SF Press Conference 10/6 - Local Bans on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Draw Lawsuits

For Immediate Release: October 5, 2005

LOCAL BANS ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES DRAW LAWSUITS
Press Conference 10/6 With Attorneys, Plaintiffs, Advocates at League Of
Cities Convention

San Francisco, CA – Lawsuits over local bans on medical marijuana
dispensaries will greet some of the elected officials gathering in San
Francisco for the annual League of California Cities conference. Americans
for Safe Access (ASA), an Oakland-based medical marijuana patient-advocacy
group, will be announcing legal action against three California cities on
the opening day of the convention. The ASA press conference will be held at
12:30 pm on Thursday, October 6, in front of the convention at Moscone
Center West, 800 Howard St.

The lawsuits filed against Concord, Pasadena, and Susanville follow ASA’s
lawsuit filed this April against the city of Fresno for permanently banning
medical cannabis dispensing collectives, which the suit contends illegally
restricts the rights of qualified patients and their primary caregivers
under California law. Each lawsuit includes a prospective dispensary
operator plaintiff and a patient plaintiff.

“These bans clearly conflict with state law, “ said Joe Elford, ASA Chief
Counsel. “The biggest hole in the Compassionate Use Act was in not
describing the distribution method by which those who need the marijuana are
able to legally access their medicine. The legislative response to the
electorate’s charge was SB 420’s legitimatization of dispensing collectives
and cooperatives. Cities are beholden to both state law and to the
well-being of their citizens.”

In order for the patient plaintiffs to currently obtain the medicine their
doctor has recommended, they must drive to other cities that have condoned
and regulated dispensaries for their citizens. There are over 120 known
dispensing collectives (dispensaries) throughout California, however they
are unevenly distributed and not easily accessible to all legal patients.
For example, it is a seven hour drive from Susanville, one of the cities
whose ban is contested by ASA, to the closest dispensing collective.

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer recently issued an opinion affirming
that municipalities may not restrict the protections afforded by the
Compassionate Use Act and SB420 to qualified medical marijuana patients. (To
see this opinion, go to
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/agopinion.pdf) This is one of several
legal opinions issued to clarify the legal rights and responsibilities of
state officials since the US Supreme Court ruled that state-legal patients
can still be prosecuted under federal marijuana laws.

“We hope this litigation will help local officials realize that permanent
bans are unacceptable not just legally but morally, since they punish the
sick and suffering in their communities who mainly rely on dispensaries,”
said ASA Legal Campaign Director Kris Hermes. “We’re here to guide them
through the process of establishing reasonable and sensible regulations.“
ASA publishes a variety of legal and medical reference materials, and will
have information to aid city officials available to all in attendance at the
League of Cities meeting.

Since Oakland established the first ordinance condoning and regulating
dispensaries in early 2004, twenty-one other cities and counties have
followed suit (see: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2208 for a
list and links to the policies). Later in 2004, cities and counties began to
establish moratoriums on dispensing in order to arrive at regulations. As of
October 6, 2005, there are at least fifty-six localities with moratoriums
and thirteen with permanent bans.


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Americans for Safe Access
http://www.SafeAccessNow.org