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US: Ruling could affect battle over pot
MyDesert.com Saturday 12 Nov 2011 The Fourth District Court of Appeals' Division Two unanimously upheld Riverside's ban on dispensaries within its city borders. "It should nullify the need for our case to proceed further into the trial," Mayor Dana Hobart said Friday. Rancho Mirage's ban, passed on a 4-0 council vote in February but put on hold by a lawsuit, was ruled unconstitutional by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Randall White in October. The city has appealed. Damages sought by Desert Heart Collective, the dispensary suing the city after it was forced to shut down in September 2010, have climbed over $1 million. Desert Heart Collective attorney Nathan Shaman said he still hopes to see the case go to trial despite the city of Riverside ruling, but "it would certainly be a lie if I said it didn't affect our case." The city has rejected Desert Heart Collective's application for a new business license, and the dispensary filed a supplemental Superior Court complaint in response. "One of the things we're asking the court to do is force the city to grant the application, and we believed that would be the valid course of action," Shaman said. "In light of the Riverside case, that doesn't seem very likely to happen." He added there will be a "very substantial effort" to take the Riverside ruling to the state Supreme Court. City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said the Riverside ruling gives Rancho Mirage more ammunition as it seeks to have the case thrown out at future hearings. "The City Council has directed me to exhaust all the possible remedies in court so we don't have to go to an expensive trial," he said. The city and Desert Heart Collective have been locked in legal disputes since Rancho Mirage adopted a moratorium on dispensaries in September 2010. That temporary ban has been extended twice and expires for good on Dec. 15. The council considered a proposal to allow a limited number of dispensaries to open in the city, but then dropped it. The ban the council eventually adopted was accompanied by a "Compassionate Access Plan." The plan allows medical marijuana delivery in the city, plus a transportation subsidy for residents who are qualified patients belonging to a dispensary that doesn't offer free delivery. That idea originated with Hobart, who said he stands by the plan today. He rejected Desert Heart Collective's position that it amounts to a "not-in-my- backyard" position. "It is not a NIMBY situation when cities have the right to zone in or zone out a dispensary," he said. Blake Herzog covers Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage for The Desert Sun, and can be reached at (760) 778-4757 or blake.herzog@thedesertsun.com. http://www.mydesert.com/article/20111112/NEWS01/111120313/Ruling-could-affect-battle-over-pot
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