6:35pm | Reporting by Greggory Moore | On Wednesday, City Prosecutor Doug Haubert and City Attorney Robert Shannon provided Long Beach Post with preliminary remarks on the effect the Pack decision will have on medical marijuana in Long Beach.
Haubert stated that he is currently analyzing the decision, in part to determine the effect it will have on the open misdemeanor prosecutions his office has against collectives and management members of collectives.
“It will obviously have a significant effect on enforcement of [the ordinance],” he said. “But until I’ve done that analysis, I don’t have any comment.”
Shannon outlined the potential ways in which the City can move forward.
“There are a number of options,” he said. “We can petition the [California] Supreme Court, we can let the decision stand as it is, we can go back to the superior court and salvage whatever could be left of the ordinance. We could repeal the ordinance, [which] would be consistent with the decision to enact a complete ban on medical marijuana. … But in terms of what action we’ll take, that is up to the client [i.e., the City of Long Beach]. … We’re still analyzing the case, but the bottom line is that we’ll be taking it to the city council for their determination as to where to proceed from here.”
Shannon also briefly discussed the Pack opinion itself.
“The essence of the [Pack] decision is that the City cannot authorize and regulate what the law prohibits,” he said. “That issue has always been out there, and, frankly, has not been thoroughly confronted by the courts. [Now] finally they have. “
When asked about the City’s continuing to conduct enforcement actions against collective for operating without a permit, Shannon says that while he personally has not yet he has not instructed the City to cease doing so, “I think it would be prudent not to enforce 5.87.020 [viz., the section of the municipal code dealing with this issue]. I think everybody understands that.”
Business Relations Manager Erik Sund, who has personally overseen several of the enforcement actions against collectives, did not immediately reply to Long Beach Post’s request for comment.