By The California Supreme Court is looking to bring some clarity to the haziness surrounding a city’s right to ban medical marijuana dispensaries.
Cities throughout California have started using zoning and public nuisance laws as justification to close dispensaries. Long Beach banned dispensaries through an ordinance issued in January 2011, stating that a permit must be acquired in order to open or continue running a medical marijuana collective.
However, it’s unclear if cities can ban the controversial establishments under California law. The California Supreme Court is reviewing a case between the City of Riverside and the Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center. The case will likely clarify whether cities have the right to ban medical marijuana dispensaries.
The court is expected to issue a ruling within the next few months.
Medical marijuana was decriminalized in California with the passage of Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.
According to the California Health and Safety Code, the act was passed to “ensure that seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes where that medical use is deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician who has determined that the person’s health would benefit from the use of marijuana.”
Cal State Long Beach political science professor Edgar Kaskla said the government seems to have precedent in banning medical marijuana dispensaries.
“There are limits in a lot of places, like how far a liquor store may be from a school or even whether a city zoned for pure residential use can forbid a business like a car repair shop from moving in,” Kaskla said. “Precedent seems to hold that, ‘yes, government can do that.'”
Kaskla said he also believes that if the court rules in favor of bans then more cities and counties will follow in outlawing or limiting dispensaries.
The possible closing of dispensaries may lead to an increase in prices for those with medical cards, according to economics department chair Wade Martin.
“A ban or restriction on availability is going to increase the cost to customer, with the actual price going up and travel expenses being larger,” Martin said.
Martin said he believes that the bans could make medical marijuana more difficult to acquire, increasing the price and putting an additional burden on those who need the drug for health reasons.
Lauren Ortega, a senior criminal justice major, said she believes the actual patients who require the medical marijuana seem to be forgotten in the proceedings.
“I don’t think they [dispensaries] should be banned for people that actually need them,” Ortega said. “They should probably put stricter laws regarding who can get a medical card.”
Niles Marquez, a senior public relations major, said he believes that the banning of dispensaries is a way for cities to appease the federal government and pharmaceutical companies.
“People use medical marijuana in order to avoid using corporate-backed pharmaceutical drugs with more side effects than you can count with two hands,” Marquez said. “Any city that doesn’t embrace the medicinal use of marijuana is harming its citizens and subjecting them to the pharmaceutical market.”
