UPDATE: County Threatens To Sue Marijuana Dispensaries

UPDATE 5:11 p.m.: The County of Riverside is cracking down on medical marijuana.

In closed session today, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors authorized County Counsel to initiate litigation against all medical marijuana dispensaries operating illegally in Riverside County.

“The Board of Supervisors today authorized its attorneys to sue any marijuana dispensary in the unincorporated county area, or the owner of any property where a dispensary conducts business, unless the operator or property owner voluntarily and immediately ceases operation,” according to a news release from the county Tuesday afternoon.

The release stated that there are at least 36 dispensaries “operating illegally within unincorporated Riverside County.”

In 2006, Riverside County amended its zoning ordinance when it adopted a ban on marijuana dispensaries in the unincorporated county area.

Since that time, the county has largely cracked down on dispensaries from a land-use approach. In August, Greg Flannery, code division manager for the county, told Patch that out of 11 pot dispensaries found to be operating in Lakeland Village, 10 had been handed cease and desist orders by code enforcement.

Failing to follow a cease and desist order can be expensive, Flannery said in August: The options are a court challenge, or stay open and pay the consequences of additional citations that can cost a property owner $500 to $1,000 a day.

Today’s news confirmed that county officials will still use code-enforcement powers, but costly lawsuits are now an added threat.

“County officials also will seek to recover all administrative and legal costs unless dispensary operators or property owners immediately and voluntarily cease dispensary operations,” today’s news release stated.

The news release also warned that property owners who lease to suspected medical marijuana operators may be in jeopardy.

“If businesses are operating out of leased buildings, federal officials also might be able to seize the property, including buildings,” the release stated.

Today’s news from the county follows an Oct. 7 announcement made by statewide.

However, that news was quickly followed

As legal tangles continue elsewhere, here at home the county could run up a large taxpayer bill.

“Some of them (dispensaries) are heavily lawyered up,” Flannery He said these types of lawsuits cost upward of $150,000 to defend and, with uncertainty surrounding medical marijuana bans, there is no guarantee the county can prevail.

However, his words came before a from the Fourth District Court, which ruled that nothing in the 1996 Compassionate Use Act or the Medical Marijuana Program Act pre-empts local jurisdictions from banning the facilities.

Last month's court ruling buoyed today's decision, according to today's county news release.

Medical marijuana advocate Lanny Swerdlow, who heads up THCF Medical Clinic in Riverside, said he is not surprised by today's decision given last month's court ruling. He said pressure to crack down on marijuana is not coming from residents but rather law enforcement.

"Law enforcement has them (government leaders) chomping at the bit," he said. "No one else is agitating them to do this. The cops are behind this."

He questions where legitimate patients who really benefit from marijuana will get the drug now.

"The criminals," he answered.

Joe Grumbine lives in unincorporated area just east of Lake Elsinore. He also heads the medical marijuana advocacy group The Human Solution and is currently embroiled in a lawsuit in Long Beach Superior Court. He is being tried on marijuana possession and sales charges after two medical marijuana cooperatives he operated in Long Beach and Garden Grove were raided in December 2009.

As of December 5, he said he has made 28 court appearances in the case. He has pleaded not guilty and is undergoing a jury trial.

“This case will last longer than most violent crime cases, including murder,” he writes on his website. “Just to reiterate, this is all over the charge of selling a plant to qualified patients.”

Tuesday afternoon medical marijuana advocate and Lake Elsinore resident Wayne Williams had not heard the news about the county’s decision. He owns a medical marijuana collective in unincorporated area just outside Lake Elsinore, the Compassionate & Wellness Center Cooperative, and is the founder of We The People, an advocacy group fighting to keep medical marijuana accessible.

Last month he kicked off a restaurant to get a medical marijuana initiative on the 2012 ballot for Lake Elsinore.

Despite today’s news, he said his group still plans to move ahead.

“The initiative is still going forward,” he said. “It will be an all out campaign.”

Click here to read about California's medical marjuana laws.

ORIGINAL POST: In closed session today, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors authorized County Counsel to initiate litigation against all medical marijuana dispensaries operating illegally in Riverside County.

The news follows an Oct. 7 announcement made by statewide.

However, that news was quickly followed

Click here to read about California's medical marjuana laws.

While word from the county is pending today, Patch has previously reported that fees to litigate marijuana cases can be costly.

“Some of them (dispensaries) are heavily lawyered up,” Greg Flannery, code division manager for the county, He said these types of lawsuits cost upward of $150,000 to defend and, with uncertainty surrounding medical marijuana bans, there is no guarantee the county can prevail.

However, his words came before a from the Fourth District Court, which ruled that nothing in the 1996 Compassionate Use Act or the Medical Marijuana Program Act pre-empts local jurisdictions from banning the facilities.

More information is expected to be released by the county this afternoon.