City Takes Legal Action Against Pot Club

While state lawmakers review whether local governments can shut down medicinal marijuana dispensaries, the City of Union City is doing what it can in the meantime to rid itself of what it believes to be a threat to the public health, safety and welfare of the community.

The city recently filed a civil complaint with the Alameda County Superior Court in an effort to stop the operations of CHA Wellness Center, a medical marijuana dispensary that opened Jan. 18 at 34695 Alvarado-Niles Rd.

According to City Attorney Benjamin Reyes, a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for Thursday morning at Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland was moved to next Tuesday at 9 a.m.

The court hearing comes after City Council extended a moratorium Tuesday night . The original moratorium, passed Jan. 24, was set for 45 days and will expire March 9. The extension will kick in immediately after for a period of 10 months and 15 days.

“We’re hoping the Supreme Court will grant review and hearing in that time frame,” Reyes said.

If necessary, the city can extend the ban for another year.

According to Reyes, the city is taking these measures because there is “an absence of law” on the matter due to the California Supreme Court’s reviewing a lower court ruling in Riverside that gives local governments the right to ban dispensaries. The ruling, issued last November by the Fourth District Court of Appeal in southern California, has been used by other cities throughout the state to shut down pot clubs.

Reyes said CHA could present a danger to the community if left unregulated.

According to court documents, the city argues that pot clubs are a public nuisance and that “the operation of the collective unnecessarily exposes the City and its residents to adverse secondary effects caused by medical marijuana dispensaries, including but not limited to increased crime, illegal drug transactions and the degradation of quality of life.”

However, a request for a temporary restraining order against CHA filed by the City of Union City on Feb. 6 was denied by Superior Court Judge Lawrence Appel due to insufficient evidence of irreparable harm, according to court documents.

Representatives of CHA argue that the collective operates in a safe and professional manner, and that the collective is within its legal bounds to operate.

According to a sworn declaration filed Feb. 21 by Tawnya Farage, a member of CHA’s board of directors, CHA was approved for a business license in Jan. 2011 to distribute “herbal remedies.”

Farage noted that Union City’s municipal code doesn’t directly address the issue of medical marijuana dispensaries.

City regulations, however, require that all businesses in Union City be compliant with federal regulations, Reyes said. Though pot clubs are allowed to distribute medicinal marijuana in the state of California under Proposition 215, it is still considered illegal under federal law.

Despite the legal dispute, CHA continues to operate.

According to Farage’s statement, CHA has served 3,000 patients since it opened, with 100 patients coming in daily. Patients pick up their marijuana and leave without loitering, she said.

CHA also provides nearly a dozen “good and decent jobs,” Farage wrote.

Though Thursday’s hearing was delayed, Reyes said the city is eager to hear the court’s decision.

“The City is ready to go and will continue to press its case to shut down the unpermitted medical marijuana clinic,” Reyes said.