A Southern California court ruling that could bring to a halt Mendocino County's ability to permit medical marijuana collectives was recently appealed, and the county's attorney is waiting for a ruling from the state Supreme Court to issue an opinion.
"We need to wait until the Supreme Court makes a decision," Mendocino County Counsel Jeanine Nadel said of the appeal, filed by the city of Long Beach.
The city filed for a petition for review of the Ryan Pack v. City of Long Beach ruling, which came down in October. In the October decision, the Second Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal ruled that federal law preempts the city of Long Beach's permitting process, saying that issuing permits to grow marijuana oversteps state law and conflicts federal law.
The court found that the city's ordinance crosses the line of decriminalizing cultivation, use and possession of medical marijuana under California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996. Requiring a permit, according to the ruling, implies that the city is authorizing collectives to operate.
Because the city of Long Beach allowed only permitted collectives to operate, the court equated issuing permits with authorization, according to an analysis by the California League of Cities. Federal law preempts the city's ability to issue permits because such authorization obstructs the federal Controlled Substances Act, according to the ruling.
The Controlled Substances Act lists marijuana as a Schedule 1
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controlled substance, and doesn't allow use under any circumstances, including medical.
The ruling also put on hold the county's recent effort to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. The process halted after two meetings 2nd District Supervisor John McCowen, tasked with drafting an ordinance, held to gather public input about how the ordinance should be structured.
The ordinance would have had a permitting component, according to Nadel.
The League of Cities urges cities considering an ordinance to permit collectives to instead adopt "limitations," not a permitting process.
Nadel said last month that her office was waiting for further developments, including an effort to depublicize the ruling, and the city's possible appeal. Depublication of the ruling would mean the case could not be cited as authority in future court decisions regarding medical marijuana, according to Nadel.
Currently, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office issues the permits for medical marijuana collectives, and reported last month that revenue from the permits and other medical marijuana-related sources was more than $1 million.
Nadel stated previously that no decision has yet been made about whether the county will continue to issue permits, and said she may bring the issue before the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.
Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@pacific.net, or at 468-3523.