Prohibition vs. Democracy: the County of San Diego and medical marijuana

The County of San Diego recently announced that it would not implement a California law that requires counties to create a medical marijuana identification program. First county supervisors said medical marijuana patients would have to sue them to get identification cards, but then the county changed its position after the local newspaper suggested the county should sue the state for declaratory judgment, which is what they decided to do. As we wait for this litigation to start, now is a good time to consider the merits and demerits of the position of the County of San Diego regarding medical...