Pubdate: Sat, 21 Apr 2007
Source: Desert Sun, The (Palm Springs, CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Desert Sun
Contact: http://www.thedesertsun.com/opinion/lettersubmitter.shtml
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Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1112
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Author: K Kaufmann, The Desert Sun
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

PALM DESERT MOVING TO CLOSE DOORS ON CANNAHELP

Palm Desert is seeking an injunction to close down CannaHelp, the 
medical marijuana dispensary that has been in business on El Paseo 
for a year and a half.

The city filed a request for a temporary injunction against the 
dispensary on Friday in Riverside County Superior Court in Indio. The 
request cited "miscellaneous complaints," including operating without 
a business license, violating the city's zoning code, and violating 
the state's medical marijuana law by making a profit, said City 
Attorney David Erwin.

A hearing in the case may not occur until October, and no action will 
be taken to close the dispensary before then, Erwin said.

CannaHelp owner Stacy Hochanadel said he is determined to stay open.

"I'm trying to take care of sick people. I'm not doing this for my 
health and well being," Hochanadel said in a phone interview Friday.

Relations between Hochanadel and the city have been rocky almost from 
the beginning, with the dispensary surviving repeated attempts to 
close it down.

The city issued a business license to the dispensary in October 2005, 
tried to revoke it the following February, without success, and then 
renewed it in October 2006.

When the City Council finally voted to revoke the license last 
December, Hochanadel defied its order to close.

Hochanadel and two of the dispensary's managers, John Bednar and 
James Campbell, were charged by Riverside County earlier this year 
with three felony charges related to possession and sale of marijuana 
and the operation of the dispensary.

A preliminary hearing in that case on Friday was continued to May 25. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake