Pubdate: Wed, 28 Dec 2011 Source: Valley News (Temecula, CA) Copyright: 2011 The Valley News Inc. Contact: http://www.myvalleynews.com/contact?editor Website: http://www.myvalleynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4149 COUNTY DEMANDS TWO MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES CEASE OPERATIONS IMMEDIATELY RIVERSIDE - Riverside County officials are moving swiftly to shut down storefront medical marijuana dispensaries, seeking an injunction against one and ordering the owner of another to appear before the Board of Supervisors to explain why he's refused to close his doors, it was announced today. The actions come two weeks after the board committed to taking legal steps to shutter the 35 dispensaries violating a county zoning ordinance that prohibits the operation of medical marijuana facilities in unincorporated communities. Last week, the board filed a request in Superior Court seeking an injunction against Platinum Collective on Magnolia Avenue in Home Gardens. The dispensary has been notified that it's operating illegally but has refused to acknowledge the county's demand for cessation, according to county Executive Office spokesman Ray Smith. He said the collective is located less than a mile from an elementary school, and children pass by the location daily. The county is seeking $1,000 in civil penalties for each day that the dispensary has conducted business since March 7, according to Smith. Similarly, the county has demanded that Compassion and Wellness Center in Lakeland Village cease operation, apparently without a response. County attorneys have issued legislative subpoenas instructing the cannabis collective's operator, Ronald Wayne Williams, to appear before the board on Jan. 24 to disclose why he hasn't shuttered the facility. The owner of the property where the storefront is located, Thomas C. Deamer, also has been subpoenaed to appear before the board on Jan. 31. The appearances of both men will be waived if they produce documents in advance explaining their positions, according to Smith. He said if the men don't comply with the subpoenas, they will be held in contempt. According to the Office of County Counsel, dispensary operators who keep their doors open in the face of county notices demanding that they shut down could be on the hook for thousands of dollars in abatement, investigative and enforcement-related costs that the county incurs trying to close the non-permitted facilities. By the time a civil trial is convened, costs could reach $20,000, according to county attorneys. Smith said 16 facilities have closed their doors in the last year. Under a 2006 ordinance, marijuana dispensaries are prohibited from operating in unincorporated areas of the county. As with most places throughout the state, the operations sprang up in response to Proposition 215, also known as the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which paved the way to legal medical marijuana distribution. However, according to county attorneys, there's nothing in the act that prohibits counties and municipalities from outlawing dispensaries. That was the conclusion last month of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, which upheld the city of Riverside's blanket ban on marijuana stores. Federal authorities don't recognize any storefront variety of cannabis cooperative as legal. The owner of two such operations in Corona and Perris was federally prosecuted last year, resulting in a six-month jail term and probation. Only a few cities within the county, notably Palm Springs, permit the activity. The dispensaries are frequent targets of robberies and burglaries. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D