Marijuana Blog

A judge overturned a Riverside, California injunction to shut down a medical marijuana dispensary in the city, saying that current law makes local government closures of the clinics unconstitutional.

The decision by Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Vineyard on Wednesday, Aug, 22, affects only The Closet Patient Care dispensary on Elizabeth Street in Riverside.

The city called the ruling “mind-boggling” and promised to appeal.

James De Aguilera was the man who filed the original court action for the clinic, and he said Vineyard’s ruling sets a precedent for other dispensaries in the city that also face an injunction to close them.

Riverside City Attorney Greg Priamos said there are about a dozen clinics in the city that are open and fighting injunctions to close and that the city has successfully shut down about three dozen.

“We believe the trial court decided wrongly and the Court of Appeal will see the issue differently,” Priamos said.

De Aguilera said Closet Patient Care is one of those that remained open while it fought the injunction since January.

Cities and counties all over California continue to struggle with medical marijuana regulations while the federal government bears down in a decimating series if threats and raids. What was once the bastion of cannabis freedom is being shaken to its very core.

Everyone who cares about this issue must speak up. The time for being silent has passed, as being silent is what allowed things to get to this point. Freedom is freedom, whether it’s about cannabis or marriage or anything else.

Doing anything is better than nothing. Even sharing this story on your social networks is speaking out. If you can influence even one other person, you have done something to stand with medical marijuana patients across the country.

Source: http://www.pe.com