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California Supreme Court Denies Appeal Of The Live Oak Medical Marijuana Decision


bobandtorey

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March 28, 2014 - On Thursday, the California Supreme Court denied review of the Live Oak medical marijuana case regarding an appellate court decision that upheld the authority of local government’s ability to completely ban cultivating medical marijuana.  In December 2011, the City of Live Oak (Sutter County) adopted an ordinance that prohibited the cultivation of marijuana for any purpose within the city’s jurisdiction.  James Maral, on behalf of himself, and as a trustee of the Live Oak Patients, Caregivers and Supporters Association, along with other individuals, sued the City of Live Oak on the grounds that the city’s ordinance violated the Compassionate Use Act (CUA), and the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMPA).  


While the California Supreme Court issued no explanation for the denial, the lower appellate court cited the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in the Riverside vs. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center, which found that neither the CUA or the MMP created a broad right to access medical marijuana, and that the CUA only provides limited immunity from criminal prosecution.  In its review of the Riverside case, the appellate court found that the same reasoning applies to the cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana, and that neither law preempts a local government’s ability to regulate or ban medical marijuana cultivation.

The Live Oak decision comes on the heels of the Browne vs. Tehama case, where both the trial and appellate courts found that the state medical marijuana law does not preempt county zoning, and that the county’s marijuana ordinance was not pre-empted by any state law, nor does it violate or conflict with any state law.  Unless the State Supreme court receives petition from a case originating in a different appellate body, the Live Oak, Tehama, and Riverside court cases settle the long-standing debate over the authority of local municipalities to regulate and ban medical marijuana cultivation and distribution.

 

 

http://goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/mariposa-daily-news-2014/173-march/12621-rural-county-representatives-of-california-reports-california-supreme-court-denies-appeal-of-the-live-oak-medical-marijuana-decision

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