Pubdate: Wed, 6 Feb 2008
Source: Desert Sun, The (Palm Springs, CA)
Copyright: 2008 The Desert Sun
Contact: http://local2.thedesertsun.com/mailer/opinionwrap.php
Website: http://www.thedesertsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1112
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Author: K Kaufmann, The Desert Sun
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

NEW POT DISPENSARY IN VALLEY

Mayor: Shop Has License - but Not for Marijuana

A new medical marijuana dispensary called Essential Herbs and Oils 
has been open about a month in Cathedral City.

The business is located at 68-487 E. Palm Canyon Drive in a 
commercial complex that includes a dental office and insurance firm.

A woman answering a phone at Essential Herbs and Oils on Monday would 
not give her name but confirmed it is a dispensary and that the 
facility has a business license from the city.

Cathedral City Mayor Kathy DeRosa confirmed that Essential Herbs and 
Oils does have a business license. But, she said, "It is not for 
medical marijuana."

The license, issued Nov. 5, lists the owners as Virginia Hurn and 
Teresa Sotelo. It also describes the business as a spice and extract 
manufacturer and spice and herb retailer.

Anthony Curiale, attorney for Essential Herbs, countered that the 
descriptions on the license are irrelevant.

"There is no legal definition of a dispensary," Curiale said. "A 
business license is not for the purpose of regulation. It's for the 
purpose of generating revenue for the city."

Cathedral City has no law either allowing or banning medical 
marijuana dispensaries. Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage are the only 
two valley cities with neither a ban nor moratorium in force.

Indian Wells, La Quinta and Palm Desert have bans. Coachella, Desert 
Hot Springs, Indio and Palm Springs have moratoriums.

DeRosa would not comment on whether the Cathedral City dispensary 
might spur the city to take action on the issue.

The store joins two other existing dispensaries in the valley, both 
in Palm Springs - Compassionate Caregivers and the Collective 
Apothecary of Palm Springs.

Both are operating in violation of the city's moratorium on 
dispensaries, originally passed in March 2006.

Palm Springs officials have been working on a law that would allow 
small patients' cooperatives in the city, but not dispensaries, said 
City Attorney Doug Holland.

"It will deal with six or more patients or their caregivers," Holland 
said. "If you have too many in a group, (there are) too many plants 
in one location."

A draft of the law could be ready for review this month, he said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake