Safe Life Caregivers v. City of Los Angeles

Plaintiffs filed suit challenging Proposition D, the current medical marijuana ordinance of the City of Los Angeles. The trial court dismissed the complaint. The court held that there is no constitutional or statutory right to possess, cultivate, distribute, or transport marijuana for medical purposes. The court concluded that Prop D's enactment did not violate Government Code Section 35804; if regulation of medical marijuana is a matter of statewide concern, Prop D, which regulates medical marijuana solely within the City’s borders, is still a municipal initiative on a wholly municipal matter – which was properly enacted without a planning commission hearing; Prop D's enactment did not violate City Charter Section 558; Prop D does not grant the equivalent of a conditional use permit or variance; and Prop D survives all of plaintiffs' substantive challenges regarding due process, equal protection, unconstitutional "special" law, drug house abatement, improper exercise of local regulatory power, violation of rights of privacy and association, disability discrimination, improper threats of criminal sanctions for plaintiffs' exercise of rights, taking without just compensation, waste of public funds, Fifth Amendment right/privacy, unnecessary regulation without rational basis/unfair stigma, and attorney's fees. Finally, the court concluded that plaintiffs are not entitled to leave to amend. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Safe Life Caregivers v. City of Los Angeles" on Justia Law