JUDGE SAYS CATHEDRAL CITY OVERSTEPPED ITS AUTHORITY IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA CASE

A federal judge ruled Monday that Cathedral City does not have
jurisdiction to ask a federal court to stop a business from selling
medical marijuana because it is not a federal agency.

The city will now ask the U.S. attorney's office to ask U.S. District
Court Judge Stephen G. Larson for a permanent injunction against
Essential Herbs and Oils, Deputy City Manager Julie Baumer said.

Baumer did not know when a meeting between officials of the city and
the U.S. attorney's office would take place.

The city is not pursuing an appeal at this time, she
said.

"We have a number of steps to go before we get to that," Baumer
said.

She said the city also will try to yank the business's
license.

Attempts to reach attorneys who represent the business late Monday
were not successful.

On Feb. 6, a city code enforcement officer cited the business for
violating a municipal code preventing businesses from violating laws,
according court documents filed by the city.

The city filed a request Feb. 12 for a temporary restraining order and
a permanent injunction to prevent the business from selling marijuana.

Attorneys representing the city, Charles R. Green and Joan Stevens
Smyth, argued that the business is violating federal laws that
prohibit the sale of marijuana even for medical purposes.

In a declaration filed with the court, Becky Perkins said she owns the
business on East Palm Drive and represents 50 people who are allowed
to consume medical marijuana. They are members of the Coachella Valley
Patients Association, which is doing business as Essential Herbs and
Oils, she said.

She wrote in the declaration that "no sales of marijuana occur" at the
business site.

The business's attorney, Anthony Curiale, pointed out in a brief that
state law allows businesses to sell marijuana for medical use.

Curiale argued that the federal drug law allows states to make their
own laws regarding drugs such as marijuana.

Larson granted the temporary restraining order Feb. 20. The judge
wrote in the order that the federal law trumps the state law for
medical marijuana.

Curiale and ACLU attorney Allen Hopper filed a motion to oppose the
permanent injunction Feb. 22. They argued that the city has no right
to ask a federal court for an injunction to stop the sale of medical
marijuana and that only a federal agency has the right.

The city argued in a rebuttal brief filed Friday that the city has the
right to ask a federal court for an injunction because it is
representing a federal law.