Civil Litigation - Orange County - Lake Forest Collectives and their Appeal

Lake Forest Litigation - Cannabis Law Group Fights and Succeeds In Keeping Lake Forest Wellness Center and Collective ("LFWCC") and Independent Collective of Orange County ("ICOC") Open.

In November 2009, the city of Lake Forest attempted to rid the city of all of its known medical marijuana dispensaries. The city sent cease and desist letters, which they then followed up with lawsuits against all of the city collectives that remained open. Many collectives closed after being served with the lawsuit, but some stayed and fought the city. Cannabis Law Group represented one collective that stood its ground - Lake Forest Wellness Center and Collective ("LFWCC"). We fought the city tooth and nail. The city won the first round of the battle and convinced the Superior Court Judge in May 2010 to issue an order to shut down all of the collectives in Lake Forest. At that point, many more collectives closed their doors, but our client, LFWCC, did not. Instead of closing its doors, which would have resulted in countless qualified patients going without quality medication, Cannabis Law Group on behalf of LFWCC, and our then newly acquired additional client Independent Collective of Orange County ("ICOC") filed a Writ of Supersedeas. A Writ of Supersedeas was LFWCC and ICOC's requests to the Fourth District Court of Appeal asking the Court of Appeal to suspend the lower courts order to shut down.

In June 2010, the Fourth District Court of Appeals granted our client LFWCC and ICOC's Writ of Supersedeas, which meant that the shut down order issued by the Superior Court Judge was now temporarily "stayed," or stopped, by the Court of Appeal until it rules on the Writ of Supersedeas. This result means that our clients could now legally remain open for business until the Court of Appeal decides the issue, which may take years. Click here to view the Courts Order

You can imagine how exciting it was for LFWCC and ICOC to know that they would be able to continue to provide their patients with the medicine they need and not have to worry about being in violation of the City of Lake Forest's unconstitutional law against medical marijuana collectives for the time being.

At this time, the Court of Appeal is reviewing the party's appellate briefs and arguments. The court will likely set a hearing date for oral argument to take place sometime in 2011 or perhaps 2012; a hearing we anticipate will garner much media attention as we respectfully hope to receive a decision from the court on the ultimate question - whether it is legal for cities and counties to ban medical marijuana dispensaries.

We have argued vigorously to the Court that medical marijuana bans are unconstitutional because the State's medical marijuana laws "preempt," or trump, cities bans and moratoriums. Our medical marijuana lawyers are fighting every day in an effort to convince cities and counties that it is time to regulate medical marijuana collectives by zoning and taxing them. Bans are unconstitutional because they are in contradiction with the state medical marijuana laws, adopted by the people of California, to provide safe access to patients.

While our lawsuit is being reviewed by the Appeals court, our clients graciously continue to provide safe access for patients in Lake Forest and greater Orange County. The medical marijuana lawyers at Cannabis Law Group are extremely proud to have been able to help the patients and collective members of both LFWCC and now ICOC medical marijuana collectives.

We will fight to do all we can so that every collective can lawfully provide life saving medicine to California qualified patients. We are fighting every day for medical marijuana patients and collectives and can represent you and your collective in your fight to legally dispense medical marijuana in accordance with our great state of California's medical marijuana laws.

If your collective is receiving cease and desist letters from your city, or is receiving threats from local law enforcement, call Cannabis Law Group today at 949-375-4734.