World News – CA – Judge dismisses a lawsuit challenging California household pot delivery

LOS ANGELES (AP) – In what could be a temporary victory for the legal cannabis industry in California, a judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to overturn a state rule allowing home delivery statewide, even in communities that banned marijuana sales Commercial.

The court challenge raised a fundamental question in the country’s largest legal market: Where can you buy it? The state previously provided that licensed extradition of « any jurisdiction » could be made within California.

But a group of local governments behind the legal challenge argued that the state was usurping its power to regulate marijuana sales within its borders..

While cities argued that the state ruling « removes local regulatory authority », Fresno County Supreme Court Judge Rosemary McGuire agreed with the state that local laws and regulations « do not occupy the same area and are not in conflict. ».

And she concluded with the order on Tuesday that without conflict, « This matter is not ready for adjudication. ».

McGuire agreed with the state that the regulation applies to state cannabis license holders, not to local governments that have filed the lawsuit.

She added that the state regulation « does not impose on local authorities to do anything or prevent them from doing anything. ». « It does not govern the local authorities . . . To allow delivery. It also does not override their local laws prohibiting or regulating delivery.

But attorney Steve Churchwell, who represented local governments, said the ruling did not affect the rights of cities and counties to regulate – or completely prohibit – the delivery of cannabis within their borders.

McGuire noted that the state rule « does not affect the rights of any (local governments) to regulate the delivery of hemp or hemp. “Local jurisdictions can enforce regulatory and health and safety standards that are stricter than state laws.

The judge’s reference to the “maturity” of the case seems to indicate that the debate may not be over.

Ellen Coombe, deputy director of the California chapter of the National Marijuana Law Reform Organization, known as NORML, described the decision as a victory for entertainment and medical users. . « It goes beyond the local control of a city to say that someone who lives there cannot receive a delivery from a licensed company, » she said in an email..

Cannabis attorney Hillary Brecken said the ruling maintains the status quo. Cities remain free to block delivery, but if they provide licensed service to a city blocking them, government regulators will not participate in enforcement. She said that would fall to the local authorities.

Brecken said in an email that the ruling « doesn’t really do anything to advance the interests of the industry or increase consumers’ access to the state’s legal cannabis. ».

Josh Drayton of the California Cannabis Industry Association said the delivery problem will continue to evolve, along with the market..

“It would be left to interpretation and move forward . « I don’t think we’re done with this discussion, » Drayton said.. It has not been settled. We are still in the midst of a cultural shift with cannabis.

When the state adopted the delivery rule in 2019, the California City Federation and police chiefs complained that unrestricted home deliveries would create an unsupervised market of largely hidden pot transactions, while undermining local oversight guaranteed in a 2016 law that enacted Large-scale sales of marijuana.

Marijuana companies and consumers have paid for home delivery because vast swaths of the state have banned pot commercial activity or have not established rules to allow legal sales, leading to the creation of what are known as deserts of pot. Residents in those areas are virtually cut off from legal marijuana purchases.

California Hemp Law, California Office of Cannabis Control