Pubdate: Sun, 6 Mar 2011
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2011 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Laurie Lucas
Bookmark: http://www.drugsense.org/cms/geoview/n-us-ca (California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.)

POT DISPENSARIES, CITIES STILL BATTLING

SKIRMISH: They are in battles across the area, where many cities have 
banned their operation.

Jose Avalos, 25, plunked down $35 for 1/8-ounce of a type of 
marijuana called Purple Killer Kush to relieve his back pain.

The patient, who waited his turn inside Moreno Valley's fledgling 
medical marijuana dispensary, said cannabis beats every drug he's tried.

"This is better than pharmaceuticals," Avalos said.

The dispensary, called G3 Holistic, Inc. -- for Third Generation meds 
- -- opened this past November, despite being denied a business 
license, said president Aaron Sandusky.

A city ordinance bans medical dispensaries. Now, with one up and 
running, officials say they're going a step further.

After a police investigation, the city attorney filed a criminal 
complaint this past week in Riverside Superior Court, according to 
Michelle Dawson, acting assistant to the city manager. The complaint 
includes several counts, including hazardous building and fire code 
violations, in addition to illegal use, she said in an e-mail.

It's a skirmish that Sandusky is already fighting on another front. 
Last August, Upland officials shut down three medical marijuana 
cooperatives, including G3 Holistic, because the city's zoning 
ordinance prohibits their operation. An attorney representing the 
trio has filed a petition for review and an application for a stay 
with the state Supreme Court in San Francisco.

Dispensaries are locked in similar battles across the Inland area, 
where many cities and Riverside County have banned medical marijuana 
storefronts through land-use regulations.

Even so, G3 joins several dispensaries, including one in Temecula, 
that flout the municipal restrictions and remain open. Temecula city 
officials say they're monitoring the self-described "therapeutic 
cannabis resource center," but have declined to close it.

The city of Riverside is currently pursuing court injunctions against 
a number of medical marijuana establishments. However, Sandusky is 
optimistic that the law is on his side. Last Tuesday an appeals court 
ruling allowed a banned dispensary in Wildomar to re-open.

Richard Stewart, the mayor of Moreno Valley, said he's "amazed" that 
G3 Holistic is operating in the city, but admits he knows little 
about the dispensary. "No doubt there are legitimate medical 
concerns, but these places can become a magnet for the wrong kind of 
people and crime, if not managed right," he said.

G3 Holistic is tucked between a smoke shop and a dry cleaner and is 
several doors down from a CVS Pharmacy in a strip mall at 12276 
Perris Boulevard. The dispensary falls in the district of City 
Councilman Jesse Molina, who said: "I'm open minded. If (marijuana) 
helps with the pain, I have nothing against it, as long as it's 
legitimate and not for recreational use."

Sandusky, who has another medical marijuana facility in Colton, said 
he's been open with Moreno Valley officials. He has introduced 
himself at City Council meetings and unsuccessfully tried to get a 
business license. He chose Moreno Valley because more than 850 
members of his cooperative live in the city.

A security guard always patrols the site. Members of the co-operative 
cultivate and grow more than 60 different kinds of marijuana, costing 
anywhere from $10 a gram to $385 an ounce. Non-smokers can eat 
cannabis in a wide selection of food from brownies to chicken pot 
pies sold at the dispensary -- although consumption of any kind of 
marijuana is forbidden on the premises.

Dan Forman, 45, the "bud tender" and patient consultant in the 
backroom dispensary, is an easy talker behind the high wooden bud 
bar. He can schmooze for hours on the different effects between two 
basic types of marijuana, indicas and sativas.

Forman, who uses pot to ease pain from bleeding ulcers, listens to 
patients' complaints. He then recommends the best strains to treat 
pain, anxiety, insomnia, nausea or whatever the problem.

Using chopsticks, from big glass jars he plucks out the buds, drops 
them in small pill containers, pops on a lid, and then staples them 
in bags. Avalos is part of a steady stream of patients who say 
they're turned to pot because drugs made them feel sick, disoriented 
or even a little crazy.

Terrance Spencer, 46, or Moreno Valley, said he spends $50 to $100 a 
week to manage back pain. "The indicas relax my body," he said, 
opting for one gram of Blue Skunk. "I forget I'm in pain."

After losing a kidney to cancer, Ralph Sparacino, 53, finds the pain 
from nerve damage unbearable. "He spends $25 a week for 1/8 ounce of 
pot. It lasts two weeks, helps manage his pain, calms his fears, 
increases his appetite and lets him sleep.

"What's so bad about smoking a little bit of this flower?" he said, 
inspecting the house indica called Champagne.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake