Judge Delivers Disappointment to Medical Marijuana Industry in California

On August 11, 2011, a Tulare County Superior Court judge in California ruled that a marijuana collective cannot operate on land zoned for agricultural purposes. Judge Paul Vortmann stated, “In this state, marijuana has never been classified as a crop or horticultural product.”

The defendants in the case were the Foothill Growers Association medical marijuana collective, which rented a building south of Ivanhoe in an agricultural zone. The building functioned as a dispensary, in which the collective grew plants. Medicinal marijuana is currently not identified as an agriculture crop by the California Department of Food and Agriculture nor is it listed in any of the annual county crop reports.

Jon Gettman is a marijuana legalization advocate who produced a report back in 2006 which showed that marijuana produced $35.8 billion a year, topping both wheat and corn as the nation’s top cash crop. This is the first time that the question of whether medicinal marijuana is an agricultural crop has been addressed in court.

The effect of the ruling is that medicinal marijuana dispensaries cannot operate in non-commercial and manufacturing zones and will be fined as well as removed from the property. Current proposal ballot initiatives include provisions that would consider marijuana as an agricultural crop as well as subject to current agricultural taxes and regulations and would prohibit zoning restrictions.

Despite the fact that such a change would mean those involved in the medical marijuana industry would be subject to new taxes, industry advocates seem to prefer that as compared to the substantial zoning burdens that accompany its current status. Allowing the cultivation of marijuana on land zoned for agriculture will allow marijuana growers much more latitude in determining where to operate. No appeals court has yet heard the issue, so the remains a chance that this ruling will be overturned in the near future.