Sacramento, CA: California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is requesting the state Superior Court to throw out a lawsuit filed earlier this year by San Diego County supervisors alleging that California’s ten-year-old medical cannabis law should be pre-empted by the federal Controlled Substances Act. San Diego supervisors filed suit rather than comply with a 2004 state law mandating the county to issue identification cards to authorized medical marijuana patients.
In motions filed this week in Superior Court, state officials argue that San Diego County supervisors “dislike” California’s medical cannabis law, but have no legal standing to challenge it. “Because the courts can only hear cases that involve factual disputes between opposing parties, and because there is no actual dispute here, such a request for an advisory opinion requires dismissal of the charges,” he said.
The court is expected to rule on the state’s motion in May.
According to a recent telephone poll of San Diego County voters, 78 percent of respondents said that they opposed the supervisors’ lawsuit. Sixty-seven percent said that they support the state’s medical cannabis law.
For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel, at (202) 483-5500.