Browne

In recent years, there has been considerable litigation over the regulation, and in some cases the outright ban, of medical marijuana dispensaries. (See, e.g., City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient’s Health & Wellness Center, Inc. (2011) 200 Cal.App.4th 885 [ 133 Cal.Rptr.3d 363 ], review granted Jan. 18, 2012, S198638, 136 Cal.Rptr.3d 667 , 268 P.3d 1065 ; City of Lake Forest v. Evergreen Holistic Collective (2012) 203 Cal.App.4th 1413 [ 138 Cal.Rptr.3d 332 ], review granted May 16, 2012, S201454, 140 Cal.Rptr.3d 795 , 275 P.3d 1266 .) This case, which comes from a rural county, involves the county’s attempt to regulate the cultivation of medical marijuana rather than its distribution.

In response to concerns about the unregulated cultivation of marijuana in Tehama County, the Board of Supervisors of Tehama County passed ordinance No. 1936 regulating marijuana cultivation (the Ordinance). Petitioners, *711 a group of individuals who use medical marijuana and are “qualified patients,” 1 petitioned for a writ of mandate or prohibition “to set aside and withdraw and rescind” the Ordinance. They asserted the Ordinance was unconstitutional on its face because it…