Pubdate: Sat, 07 May 2005
Source: Contra Costa Times (CA)
Copyright: 2005 Knight Ridder
Contact:  http://www.contracostatimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/96
Author: Tom Lochner, Contra Costa Times
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MARIJUANA DISPENSARY MAINTAINS LOW PROFILE

A medical marijuana dispensary has thrived for several months in downtown 
Concord with few apparent ripples in the surrounding neighborhood, even as 
authorities seek ways to regulate it.

The opening of MariCare in January was a "lifesaver," said Bonnie Holmes, 
who has used marijuana for a year to fight nausea from the medication she 
takes for her back.

"The marijuana gives me an appetite so I don't lose too much weight," said 
Holmes, 35, of Discovery Bay, who suffers from what she described as 
"collapsing rods" after unsuccessful back surgery in 2002. Before MariCare 
opened, "I would travel to San Francisco and Oakland."

MariCare serves about 600 patients, said owner Demetrio, who declined to 
give his last name.

City officials have known about MariCare for some time, even though it 
lacks a business license. Police heard about the dispensary from contacts 
in the community about two months ago, said Lt. David Chilimidos. Planning 
Manager Deborah Raines said she learned of it from someone on the city staff.

Chilimidos said the dispensary generated no emergency calls for service 
during any of his four weekly shifts as operations commander. Raines also 
said she had not heard of any complaints.

Although the city ordinarily does not permit operation of any business not 
covered in its code, state law issues make the city's situation delicate, 
Raines said.

State voters in 1996 approved possession and cultivation of marijuana for 
medical use on a doctor's recommendation. The following year, Concord 
imposed a 12-month moratorium on dispensaries to gain time to craft an 
ordinance after someone inquired about locating one in the city.

"Then it sort of lapsed," Raines said. No ordinance emerged from the 
moratorium, which expired in July 1998. "I don't know why we didn't follow up."

She said the city attorney's office is working on a legal strategy.

City Attorney Craig Labadie and his staff were out of the office Thursday 
and Friday.

Concord is among a slew of California cities caught in a regulatory void 
with zoning ordinances that do not mention marijuana dispensaries. This 
week, the Albany and Pinole City Councils imposed moratoriums.

MariCare's patients suffer a gamut of ailments including cancer, multiple 
sclerosis, depression and severe pain, Demetrio said. He went into the 
business in part, he said, because he witnessed his late sister in agony 
for years after a botched operation on her esophagus.

He sells sativa and indica varieties of marijuana, as well as hybrids and 
mixes for smoking. He also sells "edibles" such as marijuana cookies and 
candy bars, and hashish.

He said he checks customers' identifications and they must have a letter 
from their doctor recommending marijuana. He said he calls the doctors to 
double-check.

He declined to say how many customers he sees daily.

Holmes said she drops by once a month. Another customer, Dru Gann, 27, of 
Concord, comes to MariCare three times a week.

"It takes me 15 minutes to walk there," Gann said. "Better than 45 minutes 
on BART and $6" to get to Oakland, San Leandro or San Francisco.

Gann, accidentally shot in the head 10 years ago, has taken marijuana for 
seven years because of frequent headaches and insomnia.

"The reason why I choose to go with the cannabis is I can still function," 
Gann said. "When I was trying to do regular medicine -- I was on Percocet 
- -- it just lambastes you for the whole day."

Rick Barros, 50, of Martinez, said he has "dealt with many a dispensary." 
"This one is the cleanest," he said. "It feels safe."

He suffers from what he describes as "a myriad of physical things." He is 
diabetic, has hypertension, suffers from depression and has lost 80 pounds.

"I've had so many pills: Zoloft, Paxil, and nothing helped the depression, 
so the diabetes got really bad, out of control," Barros said. "The 
marijuana doesn't deal with the depression either but it helps me to eat." 
His main focus for using marijuana is "that I'm able to eat so I don't die 
from diabetes complications.

"This was something that was really needed in Contra Costa County," Barros 
said.

"You'd be amazed to know how many people traveled to the other side of the 
Bay." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake