Pubdate: Wed, 30 Nov 2011
Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright: 2011 Record Searchlight
Contact:  http://www.redding.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360
Author: Sean Longoria
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

DISPENSARY DEFENSE: LEGAL TEAM SEEKS RESTRAINING ORDER TO KEEP 
MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS OPEN

Two California attorneys representing a coalition of five Redding 
medical marijuana dispensaries will come before a Shasta County 
Superior Court judge today to seek a temporary restraining order to 
block the city's ban on the storefront operations.

Meanwhile, at least two dispensaries said this week they're shutting 
down and others are still trying to figure out what to do as the 
city's ban is set to begin Thursday.

Randall Rich, a Los Angeles-based attorney, and Berkeley attorney 
Alec Henderson filed a complaint with the court Tuesday seeking the 
restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the dispensary shutdown.

The restraining order would prevent the city from enforcing the ban 
until the hearing for an injunction, which is set for January.

Rich and Henderson are representing Trusted Friends, Safe Arbor, 
Herbs and Edibles, Northern Patients Group and Family Tree Care 
Center, the owners of those dispensaries and their patients.

Rich said Tuesday that Redding acted outside its jurisdiction by 
imposing the ban. The city has to act according to state law, which 
allows for medical use of marijuana and dispensaries, he said.

"When the city takes action it does so as a political subdivision of 
the state," Rich said. "The city is not here to enforce federal law. 
The city is here to effectuate state law."

Redding also violated the due process rights of the dispensaries, 
their owners and patients with the short deadline imposed on them 
through the ban, the complaint alleges. The Redding City Council 
approved the urgency ordinance imposing the ban Nov. 15. Those 
dispensaries had less than two weeks to comply with the ban, 
considering the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the complaint.

Redding City Attorney Rick Duvernay said he believes the court 
shouldn't issue a temporary restraining order, but if it does the 
city will ask that dispensaries abide by the city permits they held 
before the ban was imposed.

And if the court does issue the restraining order it will apply only 
to the five dispensaries listed as plaintiffs, Duvernay said.

"Our expectation is if they're not part of the lawsuit, they don't 
get the benefits of the lawsuit either," he said of the dispensaries 
that didn't join the lawsuit.

Rich said Duvernay's statement is likely correct.

"Generally, I believe only the people who assert their legal rights 
get the benefit of a ruling like that," Rich said.

Assistant City Attorney Barry DeWalt will represent Redding in court 
today since Duvernay is named as a defendant in the case, he said.

The complaint comes two weeks after the City Council unanimously 
approved the ban on dispensaries, requiring them to shut down by Thursday.

The ban follows a 2nd District Court of Appeal ruling in October that 
efforts by officials in Long Beach to dictate which collectives can 
operate and which cannot go far beyond Prop. 215.

State law merely creates a defense from criminal prosecution for 
people using medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, the court ruled.

Federal law, which considers all marijuana illegal, pre-empts any 
local efforts to regulate production and distribution of the 
substance, the court ruled.

Duvernay has said that ruling strips Redding of its power to regulate 
medical marijuana dispensaries and the city has made it clear it 
doesn't want unregulated dispensaries.

Today's hearing before Judge Stephen Baker is set for 8:30 a.m. in 
Department 3 at the Shasta County Courthouse.

Baker shot down the city of Anderson's request last week for a 
temporary restraining order to close a dispensary operating despite 
the ban on such businesses, according to the Anderson Valley Post. 
The city didn't show adequate cause for the restraining order, the 
paper reported.

The Friendly Corner Collective on Hartnell Avenue and River Valley 
Collective on Placer Street already have decided to close, dispensary 
employees said this week.

"(The city) asked us to close, so we're closing," said Jerilyn 
Garcia, co-owner of the River Valley Collective.

River Valley has about 4,000 members but on average sees about 150 to 
200 regular patients per month, she said. Those numbers are typical 
of other dispensaries in Redding, Garcia said.

The Hampton Collective in Mission Square on Bechelli Lane was evicted 
at the end of last month after Redding contractor Bobby Martin, who 
owns the space, received a letter from the federal government 
threatening action against landlords who rented to collectives.

Karyn Wilbur, director of the Redding Wellness Collective on Churn 
Creek Road, said she's waiting to decide what to with the dispensary 
until any court battles over the city's ban play out.

"It's not that I'm not sure what I'm going to do; I'm not sure what 
the feds are going to do," she said Monday. "Their plans change daily 
and I can't make a plan when they're baiting and switching."

Wilbur, who opened Redding Wellness Collective in August 2009, said 
the ban will hurt the patients, the dispensary owners and employees 
and even the state. She estimated her annual sales tax payments to 
the state at $40,000, her single largest bill.

"It's trickling down through the community," she said. "Everybody is 
losing something here."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom