Pubdate: Sun, 12 Nov 2006
Source: Pasadena Star-News, The (CA)
Copyright: 2006 Pasadena Star News
Contact: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/writealetter
Website: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/728
Author: Mary Frances Gurton

GETTING TOUGH ON POT OUTLETS

Local Dispensaries Facing Strict Codes

PASADENA - Here, near the 10th anniversary of  voter-approved
medicinal marijuana in California, the  going is rough for purveyors
in the San Gabriel Valley.  The two latest dispensaries opened and
quickly shut  down due to county permit violations.

"Medical functions belong in a medical facility to  protect the public
as well as patients," said Tony  Bell, spokesman for county Supervisor
Michael  Antonovich. "We believe these current operators'  intention
is to circumvent the law. We have to be  vigilant, and our office will
pursue every legal avenue  ."

County code mandates that medicinal marijuana  dispensaries possess a
business license and  conditional-use permit, both required since a
moratorium approved unanimously in June 2005 by the  Board of
Supervisors was lifted in June of this year,  officials said.

On Wednesday, Alternative Caregivers of Pasadena closed  shop after
receiving a violation notice from county  officials.

"They were conducting a medical marijuana dispensary  without a
conditional use permit first being obtained,"  said Alex Garcia with
the county's regional planning  department.

A hand-made sign posted on the door Thursday told  patrons the
dispensary, located in an unobtrusive office building at 3868 E.
Colorado Blvd., was closed.

Two blocks away and a day earlier, another outlet  called California
Compassionate Caregivers, this one at  3682 E. Colorado Blvd., also
closed shop.

The owners alerted customers with a similar sign, as  well as placing
a farewell notice on Weedtracker.com, a  Web site dedicated to medical
marijuana.

"We put our heart and soul and truly wanted to make a  difference, but
we failed you," reads the Web posting.  "We wanted to serve The City
of Hope and its cancer  patients. We wanted to help the AIDS center
located by  us."

Los Angeles County Counsel Rick Weiss said letters were  sent to the
owners of both properties informing them  permits were required.

Weiss said the requirements were set up not to  discourage them, but
to ensure they operate  appropriately.

In Pasadena, a city zoning code amendment permanently  banning the
dispensaries was approved in September  2005, despite an outcry from
advocates, said city  spokeswoman Ann Erdman.

"People who advocated for medical marijuana packed the  hearing room,"
she recalled, "but  decided it should  prohibit use in Pasadena
because a lot of people try to  circumvent laws."

"It's easy to essentially buy a prescription off the  Internet," she
added, "and there is no requirement at  the clinics for patients to
show they have glaucoma or  whatever legitimate illness they may claim."

But William Dolphin, a spokesman for Safe Access for  America, a
medicinal marijuana advocacy group, insisted  that despite such
claims, the 200,000 people considered  to be in need of the drug
should be able to readily  obtain the information and medicine they
need.

" is the most widely used recreational drug in the  world," William
Dolphin said. "There hasn't been much  of a problem getting it on the
black market. We're  concerned about people who need to know about it
and  where to get it."

An exemption from criminal penalties for medical  marijuana use
created by Proposition 215, or the  Compassionate Use Act, approved in
November 1996 by 56  percent of voters, lies at the root of the
controversy;  the issue has arisen statewide and in surrounding
communities including Monrovia, Monterey Park and  Rowland Heights.

In fact, since the proposition passed, two dozen cities  and seven
counties - including Los Angeles, Riverside  and Santa Barbara - have
approved regulations allowing  the dispensaries. However, three times
as many  municipalities have passed moratoriums or banned  cannabis
clubs outright, according to published  reports.

And despite considerable interest in its use for  treatment of
glaucoma, AIDS-related conditions,  neuropathic pain, spasticity
associated with multiple  sclerosis, and chemotherapy-induced nausea,
the FDA has  not approved marijuana for medical use in the United
States.

Despite federal law, possession and sale of marijuana  is carried out
in approximately 250 outlets statewide,  having proliferated in the
last decade. 
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