Press Releases

BB&K’s Jeffrey Dunn Argued Case Before Justices on Behalf of Riverside

For Immediate Release: May 6, 2013
Media Contact: Jennifer Bowles • 951.826.8480 • jennifer.bowles@BBKlaw.com

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. _ The California Supreme Court ruled today that cities in the state can ban medical marijuana dispensaries through zoning ordinances.

In the closely watched case of City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center, the court said that state law does not preempt local governments from regulating the use of its land. Some 200 local governments across California have bans against medical marijuana dispensaries.

“This ruling assures local governments throughout California that they have the constitutional right to impose bans and to make local land use decisions that suit them best,” said Jeffrey Dunn, a Best Best & Krieger attorney who argued the case on Feb. 5 before the state Supreme Court on behalf of Riverside.

The case centered around the voter-approved 1996 Compassionate Use Act (CUA) and the 2003 Medical Marijuana Program (MMP), which was passed by the California Legislature. Under the CUA, certain individuals may use marijuana for specified medicinal purposes under certain conditions without violating state criminal laws. The Medical Marijuana Program tried to provide guidelines for medical marijuana use and distribution.

“The issue in this case is whether California’s medical marijuana statutes preempt a local ban on facilities that distribute medical marijuana. We conclude they do not,” the court wrote in its decision.

The court went on to say the state laws were meant to protect users from arrest not to limit the authority of local governments.

“Nothing in the CUA or the MMP expressly or impliedly limits the inherent authority of a local jurisdiction, by its own ordinances, to regulate the use of its land, including the authority to provide that facilities for the distribution of medical marijuana will not be permitted to operate within its borders.”

The court did say future efforts by the Legislature could change the law but for now Riverside’s ordinance is not preempted by state law.

The decision by the state Supreme Court affirmed the earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal, which was also argued successfully by Dunn. The Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center opened its medical marijuana distribution facility in Riverside in 2009.