Pubdate: Mon, 08 Aug 2011 Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) Copyright: 2011 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: Alicia Robinson, The Press-Enterprise POT DISPENSARIES TRY TO BLOCK CITY ENFORCEMENT An attorney for four medical marijuana dispensaries in Riverside has filed several lawsuits to pre-empt any city attempts to close the facilities. It's similar to the strategy Riverside City Attorney Greg Priamos has been using against dispensaries for more than a year. He's been filing requests for injunctions to ask judges to shutter dispensaries, on the grounds that city zoning bans them. James DeAguilera, a former Loma Linda planning director and attorney who represents more than a dozen Inland dispensaries, said last week that he requested injunctions to block Riverside from enforcing the zoning code against his clients. Such lawsuits against the city have been rare, although Priamos said he has filed 15 suits against dispensaries to date. Some facilities have opted to close after receiving cease-and-desist letters, some have closed when the city filed a lawsuit, and others remain open, according to Priamos. "The city believes that it has the lawful right to control land uses within its jurisdiction and that would include a ban on dispensaries," Priamos said. DeAguilera contends that recent state appeals court decisions in two Colton cases suggest cities can't declare dispensaries a nuisance simply because they've passed zoning laws to ban them. "We don't think these (zoning) laws are legal," he said. "(Riverside's) ordinance is illegal, so we're asking to court to enjoin them from enforcing an illegal ordinance." DeAguilera filed suits on behalf of Iverson Caregiving, Wellness Pain and Management Center and The Closet Patient Care. He also represents Greenhouse Care Group, which the city filed a suit against in December; DeAguilera has filed a cross-complaint in that case. "I'm not just doing this in Riverside. I'm doing this in other cities as well," DeAguilera said. He also represents dispensaries in Colton, Moreno Valley, Fontana, Rialto, San Jacinto, Bloomington, Hesperia, Victorville and Crestline. None of the facilities he represents have closed their doors, regardless of any legal challenges, he said. "We're not just thumbing our nose at the law," DeAguilera said. "We're saying we don't think this law is constitutional and we're going to question it." Priamos said the city is preparing oral arguments on its test case, the injunction request it filed against the Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center. The injunction was granted in November but was stayed while the medical marijuana collective appealed. But even an appeals court ruling likely won't end that case. "I think we all acknowledge that at some point the California Supreme Court will intervene and set the law for the state," Priamos said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.