San Francisco Examiner, 07 May 2013 – California High Court Says Municipalities Can Ban Medical Marijuana Dispensaries The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that cities and counties have the right to ban medical marijuana dispensaries within their borders, despite the existence of a state law that protects patients who use the drug.

Chico Enterprise-Record, 08 May 2013 – OROVILLE — With some stipulations, it is legal to cultivate marijuana in the unincorporated parts of Butte County, but there are rules growers have to follow that have nothing to do with cannabis. Tuesday, County Public Works Director Mike Crump told the Board of Supervisors that since it adopted a medical marijuana cultivation ordinance, his department has had a substantial upswing in illegal grading, particularly in the foothills around Concow, Feather Falls and Magalia.

Chico Enterprise-Record, 08 May 2013 – Cities and Counties Should Have the Right to Ban Medical Marijuana Dispensaries, As the State Supreme Court Affirmed Monday. Marijuana advocates have chalked up victories in places like Colorado and Washington state, but in California – the first state to pass a law allowing medical marijuana use – smaller losses keep piling up since voters approved Proposition 215 nearly 17 years ago.

The Sonoma Index-Tribune, 07 May 2013 – Statistics rarely reveal the entire truth about anything, and numbers can be compiled and interpreted to confirm different conclusions from the same set of facts. But that caveat notwithstanding, virtually any statistical analysis of the war on drugs leads to an inescapable conclusion: It has been a hopeless failure.

Appeal-Democrat, 07 May 2013 – Restrictions on medical marijuana cultivation may become a permanent piece of Yuba City’s municipal code tonight if City Council members approve an ordinance that has been in development for more than a year. Under the regulation, people growing medical marijuana in their homes are required to install security fences and carbon infiltration systems that reduce the smell. Plants must be trimmed so they are hidden from public view, and growers are required to register with the city.

The Bakersfield Californian, 07 May 2013 – The state supreme court ruling on medical marijuana dispensaries was not a defeat for the pot shop movement, a leading attorney said here Monday, but a setback. Phil Ganong, an attorney representing several medical marijuana collectives in Kern County, said the ruling does not invalidate his pending cases against a law passed by voters in 2012.

Los Angeles Times, 07 May 2013 – The State Supreme Court Unanimously Rules That Local Cities Can Rezone Cannabis Shops Out of Existence. SAN FRANCISCO – The California Supreme Court gave local governments the power Monday to zone medical marijuana dispensaries out of existence, a decision that upholds bans in about 200 cities but does little to solve Los Angeles’ years-long struggle to regulate hundreds of storefront pot outlets.

New York Times, 07 May 2013 – COURT UPHOLDS BAN ON MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES The California Supreme Court on Monday upheld the right of local governments to ban medical marijuana dispensaries. As dispensaries have proliferated since 1996, when California became the first state to allow medical marijuana, many municipalities across the state have used zoning laws to prohibits dispensaries from opening inside city limits. Patients and dispensary owners have argued that these local laws violate the state medical marijuana statutes by reducing patients’ access to the drug. But the court unanimously upheld a ban in the City of Riverside, paving the way for more municipalities to prohibit marijuana dispensaries. – — MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom

San Diego Union Tribune, 03 May 2013 – Regarding your May 2 editorial, "How to end the battle over marijuana": If health outcomes determined drug laws, marijuana would be legal and there would be no medical marijuana debate. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Marijuana can be harmful, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

Washington Post, 07 May 2013 – (AP) – The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that cities and counties can ban medical marijuana dispensaries, a decision likely to further diminish the network of storefront pot shops and fuel efforts to have the state regulate the industry. In a unanimous opinion, the court held that California’s medical marijuana laws – the nation’s first and most liberal – neither prevent local governments from using their land-use powers to zone dispensaries out of existence nor grant authorized users convenient access to the drug.