Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jan 2004
Source: Tri-Valley Herald (CA)
Copyright: 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.trivalleyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/742
Author: Michelle Meyers, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

DONOR KEEPS MARIJUANA DISPENSARY ALIVE

Businessman Gives $11,000

HAYWARD -- A 30-year-old Hayward businessman spent $11,000 to keep Hayward 
Hempery owner Cheryl Adams -- someone he had never met -- from being 
evicted from her downtown shop.

The man, a Tennyson High School graduate, said he had once visited The 
Hempery and its medical marijuana dispensary. A medical marijuana patient 
himself, he read with interest about her business' potential demise in an 
ANG Newspapers' publication and decided to bail her out, he said.

"It's the oldest (dispensary) in town, and I thought it would be a shame to 
let it go," he explained.

The lifetime Hayward resident, who asked that his name not be published, 
said he was a big proponent of Proposition 215, which legalized pot in 
California for medicinal purposes. His father had his stomach removed due 
to cancer and was given just four months to live, he said.

Marijuana made it easier for his father to eat and he ended up living for 
two years, he said.

Adams and the man both said they consider one another partners in the 
business, located on the corner of Foothill Boulevard and B Street.

Adams was forced to vacate the building at the end of last year because she 
was behind several months in rent, said Mountain View Realtor and property 
owner Ron Ikebe. She had until sometime this week to come up with the money 
before the eviction became final.

The man went into Ikebe's lawyer's office in San Jose on Tuesday and gave 
him a cashier's check, Ikebe confirmed.

Adams said she was surprised, but happy, not just for the man's willingness 
to help, but to have a partner to help run the shop. She's been cleaning up 
the shop after a recent burglary and vandalism, and hopes to open again by 
Monday, she said.

In the meantime, the city notified Ikebe that he had to remove the stucco 
overhang on the building, which was starting to come loose. So some 
construction is ongoing.

Adams and her Hayward Patient Group dispensary have been in the spotlight 
lately as the City Council struggled to come up with a way to allow her 
dispensary and two others to exist in combination with conflicting state 
and federal drug laws and efforts to revive downtown. Possibly complicating 
the issue could be Adams' arrest in Newark last month on felony marijuana 
possession charges. Plus, her business has been the victim of several 
recent burglaries. The City Council agreed last month to grandfather in the 
three dispensaries, all of which had been operating in violation of the 
city's zoning law. According to the agreement, Adams' dispensary and the 
neighboring Local Patients Cooperative are allowed to operate for three 
years, under certain conditions. Hayward Patients' Resource Center (HPRC), 
also nearby on Foothill Boulevard, is allowed to operate for one year.

If one of the other dispensaries closes in the upcoming year, however, HPRC 
can stay open for three years, the agreement states. So the possibility of 
The Hempery's closure gave HPRC's some hope its future could be more certain.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom