Malinda Traudt's Attorney Hails Small Victory in Blind Woman's Medical Marijuana Suit

​The 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana has stopped a lower court hearing that could have immediately shut down a Capistrano Beach medical marijuana dispensary.

The appellate justices' temporary stay of Tuesday's scheduled preliminary-injunction hearing is related to the lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court by attorneys for a San Clemente woman who was born with epilepsy, blindness and cerebral palsy and is a patient of Beach Cities Collective.

From Beach Cities Collective's Facebook page

​As we told you last month, the suit claims the city of Dana Point's dispensary ban unconstitutionally interferes with 29-year-old Malinda Traudt's fundamental rights to life and safety under the California Constitution.

The Orange County Register's Vik Jolly is all over the case.

Local judges are basing decisions on the fate of dispensaries on rulings being issued up and down the state. Jeff Schwartz, Traudt's lawyer, explains that the appellate justices did not want to be hamstrung by lower court rulings in future appeals, so they stepped in and issued the temporary stay.

Schwartz and attorneys fighting dispensary bans in Dana Point and elsewhere hailed the appellate action as a victory, although much more time, resources and filings must be spent in Orange County Superior and appellate courtrooms as the ban battle rages on. Many indicate they represent patients with circumstances similar to Traudt's.

Traditional medications did not stop the pain suffered when Traudt came down with osteoporosis in the last two years. However, using cannabis supplied by Beach Cities Collective brought her dramatic relief, Schwartz has said.

Traudt's family had been told to look for hospice before she turned to medical marijuana. Her mother, Shelly White, pushed her into Beach Cities instead--and discovered what she calls "life-saving medicine."

But Dana Point in March sued six medical marijuana dispensaries in an effort to shut them down, arguing such clinics are not allowed under municipal code. Traudt's suit seeks a permanent injunction preventing the city from attempting to shut down the collective.

If her daughter loses in court, White has told Jolly, "I guess I'll have to buy it from the drug dealers."