CITY HALL MAKES FEDERAL CASE AGAINST NEW POT DISPENSARY

Cathedral City has filed a request for a federal injunction against
Essential Herbs and Oils, a medical marijuana dispensary on E. Palm
Canyon Drive.

The five-page legal request, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court
in Riverside, asks the court to rule on whether the city has to
comply with the California's medical marijuana law, which it says
violates federal law.

"(The city) is not required to comply with state law enacted by
voters in direct conflict with federal statute interpreted by the
United States Supreme Court as establishing that local and state
governments cannot allow marijuana possession even if used for
medicinal purposes," City Attorney Charles R. Green argued in the request.

Essential Herbs intends to remain open "for a long time," said a
woman answering the phone at the shop, who declined to give her name.

Federal law bans all sale and use of marijuana. California state law
allows medical use for patients with a doctor's letter of recommendation.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 2005 case of Gonzales vs. Raich
that federal law does trump state law.

Following the ruling, former state Attorney General Bill Lockyer
issued a letter saying it did not affect California's medical use
laws. Current Attorney General Jerry Brown last year declined to
issue an opinion on the legality of dispensaries.