Pubdate: Wed, 08 May 2013
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Greg Risling, Associated Press

POT SHOP CLOSES AFTER COURT RULING

State's High Court Says Local Laws Can Ban Dispensaries

LOS ANGELES - The owner of a Riverside medical marijuana dispensary 
who lost his appeal with the state Supreme Court said Tuesday he 
shuttered his shop as city officials vowed to close the remaining storefronts.

Lanny Swerdlow, who co-founded the Inland Empire Patient's Health and 
Wellness Center, said he will comply with the ruling that gave cities 
and counties the ability to ban pot shops.

"It's terribly disappointing, but I was expecting a negative 
decision," said Swerdlow, who estimates there were between 5,000 to 
6,000 people in his collective. "The ( state) Supreme Court said it's 
not legal, so I'm not going to do it anymore."

On Monday, the state's highest court provided the clearest guidance 
for California cities and counties on how to regulate a proliferation 
of pot shops that have cropped up over the past several years.

In Riverside, city officials said they will take immediate legal 
action and seek to obtain a permanent injunction against 10 clinics 
that remained open despite a city ordinance prohibiting such 
businesses. The city has closed more than 50 dispensaries.

"The community is done" with the dispensaries, Mayor Rusty Bailey 
said. "We've had continued calls from our constituents saying we 
don't feel safe in our neighborhoods. The bottom line is this is 
about local control."

Swerdlow's dispensary was a defendant in the case decided by the 
state Supreme Court. In trying to enforce its ban, Riverside 
officials used their zoning power to declare pot clinics as public nuisances.

Medical marijuana supporters have long argued a voter- approved state 
law that allows the drug's use trumps any city or county ban. But the 
state justices found California's medical marijuana laws don't 
prevent municipalities from using their local laws to prohibit 
dispensaries. About 200 municipalities in California have banned 
retail pot sales, according to estimates from the advocacy group 
Americans for Safe Access, while others were awaiting the Supreme 
Court decision before moving ahead with their own respective bans. 
David Vossbrink, a spokesman for San Jose's city manager, said the 
ruling had given the city room to revisit the issue. So far, no one 
is talking about banning dispensaries, which now number about 100, 
but the city might use its zoning and land use authority to determine 
guidelines, Vossbrink said.

"It really points to the challenge we have at the local level to 
balance a whole lot of competing goals, whether you are talking about 
subdivisions or environmental protections or allowing a drive-thru 
restaurant, or talking about where a medical marijuana enterprise can 
be located," he said.

In two weeks, voters in Los Angeles, where there are hundreds of pot 
shops, will decide how dispensaries will be regulated. There are 
three ballot measures, but if none of them receive more than 50 
percent of the vote, council members could decide to ban dispensaries.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom