Pubdate: Tue, 05 Jul 2005 Source: San Gabriel Valley Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2005 San Gabriel Valley Tribune Contact: http://www.sgvtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,205%257E12239%257E,00.html Website: http://www.sgvtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3725 Author: Shirley Hsu, Staff Writer Cited: Americans for Safe Access ( www.safeaccessnow.org ) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) COURT DECIDES FATE OF POT CLUB County Seeks Two-Year Ban The first medical marijuana dispensary in the San Gabriel Valley will go head to head with the county today when a judge decides whether it can dispense the drug to legitimate patients. The county, which already won a three-week restraining order prohibiting the California Medical Caregivers Association from distributing marijuana but not from registering patients, will seek an injunction of up to two years to halt its operations. Dispensary operators Don Duncan and David Nam had hoped to open the facility at 15838 Halliburton Road in Hacienda Heights because there is little access to the drug for sick people living in eastern Los Angeles County, they said. But when county officials learned of their intentions to open in early May, they moved quickly to block it, passing an emergency moratorium on dispensaries in unincorporated county areas. CMCA operators are expected to try to show they opened before the moratorium passed May 31, making them exempt. The county says inspectors who visited the site found no business sign or any activity. "It's a unique situation,' said Rebecca Saltzman, executive assistant for Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group. Usually, people looking to open a dispensary approach the city before beginning preparations to open; the city often quickly passes a moratorium before they have a chance to open. There are 48 cities and counties with moratoriums, according to ASA. But it is hard to prove when a dispensary is open, because they do not operate like normal businesses, she said. In order to protect themselves from federal prosecution, they generally don't keep sales receipts, although state law allows "just compensation' for dispensary operators, she said. They often don't advertise with signs and operate by appointment only. Three pot clubs in San Francisco have been raided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration since the Supreme Court ruled June 6 against medical marijuana users Angel Raich and Diane Monson. The city of San Francisco is now tightening regulations on its some 40 pot clubs, many of which operate without the proper zoning permits, Saltzman said. The county's moratorium on dispensaries expires in about two weeks, and county supervisors are "very likely' to vote to extend it for up to two years on July 12, said David Sommers, spokesman for Supervisor Don Knabe. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which patrols Hacienda Heights, has kept an eye outside of the facility to make sure no business is conducted, which would violate the restraining order, said Deputy Brian Sanford.