BOULDER — Three medical marijuana dispensaries have lost their fight against the city of Longmont.
Boulder District Judge Ingrid Bakke on Friday dismissed the dispensaries’ lawsuit against the city, in a ruling that mirrored her Aug. 19 decision to not block the city’s ban of marijuana-related businesses. Bakke ruled the ban neither violated constitutional rights nor constituted an illegal “taking” of property.
“The court concludes that there is no state constitutional right to dispense medical marijuana,” Bakke wrote in her decision. “In addition, there is no federal constitutional right to operate a medical marijuana facility or to dispense medical marijuana.”
City attorney Eugene Mei said he was pleased with the ruling.
“It’s a little early for Christmas, but it’s put a little pep in my step this weekend to have this behind us,” Mei said.
The dispensaries have 45 days to file an appeal.
New Age Wellness, Colorado Patients First and The Longmont Apothecary sued the city July 29, following a failed petition to put a repeal of the ban on the November ballot. All three closed on Aug. 19 after Bakke refused to issue a preliminary injunction, which would have protected the businesses for the duration of the case.
The dispensaries had sought an injunction and damages from the city.
Amendment 20 of the Colorado Constitution allows the possession of marijuana for medical treatment of certain conditions, though the drug remains illegal under federal law. A Colorado Court of Appeals decision in Beinor vs. Industrial Claims Appeals Office ruled that the state right is a narrow one, offering limited protection from criminal prosecution, but not an absolute right to the use and supply of the drug.
“If there’s not a right of that nature (for patients) in Amendment 20 … how can there be a right of a similar nature for dispensaries?” attorney Thomas Lyons argued for the city Aug. 19.
Bakke’s ruling Friday agreed. She also said the ban did not qualify as a taking of private property since the city law had a legitimate purpose to protect health, safety and welfare, and only prohibited one type of activity on the property.
A claim that the city violated its own law on “nonconforming uses” was also set aside. “This court previously noted that this is not a zoning case,” Bakke wrote. “No zoning activity or impact on any vested right arose from the City of Longmont’s decision to adopt and implement (the dispensary ban).”
The dispensary owners could not be reached for comment.
Longmont’s first dispensary, The Longmont Apothecary, opened in December 2008, with several others following in 2009. The city issued a moratorium on new marijuana-related businesses in October, 2009 and approved a complete ban last May.
Scott Rochat can be reached at 303-684-5220 or srochat@times-call.com.
