Second County Moves To Challenge State Medical Marijuana Laws
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to sue the state to overturn California's medical marijuana laws, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. The county is the second to challenge the state's Compassionate Use Act. Last week San Diego filed a lawsuit against the state, citing the law's conflict with federal drug laws.
San Bernardino County's lawsuit is expected to be "nearly identical" to the one filed by San Diego County, the Press-Enterprise reports (Gang, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 1/24).
According to a statement by San Bernardino Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Postmus, the "conflict between state and federal law ... must be resolved by the courts before the county feels it can move forward" (Wolf Branscomb, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/25).
The county had planned to begin issuing medical marijuana identification cards in February, but that project has been postponed, according to county spokesperson David Wert. The state had estimated that as many as 7,000 county residents could qualify for the cards, Wert said (Perry/Powers, Los Angeles Times, 1/25).
In related news, medical marijuana advocates at a board meeting on Tuesday urged San Diego County supervisors to withdrawal the lawsuit (Spagat, AP/Contra Costa Times, 1/25).
Also on Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion in the San Diego case on behalf of medical marijuana users (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 1/24).
KPBS' "KPBS News" on Tuesday reported on the ACLU's representation of residents who use medical marijuana. The segment includes comments from Kevin Keenan, executive director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties (Goldberg, "KPBS News," KPBS, 1/24). The complete transcript is available online. The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
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