ASSESSING RULINGS ON MEDICAL POT

California Supreme Court Will Review Lower Court Rulings Regarding Oversight

San Francisco - The California Supreme Court has decided to review
whether cities and counties may ban medical marijuana stores.

Meeting in closed session, the court Wednesday agreed to assess
rulings by lower courts on how much oversight local governments may
exert on medical marijuana operations. A ruling is probably a year or
two away at least.

The court's decision to review the appeals court decisions means they
cannot be enforced pending a ruling by the state high court.

Joe Elford, chief counsel of Americans for Safe Access, a medical
marijuana advocacy group, said the lower court decisions had been
"very problematic for patients."

"We're very pleased that local governments will now be unable to use
appellate court decisions to deny patients access to medical
marijuana in their own communities," Elford said.

One of the rulings said that some dispensary regulations may be
preempted by federal law and another said cities could legally ban
marijuana distribution altogether, he said.

Proposition 215, passed by voters in 1996, legalized use of marijuana
with a doctor's recommendation, but the federal government continues
to criminalize pot.