[420 Girl]

The city has extended a temporary ban on medical marijuana dispensaries that it enacted in late July.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to extend the 45-day moratorium another 10 months and 15 days for a total of one year.

City Attorney Richard Holdaway advised the council to wait for the outcome of a court case involving the city of Anaheim that will provide clarification as to how Loma Linda should proceed with its own rules and regulations.

"The best we can do is place everything on hold until the court makes its decision," Councilman Robert Ziprick said. "Then we would have a much better picture what our rights and responsibilities are in this regard."

No dispensaries now exist in Loma Linda, but city officials say they have received several inquiries from prospective marijuana dispensary operators.

Lanny Swerdlow, a local medical marijuana activist, criticized the moratorium, noting that the council has not directed the Planning Department to draft an ordinance to allow the dispensaries.

"The moratorium is not to develop regulations like they claim it is," Swerdlow said. "It's just a subterfuge for banning them, which they cannot do legally."

San Bernardino County has its own moratorium in place until June 19, 2010 to give the county time to set guidelines for medical marijuana dispensaries.

Despite the ban, the county's Public Health Department last month started issuing medical-marijuana identification cards for qualified patients and caregivers.

State law does not expressly provide for, or prohibit, the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, Holdaway wrote in a report to the council. Some cities have adopted provisions allowing patients to obtain marijuana for medical use.

Medical marijuana facilities are illegal under federal law, although the U.S. Supreme Court in May declined to hear a lawsuit filed jointly in 2006 by San Bernardino and San Diego counties challenging California's Compassionate Use Act.

The question of whether cities and counties must allow dispensaries under state law is the subject of the lawsuit being heard by the Fourth District Court of Appeal. Oral arguments are set for Sept. 23 in the case, Qualified Patients Association versus City of Anaheim. A decision is expected by the end of the year.

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