County Cracks Down on Pot Dispensaries

All medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas must "immediately and voluntarily close down" or be sued, a county official said today.

In a closed session Tuesday, the gave permission to sue all medical marijuana dispensaries operating illegally in Riverside County.

The county knows of 36, according to Ray Smith, a spokesperson for the County of Riverside.

The county will first try to close them through the code enforcement process, though for many of these shops, that process was tried and failed, Smith said.
"If needed, we'll sue, but it doesn't necessarily mean we'll sue every one of them," he said. "We try to gain compliance first."

This announcement comes a few months after the federal government ordered all such shops in California to close, or face penalties. To read about it,

This new action by the county will not affect the only pot cooperative in Temecula's city limits, Cooperative Patients' Services.

The city already sued the co-op, but the suit is deadlocked in court until the state makes a ruling on whether the suit is constitutional.

To read about the suit and its status,

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. Numerous of these organizations already received cease-and-desist orders from the county, said Greg Flannery, Riverside County code division manager.

These shops are a threat to the safety of nearby residents, because they attract robberies and burglaries, officials said. To read more about their concerns,

Several dispensaries near Temecula in unincorporated county land were recently burglarized. To read about how the burglar was caught and punished,

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.

County officials will still use code-enforcement powers, but costly lawsuits are now an added threat, Smith said.

“County officials also will seek to recover all administrative and legal costs unless dispensary operators or property owners immediately and voluntarily cease dispensary operations,” the county announced in an emailed announcement.

The announcement 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.

The county already got several letters from property owners who rent space to dispensaries and are afraid they'll be held responsible, Smith said. "I do know the county has been contacted by some property owners," he said.

Today’s news from the county follows an Oct. 7 announcement made by the Department of Justice that it would shut down medical marijuana operators statewide.

However, that news was quickly followed by an announcement from Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country's largest medical marijuana advocacy organization, that it filed suit in federal court challenging the feds' move.

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,” 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 the emailed announcement.

Medical marijuana advocate Lanny Swerdlow, who heads up THCF Medical Clinic in Riverside, said he is not surprised by the 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.

The goal is not to file a lot of law suits, said Smith, but to add another means for attacking the dispensaries so they will close down willingly.

"It's getting a lot of people's attention," he said.

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

Peter Surowski contributed to this report.