COUNTY'S SUIT OVER POT LAWS TO PROCEED

Statutes Governing Medical Marijuana Core of the Issue

San Diego County's lawsuit against state medical marijuana laws will
be allowed to proceed, a Superior Court judge ruled yesterday.

The county Board of Supervisors voted late last year to sue the state
over its laws that permit the use of medical marijuana and require
counties to issue identification cards to users. The county contends
that those laws are in direct conflict with federal drug laws
prohibiting any possession or use of marijuana.

The county is also suing the San Diego chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, because it
threatened to sue the county if the supervisors didn't begin
implementing the state law that requires the identification cards and
a database of users to be created and maintained by the county.

Many California counties are complying with the identification card
law, which went into effect in 2004. That statute was enacted because
controversy had arisen over who was allowed to possess medical
marijuana, which was legalized by state voters when they passed the
Compassionate Use Act 10 years ago.

But two counties, San Bernardino and Merced, have joined in the San
Diego County lawsuit, seeking clarification as to whether federal laws
pre-empt state laws.

Senior Deputy County Counsel Thomas Bunton argued that local
governments may challenge state laws that are in conflict with federal
statutes.

"The state has taken the position that those are legitimate laws,"
Bunton said. "The county has taken the position that those laws are
unenforceable."

The defendants had asked the case be dismissed, saying there weren't
sufficient legal grounds to sue, and the time wasn't right because
there was no "imminent harm" to the county.

Superior Court Judge William R. Nevitt Jr. disagreed. After hearing
arguments from four of the five lawyers involved in the case, Nevitt
ruled that the case should proceed.

In his ruling, Nevitt said the county is not precluded from
challenging state law. He also ruled that the merits of the county's
claims were not at issue at this time - only whether the case had
reason to go forward.

The defendants have 10 days to file a response.

After the hearing, medical marijuana advocates vowed to continue
fighting.

Mark Bluemel, a lawyer for NORML, said NORML shouldn't even be a party
to the suit. People should be able to question the supervisors without
being sued, he said.

"The county is really hurting the patients," Bluemel added. "It's
picking and choosing what laws it wants to follow."

Kris Hermes of the Oakland-based Americans for Safe Access said his
group will join in the lawsuit on behalf of medical marijuana-using
patients.

"We're confident the federal law does not pre-empt the state's medical
marijuana law, that's the bottom line," Hermes said.