Pubdate: Tue, 07 Dec 2010
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2010 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: John F. Hill
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

WILDOMAR MARIJUANA DISPENSARY WILL STAY OPEN, FOR NOW

A judge on Monday denied Wildomar's attempt to shut down a storefront 
medical marijuana collective operating despite the city's ban on dispensaries.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark E. Johnson denied the 
city's request for a temporary restraining order. The order would 
have closed the facility while a judge decides whether the city has 
the right to ban dispensaries.

Wildomar Patients Compassionate Group opened a dispensary last week 
in a building on Mission Trail. The group has sued Wildomar to stay 
open, arguing the ban contradicts state laws that protect safe access 
to medical marijuana.

Both sides will be back in court Dec. 20.

The collective's attorney, J. David Nick, said the court's decision 
showed the law favored his client.

"I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that these total bans are 
illegal and that the courts are not going to allow them," Nick said.

Wildomar has prohibited dispensaries since it became a city in 2008. 
In September, the City Council voted 3-1 against an ordinance that 
would have allowed them.

City Manager Frank Oviedo said he wasn't surprised Wildomar failed to 
get the restraining order. The legal bar -- proving the city would 
have suffered irreparable damage if the dispensary remained open -- 
was too high, he said.

The collective's request to immediately halt the city's ban was also 
denied, Oviedo said.
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