State Supreme Court Hearing On Pot Dispensaries Could Affect Redwood City

Whether cities such as Redwood City can ban medical marijuana dispensaries will be the topic of a high-stakes court hearing.

On Tuesday, the California Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether communities can prohibit these marijuana facilities in light of the 1996 voter-approved law legalizing pot for medicinal uses in California.

As detailed in a San Jose Mercury News story, the hearing stems from a Southern California case where a wellness center sued to overturn Riverside's ban on marijuana dispensaries.

Redwood City is one of more than 10 Peninsula and South Bay cities that have some sort of prohibition in place.

Redwood City adopted an ordinance in 2011 that banned medical marijuana dispensaries for two years, giving city staff a period to study its land use policy to determine whether there are acceptable places in the city for pot clubs to locate.

City leaders also wanted to wait on allowing dispensaries until state and federal marijuana laws align.

Other Santa Clara and San Mateo cities with bans are East Palo Alto, Gilroy, Hollister, Los Gatos, Millbrae, Morgan Hill, Palo Alto, San Bruno, South San Francisco and Sunnyvale.

There are 21 East Bay cities with bans and two on the Monterey Bay that prohibit medicinal marijuana dispensaries.

The state Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in San Francisco. A decision is expected in the spring.