The state Supreme Court is set to issue a decision today on whether the city of Riverside is legally allowed to ban medical marijuana dispensaries through zoning laws. The decision will could set a precedent for numerous other cases in California, including in the Town of Yucca Valley, questioning the use of zoning to ban dispensaries. Medical marijuana patients were given the right to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal medical use after voters passed Proposition 215 – The Compassionate Use Act of 1996. However, cities have argued Proposition 215 does not prohibit them from creating ordinances to ban dispensaries. More than 175 cities and 20 counties in California have banned retail pot shops, according to Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group.
