvin R. Baxter, concluded by
saying, "Of course nothing prevents future efforts by the Legislature,
or by the people, to adopt a different approach. In the meantime
however, we must conclude that Riverside’s ordinances are not preempted
by state law. "

The decision was made in the case involving the city of Riverside and
medical marijuana dispensary Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness
Center, which questioned the city’s ordinance banning dispensaries.
Although the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 decriminalizes the use of
marijuana for medicinal purposes, it did not set up a legal system for distributing medical marijuana.

The Medical Marijuana Program, approved by the state Legislature in
2004, established a medical marijuana identification card program, but
does not require municipalities to allow dispensaries for patient
access.

Lanny Swerdlow, founder of Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness
Center, which has closed, is now working with the Brownie Mary
Democratic Club of Riverside – the first political party affiliated
cannabis club in the state, according to the club’s website.

"The name of the game is paying off politicians," Swerdlow said.
"Either with time, volunteering or money. We’re going to have to join
that game or be on the short end of the stick. "

Swerdlow also plans to work with Americans for Safe Access and
legislators trying to enact legislation, such as Assemblyman Tom
Ammiano, D-San Francisco, who has authored a bill that would create a
regulatory agency under the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control. It would establish statewide standards for cultivation,
testing, manufacturing, transportation, distribution and sales of
medical marijuana and medical cannabis products.

The bill does not address the abilities of cities and counties to ban
dispensaries, but the assemblyman’s hope is the reassurance that
dispensaries can operate safely, legally and without threat to public
safety.

The intent is also to show the federal government that it is not
necessary for them to crack down on well-regulated and non-criminal
enterprises, according to a spokesman for Ammiano.

"It is Mr. Ammiano’s hope that by doing this he can take away a
great deal of the anxiety that some of the jurisdictions feel with
respect to allowing medical marijuana dispensaries," said Carlos Alcala,
communications director in Ammiano’s office. The bill has made it
through its first committee.

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, has a
bill in front of the Senate that would protect operators of medical
marijuana dispensaries that meet security standards set by the state
attorney general from being prosecuted for marijuana possession or
sales.

Scott Chipman, co-chair for Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana in
Southern California, said his group will continue to push back against
pro-marijuana groups attempting to get marijuana legalized for
recreational use.

"We know that there are many people in California that are addicted
both chemically and financially to marijuana," he said. "We’re going to
continue our efforts to keep marijuana illegal and to convince the
citizens of California, marijuana is harmful and should not be
legalized. "

Chipman said he does expect pro-marijuana groups to push for legislation and legalization despite the Supreme Court’s decision.

"Is this issue over? No," he said. "I think we’re just right in the
middle. This decision marks a turning point because over 90 percent of
the cities and counties in California have already passed or are
prohibiting dispensaries. "

Chipman said he does not believe localities will reverse their bans
because they have seen the impact dispensaries have on the community.

"So they all think and see what they are and how they operate and
made the decision they’re a public nuisance and health hazard risk for
public safety and the health and welfare of citizens of their cities and
counties," he said.

Jack Pitney, a politics and government professor at Claremont McKenna
College, said the real solution would have to come at the federal
level.

"Whatever else California does, possession is still a federal crime.
And as long as it’s a federal crime its legal status is questionable,"
Pitney said.

Pitney said medical marijuana legalization on the federal scale would
be unlikely to pass a Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

"This administration seems to put less emphasis on prosecution, but
that could change with another attorney general or another president, so
the settlement of the issue involves federal government, not states or
localities," he said.

The state Public Health Council unanimously approved regulations
Wednesday for the medicinal use of marijuana, and those regulations will
go into effect May 24.

The Department of Public Health

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates took local U.S. Attorney (and rumored
Berkeley resident) Melinda Haag to task Wednesday for harassing Berkeley
Patients Group. The popular, permitted medical cannabis dispensary in
Berkeley faces federal forfeiture efforts from Haag yet again, leading
to a press conference yesterday where town leaders defended the Better
Business Bureau member and ripped on the U.S. Attorney.

• David Downs
• BPG’s location on San Pablo – not much to seize, Ms. Haag

Haag said she is going after BPG because preschools exist in the area
of the dispensary at 2366 San Pablo Ave. She said in statement:

Several dozen protesters gathered in downtown Berkeley Wednesday
afternoon to fight federal action against one of California’s oldest
medical marijuana dispensaries, targeted for closure by the Justice
Department.

"The Obama administration’s ongoing war against patients is
despicable and has to stop," Steph Sherer, executive director of
Americans for Safe Access, told the crowd. "This is a mean, vindictive
move aimed at shutting down one of the oldest and well-respected
dispensaries in the country."

U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag on Friday served pot shop Berkeley
Patients Group with a lawsuit that attempts to seize the property and
ultimately shut the business. Berkeley officials say the dispensary
provides significant benefits to the community.

"BPG has served as a national model of the not-for-profit,
services-based medical cannabis dispensary," Berkeley City Council
member Darryl Moore said in a resolution opposing the lawsuit.
"They have improved the lives and assisted the end-of-life transitions
of thousands of patients; been significant donors to dozens of other
organizations in our city; [and] shaped local, state and national
policies around medical cannabis."

Berkeley Patients Group received a letter from Haag last year,
claiming its location within 1,000 feet of a school broke state law. The
operation later relocated, and the lawsuit makes no mention of its
proximity to schools or violation of specific laws.

Dispensaries throughout northern California have received similar
legal threats from the U.S. attorney over the past few weeks. San
Francisco’s Hemp Center and seven pot shops in San Jose
all received letters warning of property seizures and prison sentences
should they not shut down. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is reportedly investigating a handful of other San Francisco dispensaries.

"This round of U.S. attorney threat letters is just the latest move
to undermine President Obama’s repeated pledges that his federal
government would respect state medical marijuana laws," Marijuana
Majority’s Tom Angell told The Huffington Post. "This is part of a
continuing effort to try to intimidate the legal marijuana industry out
of existence."

California became the first state to legalize cannabis for medicinal
purposes when voters legalized Proposition 215 in 1996. Since then,
medical marijuana has flourished statewide, generating upwards of $100
million in annual tax revenue.

But marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Despite early
promises to ignore states that had legalized it, the Obama
administration launched an aggressive crackdown against California’s
cannabis operations in late 2011. Since then, hundreds of businesses
have been forced to close and thousands of jobs have been lost.

In a further blow to the industry, the California Supreme Court ruled on Monday that cities have the authority to ban dispensaries outright.

Angell said he believes the crackdown comes from bureaucrats within
the Justice Department who feel threatened by the growing national
acceptance of marijuana. Washington and Colorado legalized recreational use last fall.

"Whoever is coordinating these attacks in the federal law enforcement
apparatus is clearly terrified about what the increasing acceptance of a
legal and regulated marijuana trade means for the drug war bureaucracy
that employs them," Angell said.

A recent poll showed that a clear majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana if it would be taxed and regulated like alcohol.

Meanwhile, advocates said they hope to place a ballot measure
that would legalize pot for recreational use before California voters
in 2016. Elected officials, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, have expressed their support.

"It seems clear that California is on pace to legalize marijuana for
adult use," Angell said. "Hopefully more politicians will soon sense
which way the wind is blowing and get in front of this issue before
voters leave them behind."