Pubdate: Sat, 07 Aug 2010
Source: Times-Herald, The (Vallejo, CA)
Copyright: 2010 The Times-Herald
Contact:  http://www.timesheraldonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/993
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Dispensaries

JUDGE TELLS VALLEJO BUSINESS TO CEASE MEDICAL MARIJUANA SALES ON AUG. 13

Medical marijuana sales will cease Friday at Stan the Man Collective 
in Vallejo in the midst of a city lawsuit against the business' management.

The dispensary will avoid full eviction, however, pending a Solano 
County Superior Court judge's ruling on a preliminary injunction -- a 
temporary closure order -- expected later this month, said the 
property manager's attorney Tom Porta.

The city lawsuit against Stan the Man had named owners of the 
dispensary's property, at 1235 Warren Ave., as plaintiffs. Vallejo 
Deputy City Attorney Alan Cohen said Friday that the owners' 
inclusion was put on hold due to the eviction notice.

Cohen said that if the business were evicted from the property, the 
city likely would still continue its lawsuit against dispensary 
managers, to keep them from opening elsewhere.

Collective founder Ken Estes said the business will make use of its 
city-issued hydroponics equipment sales license to remain in business 
after Friday. Hydroponics is the process of growing plants in sand, 
gravel or liquid but no soil.

"This is a way of trying to work with them ... and not just be 
confrontational," Estes said. "I just think (the lawsuit is a) 
miscommunication -- people just aren't getting together at a round table."

Estes said he and Stan the Man's management are eying dispensary 
locations in other areas, like nearby Martinez and unincorporated 
Solano County, outside Vallejo.

"We have a couple of other options, but it just doesn't seem right to 
always have to be running around," Estes said.

The court hearing on an extended cease operations mandate is 
scheduled for 2 p.m., Aug. 26.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom