San Diego County loses medical marijuana challenge again, but plans appeal

October 16th 2008.

Yesterday, San Diego and San Bernardino counties were dealt their latest stinging defeat in their attempt to overturn many provisions of the state's medical marijuana laws.

Not one judge has sided with the counties' claims that federal law preempts the medical marijuana ID card program and other parts of California's laws. But even the California Supreme Court's unanimous decision not to hear the case has not ended San Diego County's cruel lawsuit. An attorney for San Diego County said that the county supervisors had previously decided to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal. San Bernardino County has not made a decision.

The counties have 90 days to request that the U.S. Supreme Court hear an appeal. Our database indicates that you live in one of the two counties. Please write a letter to the editor of your local paper and contact your board of supervisors to urge them not to appeal. Talking points are provided below my signature line.

1.) Call the Board of Supervisors. For San Diego County, call (619) 531-5700. For San Bernardino County, call (909) 387-3841. Then, tell the operator the area you live in and ask to be transferred to your supervisor's office. Once on the phone with your county supervisor or his or her staff, please ask that he or she stop pursuing a heartless lawsuit against the medical marijuana laws. Additionally, please urge him or her to follow the law and immediately implement the medical marijuana ID card program.
Please use MPP's talking points at the bottom of this message to help guide you through your call. Also, please reply to this alert after your call and let us know what kind of response you received.

2.) Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Both the San Diego Union Tribune and the Press Enterprise covered the counties' legal defeat. Please read these articles and respond to the newspapers with letters to the editor calling on your county to stop its senseless attack on patients and to implement the medical marijuana ID card program.
Letters should be no more than 200 words and must include your full name, address, and daytime phone number (only the name and city will be printed). Submit letters to the Union Tribune by e-mailing letters@uniontrib.com. Letters to the Press Enterprise should be submitted using their online form. Please do not send the exact same letter to both newspapers. Feel free to contact me at karen@mpp.org for assistance with letter writing or for a sample letter.

The two counties' cruel attempt to strip patients of protections is coming at a hefty price for taxpayers. At a time when California's budget is in crisis, the counties' suit has forced taxpayers to foot a hefty bill for the case — including both sides of the litigation as well as the courts hearing the case. The California Attorney General's Office is defending the state's law in court. (In addition, Americans for Safe Access, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Drug Policy Alliance all intervened in the case on behalf of patients.) The trial court litigation alone cost San Bernardino County about $60,000 in staff time.

The counties' first defeat came in December 2006, when San Diego County Superior Court Judge William Nevitt ruled against the challenge. Then, on July 31, 2008, the Fourth District Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the lower court's decision that federal law does not preempt the ID card program.

Sincerely, Karen O'Keefe Assistant Director of State Policies Marijuana Policy Project