California Court of Appeal

In plaintiffs' action against the City of Anaheim, seeking a declaratory judgment that state's medical marijuana laws preempted the city's ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries within the city, trial court's order sustaining the city's demurrer to plaintiffs' complaint without leave to amend is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) trial court correctly concluded plaintiffs failed to state a cause of action under the Unruh Act, which is aimed at "business establishments," not local government legislative acts; and 2) trial court erred as a matter of law in concluding federal regulation of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act preempted California's decision in the Compassionate Use Act and the Medical Marijuana Program Act to decriminalize specific medical marijuana activities under state law.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/18/2010
• Published 08/18/2010

Judges

• ARONSON

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Anthony Curiale, Jack L. White