Pubdate: Wed, 14 Mar 2012
Source: Desert Sun, The (Palm Springs, CA)
Copyright: 2012 The Desert Sun
Contact: http://local2.thedesertsun.com/mailer/opinionwrap.php
Website: http://www.mydesert.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1112
Note: Does not accept LTEs from outside circulation area.
Author: Blake Herzog

RANCHO MIRAGE MARIJUANA DISPENSARY SCORES WIN IN LEGAL FIGHT

Lawyers for Rancho Mirage, Collective Say They Don't Expect Ruling
Will Result in Facility Opening Soon

Rancho Mirage - A Riverside County judge Tuesday nudged a medical
marijuana dispensary one step closer to doing business within the city.

The decision adds another wrinkle to the issue of medical marijuana in
California. It also further complicates the 18-month battle between
the city of Rancho Mirage and Desert Heart Collective.

"One day the law favors the city, the next it's against the city,"
Rancho Mirage City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said Tuesday.

The collective is seeking a certificate of occupancy, which is
necessary to obtain a business license from the city.

On Tuesday, Judge Randall White, working out of the Larson Justice
Center in Indio, ruled that Rancho Mirage cannot deny the collective's
request on the grounds that it would put the city in conflict with
federal law.

Even so, each side acknowledged that regardless of White's decision it
may be some time before the collective actually opens for business in
Rancho Mirage.

"The court ruled today we have to process their certificate of
occupancy, which is a big difference from allowing them to open,"
Quintanilla said.

He said the city will process the certificate once White signs the
order, but there are other grounds on which the city could ultimately
decline to issue the certificate or a business license, such as local
zoning laws or whether the dispensary is operating according to state
regulations.

Nathan Shaman is the attorney for Desert Heart Collective, which
briefly operated a storefront dispensary in Rancho Mirage before it
was shut down by a city moratorium approved in September 2010.

White, though, threw out the moratorium this past October.

Shaman said he expects there to be another court clash between the
dispensary and the city over the certificate of occupancy, which the
dispensary applied for in October in its second attempt to open
legally in the city.

"It's pretty clear from the way Steve Quintanilla was arguing the case
that we can expect the city to try to throw up a lot more roadblocks,
particularly based on all kinds of technicalities, and that's not very
surprising to me," Shaman said.

Nonetheless, Shaman called White's decision "a very important ruling
because it should demonstrate to the city they're running out of
obstacles they can put up."

White has ruled in favor of the dispensary before.

In October, he threw out the city's ban, ruling that it was was
unconstitutional under the state's voter-approved medical marijuana
law.

Quintanilla said that since then three cases were appealed to the
Second District Court of Appeals offering arguments like those put
forth by Rancho Mirage.

Each case has won the appellate court's favor.

But these cases are set for review by the state Supreme Court, which
means they can't be cited as precedent until the higher court renders
an overarching ruling.

It could take up to a year for the Supreme Court to decide these
cases.

Desert Heart Collective sued in January 2011 after the City Council
voted to ban all dispensaries in the city, leaving Palm Springs the
only Coachella Valley city to allow a limited number of dispensaries
to operate legally.

The collective opened a storefront dispensary in the summer of 2010
after its first application for a certificate of occupancy was
rejected by Rancho Mirage.

It shut down that September after the city adopted a moratorium on all
dispensaries.

At that time case law seemed to favor dispensaries, and after adopting
the moratorium the City Council drafted an ordinance that would have
allowed limited dispensary operations.

But it never came to a vote - shelved in favor of the
ban.

White also ruled Tuesday the dispensary must produce documents to back
the $2 million in damages it seeks from the city, rejecting a motion
from the collective to cut the damages to what was accumulated during
the time it was open.

The city has been trying to obtain the documents as evidence, and the
collective has resisted, invoking the right against
self-incrimination.

"We're very pleased with the minute order, because it's what we've
been seeking all along," Quintanilla said.

Shaman said he would have to consult with his clients on their next
move, because it would involve revealing whether the collective has
been operating a medical marijuana delivery service since the
storefront was shut down.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt