Pubdate: Wed, 28 Dec 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: Janet Zimmerman, Staff Writer ACTION TAKEN AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES Riverside County officials said Wednesday they have begun legal action to close about three dozen medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas. Attorneys filed for an injunction and issued legislative subpoenas against two of the stores, the latest volley since the Board of Supervisors authorized crackdowns on Dec. 13. The county asked a Riverside County Superior Court judge to declare Platinum Collective in Home Gardens, near Riverside, a public nuisance and issue an injunction to shut down operations at the shop in the 12000 block of Magnolia Avenue, east of McKinley Street. According to the Dec. 21 court filing, the dispensary creates traffic problems, and officials said it poses a safety issue for children who walk past the shop on their way to Villegas Middle School. The county is asking for civil penalties of $1,000 for each day Platinum Collective has been open since March 7, when the business was notified it was operating illegally, and seeks reimbursement for the cost of abatement, investigation and enforcement. A woman who answered the phone at the collective said no one was available to comment. In other action, the county served legislative subpoenas on the operator of the Compassion and Wellness Center in Lakeland Village, near Lake Elsinore, and the owner of the property in the 15000 block of Grand Avenue near El Contento Drive. Dispensary operator Ronald Wayne Williams was ordered to appear before the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 24, and property owner Thomas C. Deamer on Jan. 31, to explain why the dispensary remains open. "That's the logical next step before we start filing (civil) lawsuits," said Ken King, a senior code enforcement officer. "There's not a lot of things they can say. The ordinance is clear. It shouldn't be a surprise to anybody in this field." Failure to comply will result in contempt of court proceedings, county officials said. Deamer, 64, said he sold the building to Williams in 2007 and is receiving mortgage payments from him. Williams began leasing the property in 2003 for an auto sales business, which he lost in 2009. Deamer, a former air conditioning repairman, said he was unaware Williams was going to open a dispensary and fears the property could be seized. "That's mine and my wife's retirement," he said. Williams did not return a telephone message Wednesday. One dispensary already has closed and six more have indicated they intend to shut down, King said. The county's push focuses on storefront operations, which are illegal under a dispensary ban county that supervisors approved in 2006. In the years since, court rulings have upheld local authority to shutter dispensaries, including a city of Riverside case that has been appealed to the state Supreme Court, King said. Dispensaries in cities are not covered by the county's ban. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D