Global Ganja Report

Big militarized raids by state police and National Guard forces on illicit grows in Northern California's Trinity County brought back bad memories for locals. Several homes were raided and helicopters brought in for the operation—exactly the kind of thing Californians thought they had seen the end of after legalization.

In a still-murky scenario of rare federal enforcement against municipal corruption, FBI agents last week raided the home of the mayor of Adelanto in Southern California's San Bernardino county. In the same operation, a local cannabis dispensary was also searched. Economically troubled Adelanto has aggressively sought investment in its cannabis industry, but paranoia in the wake of the federal raids could have a chilling effect.

The California Supreme Court issued an order Jan. 18 indicating its intent to review two controversial medical marijuana cases that have resulted in the suspension of several local dispensary ordinances across the state. As a result of the order, Pack v. City of Long Beach and City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient's Health and Wellness Ctr., Inc. have both been vacated in anticipation of the high court's ruling. The Pack decision held that dispensary regulations may be preempted by federal law, and the Riverside decision held that localities could legally ban distribution altogether.

California's Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled Nov. 11 that state law allows cities and counties to ban cannabis dispensaries. Other courts have upheld local government authority to restrict the location of dispensaries or declare a temporary moratorium, but the new ruling, in a case from Riverside, was the first to address a citywide ban. Riverside banned dispensaries in 2009 and sought to shut down the Inland Empire Patients' Health and Wellness Center, in May 2010. A Superior Court judge ruled in the city's favor six months later, but the center has stayed open during its appeal. The appeals court ruling found that state law allows medical patients to use cannabis and form collectives to supply it, but does not exempt them from local government authority to regulate land use. (LAT, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11)

Five cannabis dispensaries were raided by a multi-agency task force in Southern California Oct. 6, with 11 arrested in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties. Among those targeted was the Alternative Medicine Collective of Covina. "This organization was definitely working outside the law," said Capt. Ralph Ornelas of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Narcotics Bureau said. "Our investigation proved they were charging people and making a profit out of it. You're not supposed to make a profit."