NEWS: Court fight over Long Beach medical marijuana law growing

LONG BEACH - The court battle over the city's medical marijuana law is growing.

Since Aug. 30, four marijuana collectives and two disabled men who use the drug for health conditions have sued the city challenging its medical marijuana law, which restricts the number and locations of collectives.

Last month, SJ Non-Profit Collective, Care Mutual Cooperative, Starlight Center and Long Beach Patients Center each filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court.

That brings to five the number of collectives that have sued the city.

Alternative Herbal Health Collective sued the city Aug. 16. A judge has denied its requests for a temporary stay of the law.

In addition to the collectives, two disabled individuals, Ryan Pack and Anthony Gayle, who have used marijuana for medical purposes, on Aug. 30 jointly sued the city.

SJ Non-Profit Collective is asking a judge to declare the law unconstitutional and bar the city from shutting down the collective, said the organization's attorney Christopher Glew.

"I think that the entire ordinance is unconstitutional," he said. City officials "are trying to regulate an area that is preempted by state law."

Long Beach City Attorney Bob Shannon said Monday that the city is within its rights to regulate medical marijuana.

"The city's stance is that what we're doing is legal," Shannon said.

Glew also is representing Starlight and Care Mutual, which each is demanding that the city return a $14,742 nonrefundable application fee required as part of the city's permit approval process.

Starlight and Care Mutual each paid the fee and submitted an application that city officials reviewed and wrongly declared incomplete, Glew said.

City officials "didn't even put them through the vetting process," and yet the city kept the money, Glew said.

The city says the fees were needed to cover expenses incurred during the permit approval process.

SJ Non-Profit Collective did not apply to take part in the permit approval process, Glew said.

In their lawsuit, Pack and Gayle are asking a court to invalidate the city's ordinance, which they argue conflicts with federal and state law.

An attorney representing Long Beach Patients Center could not immediately be reached for comment.

Long Beach Deputy City Attorney Cristyl Meyers noted that the courts so far have rejected the collectives' requests that they be allowed to continue operating until their cases are resolved.

That trend makes her optimistic that the city will prevail, she added.

Additional hearings are scheduled for Wednesday in two of the lawsuits, while other proceedings are scheduled for early next year.

Source: Contra Costa Times