| Photo: PR Newswire |
| Medical marijuana patient Malinda Traudt is suing the City of Dana Point as it threatens to shut down all dispensaries in the city. |
Malinda Traudt, a blind and wheelchair-bound medical marijuana patient in Dana Point, California, has filed suit after the city threatened to shut down the collective where she gets the medical marijuana needed to stay alive and manage her pain.
Malinda was born with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, total blindness, and severe cognitive delays. Now 29 years old, she has been in a wheelchair her entire life.
Recently, she was diagnosed with severe osteoporosis, a degenerative bone disease. Malinda’s doctor gave her pain medication but, within hours, her kidneys began shutting down, her lungs filled with fluid causing pneumonia, she developed a high fever, and vomited for three straight days. Malinda’s physician recommended that her mother contact a hospice to arrange for Malinda’s final hours.
In a last-ditch effort to keep Malinda alive while managing her pain, Malinda’s mother and her pain specialist replaced the pain medication with medical marijuana. Almost immediately, Malinda’s fever subsided, she stopped vomiting, and her suffering lessened. Within days, she began to recover.
Malinda’s kidneys regained function, she was able to eat, and she began smiling again. Her pain became manageable and her quality of life improved significantly.
Malinda, a medical marijuana patient, is a member of the Beach Cities Collective in Dana Point. Malinda’s mother pushes her, in her wheelchair, to the collective to obtain her life-saving medicine.
Unfortunately, Dana Point, in a misguided attempt, is trying to close Beach Cities Collective, along with all the dispensaries in that city.
Although numerous lawsuits have been filed by dispensaries, Malinda’s is the first by a patient alleging that the ban unconstitutionally interferes with her fundamental rights to life and safety under the California Constitution.
| Schwartz Law, P.C. |
| Attorney Jeff Schwartz: “The city almost always loses” |
”When a dispensary challenges a ban, the city simply has to show that the ban serves a legitimate purpose, such as reducing crime, loitering, or traffic,” said Malinda’s attorney, Jeff Schwartz. “However, when a city interferes with a person’s fundamental, constitutional rights, it must prove that the ban serves a compelling public interest and is narrowly tailored to avoid interfering with other civil rights,” Schwartz said.
“And, the city almost always loses,” Schwartz added.
For more information or a copy of the lawsuit, contact Jeff Schwartz at 888-7300-LAW or email [email protected].