DISPENSARY DEFENSE: LEGAL TEAM SEEKS RESTRAINING ORDER TO KEEP
MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS OPEN

Two California attorneys representing a coalition of five Redding
medical marijuana dispensaries will come before a Shasta County
Superior Court judge today to seek a temporary restraining order to
block the city's ban on the storefront operations.

Meanwhile, at least two dispensaries said this week they're shutting
down and others are still trying to figure out what to do as the
city's ban is set to begin Thursday.

Randall Rich, a Los Angeles-based attorney, and Berkeley attorney
Alec Henderson filed a complaint with the court Tuesday seeking the
restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the dispensary shutdown.

The restraining order would prevent the city from enforcing the ban
until the hearing for an injunction, which is set for January.

Rich and Henderson are representing Trusted Friends, Safe Arbor,
Herbs and Edibles, Northern Patients Group and Family Tree Care
Center, the owners of those dispensaries and their patients.

Rich said Tuesday that Redding acted outside its jurisdiction by
imposing the ban. The city has to act according to state law, which
allows for medical use of marijuana and dispensaries, he said.

"When the city takes action it does so as a political subdivision of
the state," Rich said. "The city is not here to enforce federal law.
The city is here to effectuate state law."

Redding also violated the due process rights of the dispensaries,
their owners and patients with the short deadline imposed on them
through the ban, the complaint alleges. The Redding City Council
approved the urgency ordinance imposing the ban Nov. 15. Those
dispensaries had less than two weeks to comply with the ban,
considering the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the complaint.

Redding City Attorney Rick Duvernay said he believes the court
shouldn't issue a temporary restraining order, but if it does the
city will ask that dispensaries abide by the city permits they held
before the ban was imposed.

And if the court does issue the restraining order it will apply only
to the five dispensaries listed as plaintiffs, Duvernay said.

"Our expectation is if they're not part of the lawsuit, they don't
get the benefits of the lawsuit either," he said of the dispensaries
that didn't join the lawsuit.

Rich said Duvernay's statement is likely correct.

"Generally, I believe only the people who assert their legal rights
get the benefit of a ruling like that," Rich said.

Assistant City Attorney Barry DeWalt will represent Redding in court
today since Duvernay is named as a defendant in the case, he said.

The complaint comes two weeks after the City Council unanimously
approved the ban on dispensaries, requiring them to shut down by Thursday.

The ban follows a 2nd District Court of Appeal ruling in October that
efforts by officials in Long Beach to dictate which collectives can
operate and which cannot go far beyond Prop. 215.

State law merely creates a defense from criminal prosecution for
people using medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, the court ruled.

Federal law, which considers all marijuana illegal, pre-empts any
local efforts to regulate production and distribution of the
substance, the court ruled.

Duvernay has said that ruling strips Redding of its power to regulate
medical marijuana dispensaries and the city has made it clear it
doesn't want unregulated dispensaries.

Today's hearing before Judge Stephen Baker is set for 8:30 a.m. in
Department 3 at the Shasta County Courthouse.

Baker shot down the city of Anderson's request last week for a
temporary restraining order to close a dispensary operating despite
the ban on such businesses, according to the Anderson Valley Post.
The city didn't show adequate cause for the restraining order, the
paper reported.

The Friendly Corner Collective on Hartnell Avenue and River Valley
Collective on Placer Street already have decided to close, dispensary
employees said this week.

"(The city) asked us to close, so we're closing," said Jerilyn
Garcia, co-owner of the River Valley Collective.

River Valley has about 4,000 members but on average sees about 150 to
200 regular patients per month, she said. Those numbers are typical
of other dispensaries in Redding, Garcia said.

The Hampton Collective in Mission Square on Bechelli Lane was evicted
at the end of last month after Redding contractor Bobby Martin, who
owns the space, received a letter from the federal government
threatening action against landlords who rented to collectives.

Karyn Wilbur, director of the Redding Wellness Collective on Churn
Creek Road, said she's waiting to decide what to with the dispensary
until any court battles over the city's ban play out.

"It's not that I'm not sure what I'm going to do; I'm not sure what
the feds are going to do," she said Monday. "Their plans change daily
and I can't make a plan when they're baiting and switching."

Wilbur, who opened Redding Wellness Collective in August 2009, said
the ban will hurt the patients, the dispensary owners and employees
and even the state. She estimated her annual sales tax payments to
the state at $40,000, her single largest bill.

"It's trickling down through the community," she said. "Everybody is
losing something here."