Pubdate: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 Source: Desert Sun, The (Palm Springs, CA) Copyright: 2006 The Desert Sun Contact: http://www.thedesertsun.com/opinion/lettersubmitter.shtml Website: http://www.thedesertsun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1112 Author: Stefanie Frith, staff writer Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) MEDICAL POT MORATORIUM OK'D For Now, No New Shops Can Open In Palm Springs The Palm Springs City Council voted Wednesday to keep any new dispensaries from opening for 45 days so that the city can draw up regulations for such operations. "This is not a drug, it's a natural herb," said LaVonne Victor, who has used medical marijuana for five years to treat problems associated with multiple sclerosis. "I am not a criminal. I am not a cartel. I am just a sick person trying to make it one day at a time." The City Council voted 4-0 Wednesday with Councilman Chris Mills absent to implement a temporary moratorium, citing concern that nothing is written in its codes about medical marijuana facilities. Although state law allows dispensaries to sell marijuana to patients who have letters from their doctors, federal law says it is illegal to grow and sell marijuana. About 20 people spoke in favor of regulated medical marijuana facilities, including Victor, who lives in Temecula. Before she discovered medical marijuana, she said she was homebound for 12 years. And Venia LaBeaux of Lake Elsinore, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1988, said before places like CannaHelp in Palm Desert, she had to grow her own medication and was subjected to a search of her home by law enforcement. "I take so many medications ... with so much nausea, (medical marijuana) is the only thing that helps," she said after the meeting. The moratorium comes just after Palm Springs Caregivers was ordered closed by the city. It also comes on the heels of problems faced by Palm Desert-based CannaHelp: a raid of CannaHelp patient's home in Desert Hot Springs and a moratorium on dispensaries in Indian Wells. The not-for-profit Palm Springs Caregivers, located at 2001 N. Palm Canyon Drive next to Toucan's Tiki Lounge, was red-tagged with a stop-work order Friday after the city learned it was operating without a tenant improvement permit. Owners are working to receive the correct permits and will be allowed to operate during the moratorium. Phillip Morris, who is representing Palm Springs Caregivers, said the dispensary had been seeing patients since March 6 at the collective and a Palm Springs hotel. More than 220 patients are already signed up, he said. About 90 are from San Bernardino County and 130 are from Riverside County, he said. Of the 130 patients, 34 are from Palm Springs, Morris said. Palm Springs Caregivers has agreed to keep its Palm Canyon Drive office closed until the city figures out what to do, said Morris. However, the business may have to operate out of a hotel again so that patients can receive their medication, he said, at least until Palm Springs Caregivers receives the correct permits and is allowed open. There is already one medical marijuana dispensary in Palm Springs, located at 333 N. Palm Canyon Drive, behind PS Scoops. That dispensary, Collective Apothecary of Palm Springs, has been operating there without a business license for about five months. Before that, CAPS worked out of an office behind Ralph's in Smoke Tree Village on East Palm Canyon Drive for a short while before neighboring tenants began to complain of odors, said CAPS patient Rick Pantele on Wednesday before the meeting. Although the city points to alleged criminal activity around CAPS and fear of similar activity around Palm Springs Caregivers, Palm Springs police Sgt. Mitch Spike said only two reports were documented at CAPS. Last month a window was broken at the business, and last week business neighbors complained of odors, said Spike. One of those neighbors was Imagine It! president Jeff Shotwell, who said during the meeting Wednesday that one of his employees has had to leave work several times because of the smell coming from CAPS. "No one really knows what goes on at this location," said Shotwell, adding he would support regulations for the dispensary. "My employees don't feel it's a safe working environment." Pantele, who uses medical marijuana to treat nausea and lack of appetite associated with the nearly 70 pills and mineral supplements he takes daily as an HIV-positive cancer patient, said CAPS is extremely cautious about its clientele. CAPS refuses to distribute more than one ounce at a time and patients cannot come more than twice per day, he said. He has used medical marijuana for 14 years, ever since he was diagnosed with HIV. Without the medication, he said he wouldn't be able to get through the day. "I take my meds and then wither in pain on the floor for five minutes," said Pantele, 50, of Palm Springs. But one puff of medical marijuana, and he said his stomach begins to "mellow" and he is able to relax and eat again. Many of the people who spoke Wednesday had similar stories. And most were pleased the council agreed to allow members of the medical marijuana community to help write an ordinance. A task force will be designated to figure out how many dispensaries will be allowed in the city, as well as hours of operation etc. DID YOU KNOW? There are more than 15 medical marijuana dispensaries in the Riverside and San Bernardino county area, including CannaHelp, located in Palm Desert. There are more than 30 in the San Francisco area and more than 20 in the Los Angeles and West Hollywood areas, according to http://www.215420.org. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin