Court Decision Leaves San Leandro Free to Regulate Or Ban Pot Clinics

A unanimous ruling issued Monday by the California Supreme Court allows cities and counties to decide whether or not to allow medical marijuana dispensaries within their borders.

The ruling puts a simmering San Leandro controversy back on the front burner.

The court said the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, also known as Proposition 215, and a related 2003 state law do not require local governments to allow pot dispensaries inside their borders.

Currently, 44 California cities, including Oakland, Martinez, San Jose, San Francisco and Santa Rosa, allow and regulate dispensaries according to Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based marijuana advocacy group.

Another 193 cities, including more than 40 in the greater Bay Area, ban such dispensaries, according to the group.

San Leandro has been wrestling with the issue since at least November 2010, according to a city web site. 

As it stands now the city's staff has been directed to create an ordinance allowing for two dispensaries to be located in San Leandro. The map with this story shows the limited areas where such dspensaries could exist.

City Attorney Rich Pio Roda said work on the ordinance is pretty much done but lawmakers have been awaiting this decision before proceeding further. 

Pio Roda said he expects the council will soon tell staff whether to proceed with the ordinance, make some changes, or take some another direction.

The last public event on the topic was a town hall meeting at the San Leandro Senior Community Center that gave supporters and opponents a chance to offer  sharply differing views.