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BB&K's Jeffrey Dunn Wins Another Medical Marijuana Case
BB&K In The News
Judge Orders Dispensaries in Orange County City to Close
MAY 13, 2010
The Associated Press
LAKE FOREST, Calif.—A judge on Wednesday ordered 10 medical marijuana dispensaries in Lake Forest to shut down, saying the Southern California city's municipal code doesn't allow that type of business.
Orange County Superior Court Judge David Chaffee granted a preliminary injunction that will force the pot clinics to close. However, it wasn't immediately known when that may occur.
In his ruling, Chafee said Lake Forest can't have a land use law that permits pot clinics since marijuana is illegal under federal law. California voters approved a ballot initiative in 1996 that allows marijuana for medicinal use.
"To allow or require the operation of businesses that engage in the sale of substances made illegal under federal law as Schedule I drugs flies in the face of long standing principles of federal law supremacy as provided by the Constitution," Chaffee said.
Attorney Jeffrey Dunn, who represented the city of Lake Forest, said he's pleased with the decision.
"This is a land use issue," Dunn said. "This ruling is consistent with state law that says cities have the ability to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries under their land use authority."
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