RULING REMOVES RARE TOOL KEEPING MARIJUANA IN CHECK

Since the Obama administration's decision - about which it has since
waffled - to let states go their own way when it comes to medical
marijuana, California's cities have struggled to tame the
still-illegal trade, to accommodate patients without letting
lawbreakers run unrestrained.

But a recent California Court of Appeal decision makes that effort
far more difficult.

Ruling in Pack vs. City of Long Beach, the court threw out a city
ordinance much like Redding's that licensed and strictly regulated
medical-marijuana shops. The decision, in essence, says that
California authorities can decline to prosecute marijuana users or
growers - can look the other way - but that actually licensing
marijuana sales is a step too far, violating the federal Controlled
Substances Act.

The judges presumably have their law straight. As a practical matter,
though, the decision will create a far more chaotic situation.

The upside of police licensing like Redding's is that it gives co-ops
incentives to restrict the nuisances, to avoid sales to minors and
unauthorized "patients," to be good neighbors. And it lets the police
keep a close, consistent eye on businesses where the potential for
criminality is obvious. Police Chief Peter Hansen says he sees
widespread abuse of doctors' recommendations to let casual pot
smokers avoid prosecution, but the collectives themselves, he says,
generally work hard to comply with the law.

Without local licensing, though, they'll have far less incentive to
work with law enforcement. And while no decision has been made, the
city's likely response will be to order dispensaries to simply close.

That won't bother many locals a bit. But it's hard to see how people
will sell or use less marijuana just because the trade goes back
underground - especially since marijuana gardens are ubiquitous and
criminal prosecution of users and growers has become a rarity.

Redding's licensing system helps manage a gray market that is, under
the law, half criminal and half legitimate. A sane way to bridge that
legal divide is exactly what California needs. Unfortunately, for
now, the courts say sanity is illegal.