Qualified Patients Assn. v. City of Anaheim
Qualified Patients Association, a former medical marijuana dispensary, and its owner and operator, Lance Mowdy, (collectively, QPA) appeal from the trial court’s judgment denying their declaratory relief action in which they argued state medical marijuana law preempted a City of Anaheim (city) ordinance banning medical marijuana dispensaries. During the pendency of this appeal, the California Supreme Court concluded in City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health & Wellness Center, Inc. (2013) 56 Cal.4th 729 (Inland Empire) that local governments may ban medical marijuana dispensaries without triggering preemption by the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (CUA; Health & Saf. Code, § 11362.5; all further statutory references are to this code unless noted) or the California’s Medical Marijuana Program (MMP; § 11362.7 et seq.).
In supplemental briefing, QPA contends Inland Empire is not dispositive because it did not resolve whether state medical marijuana law preempts local governments from enforcing dispensary bans with misdemeanor penalties typically used to enforce other zoning bans. In a similar vein, QPA argues Inland Empire left unanswered other related questions, including: (1) whether a city “can remove a defense[] created by the MMP[]â€; (2) “[w]hether Anaheim can do indirectly what it cannot do directly;†(3) whether Anaheim’s ordinance “burdens criminal defenses allowed by the MMP[]â€; and (4) whether Anaheim’s ordinance is “overbroad.†These contentions, however, are simply variations on QPA’s core preemption claim. Inland Empire determined state medical marijuana law does not preempt total local bans, and we are bound by that conclusion. (Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962) 57 Cal.2d 450, 455 (Auto Equity).) We therefore affirm the judgment.
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