STATE SUPREME COURT TO HEAR LANDMARK LONG BEACH MEDPOT CASE

A decision wasn't expected for at least another week, but on
Wednesday the California Supreme Court indicated its intent to review
four medical-marijuana cases, including the Pack decision, which
preempted most of the City of Long Beach's medpot ordinance.

The decision came less than 24 hours after the Long Beach City
Council voted to postpone action on a proposed ban on medpot
collectives until February 14, when the full council is slated to be present.

"These cases were very problematic for patients and their ability to
safely and legally access a medication that works for them," said Joe
Elford, chief counsel of Americans for Safe Access, a leading medpot
advocacy group. "We're very pleased that local governments will now
be without the means to deny access to medical marijuana for patients
in their communities, at least until or unless the Supreme Court has
ruled otherwise."

While the Pack decision was a legal victory for medpot patients Ryan
Pack and Anthony Gayle -- who filed their suit in response to Long
Beach's permitting process, arguing that the Compassionate Use Act
only decriminalizes the medicinal use of marijuana, while the City's
ordinance violates federal law by effectively legalizing conduct
prohibited by the Controlled Substances Act -- pro-medpot
organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Drug
Policy Alliance were among the parties who filed the December 12
request that the Court review the case.

In a press release issued Wednesday, Americans for Safe Access says
the Supreme Court review means the Pack decision -- along with City
of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient's Health and Wellness Ctr., a
decision holding that while marijuana distribution is not in fact
preempted by federal law, "localities could legally ban distribution
altogether" -- are, for the moment, "out of play, [meaning that]
local governments will now have less cover with which to implement or
continue such bans" -- an apparent shot across the bow of the City of
Long Beach.

"The Pack decision is a dead letter and can no longer be used to defy
the implementation of state law," Elford said.

But as reported by Jonathan Van Dyke on Gazettes.com, City Attorney
Robert Shannon says the Court denied a petition filed by Matthew
Pappas, attorney for the plaintiffs in the Pack case, for "emergency
application for a temporary order prohibiting enactment and/or
enforcement of a collective ban."

Noting that "it will likely be at least a couple of years before the
Supreme Court rules on the cases," Americans for Safe Access urges
"local governments to adopt regulatory ordinances that establish the
means by which California's hundreds of thousands of patients can
obtain a medicine that is legal under state law."