Pubdate: Thu, 7 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 Note: Does not accept LTEs from outside circulation area. Author: K Kaufmann, The Desert Sun Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal) CITY MOVES AGAINST NEW POT DISPENSARY Cathedral City officials are moving quickly to stop the sale of medical marijuana at a dispensary that recently opened a block away from City Hall. Essential Herbs and Oils, located at 68-487 E. Palm Canyon Drive, received a cease-and-desist letter from the city Wednesday afternoon, ordering the business to stop selling medical marijuana, said Deputy City Manager Julie Baumer. "It is not allowed under federal law, and they are not licensed to do that," Baumer said. But staff at Essential Herbs countered the business is organized as an association - which some advocates have argued is legal under state law - not a dispensary, and will remain open. ""This is safe access for medical cannabis. I don't know what a dispensary is," said a woman at the store who identified herself only as "Becky." Should the store remain open, Baumer said, "they will be issued another citation and then they will go through the administrative process to revoke their license." Federal law bans any possession, cultivation or sale of marijuana. California law allows patients with a doctor's letter of recommendation to grow and use limited amounts of medical marijuana, but does not explicitly allow or ban dispensaries. The law does prohibit selling medical marijuana for profit. Essential Herbs has been open for about a month. The store was issued a city business license on Nov. 5, describing it as a spice and extract manufacturer and spice and herb retailer. The license lists Virginia Hurn and Teresa Sotelo as the owners. The legality of dispensaries has been a flash point for cities across the Coachella Valley in the past few years, with most passing moratoriums or bans against them. Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage are the only two valley cities with neither a ban nor a moratorium in effect. Indian Wells, La Quinta and Palm Desert have bans. Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indio and Palm Springs have moratoriums. Despite the Palm Springs moratorium, two dispensaries are operating illegally in the city - Compassionate Caregivers and the Collective Apothecary, both on North Palm Canyon Drive. City officials are drafting an ordinance that would allow small cooperative, but not dispensaries. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake