Riverside County Judge Determines Ban On Dispensaries Violates California State Law
Riverside Superior Court Judge Ronald Taylor ruled yesterday that Riverside County can’t close medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas. Justice Taylor struck down the ban because it was too overreaching, amounting to a complete ban on all safe access in the county which violates California law.
“The judge’s decision squarely follows state law,” Matthew Pappas, representing 21 dispensaries in the case, said according to Southwest Riverside News Network. “The court properly analyzed the compassionate use act voted in by the citizens of California for the benefit of California patients.”
“When they impose a total ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, that does not agree with the state constitution,” said another attorney representing the dispensaries, James De Aguilera, according to The Press-Enterprise.
More than 175 cities in California and 20 counties have enacted medical marijuana dispensary bans according to the last numbers I saw from Americans for Safe Access. California is in serious need of comprehensive medical marijuana reform at the state level. Cities, counties, case law, state law, it’s all confusing and often conflicting and it’s leaving a lot of operators vulnerable to prosecution, and patients with limited or no safe access to the medicine they need and should rightfully be able to obtain.
