Six Stanislaus County cities join lawsuit against California marijuana agency

Six Stanislaus County cities have joined a group of 25 California local governments seeking to invalidate state rules that allow marijuana deliveries, despite local regulations against them. Turlock, Ceres, Newman, Oakdale, Patterson and Riverbank are taking part.

Twenty-four cities and Santa Cruz County announced Friday they are part of the lawsuit filed in Fresno County Superior Court. According to SIMPL, the Safe Implementation of Marijuana Policy for Local Government, the group wants to stop recent regulations by the state Bureau of Cannabis Control that “violate the will of the voters and the law by purporting to allow delivery of ... cannabis ... even in those communities that have regulated or banned commercial cannabis.”

Others are Atwater, Sonora, Tracy, Angels Camp, Clovis, Dixon, Vacaville, Agoura Hills, Arcadia, Beverly Hills, Covina, Downey, McFarland, Palmdale, Riverside, San Pablo, Tehachapi and Temecula.

The lawsuit argues a key promise of Proposition 64, the measure which legalized commercial cannabis, was that local jurisdictions would have the right to regulate or prohibit cannabis deliveries.

“By disregarding local governments’ reasonable regulatory authority on cannabis deliveries, the BCC has imposed a one-size-fits-all approach to cannabis regulation,” said Carolyn Coleman, executive director of the League of California Cities.

This story was originally published April 5, 2019 at 9:03 AM with the headline "Six Stanislaus County cities join lawsuit against California marijuana agency."