Pubdate: Wed, 02 May 2012 Source: Novato Advance (CA) Copyright: 2012 Novato Advance Contact: http://marinscope.com/novato_advance/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5335 Author: Nicole Baptista Note: Jessica Mullins contributed to this report. NOVATO MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES UNDER ATTACK Green Door Wellness Center Ignores Feds; Stays Open The Green Door Wellness Center's doors will remain open until federal prosecutors directly order the Novato medical marijuana dispensary to shut down as its neighbor the Green Tiger Collective did April 24. Federal prosecutors filed actions April 23 to seize the properties, both located on Redwood Boulevard, threatening prosecution for violating federal law against marijuana distribution. Green Door Wellness Center Director Lawrence Pebbles has fought to keep the dispensary open since 2010. The dispensary received a cease-and-desist order last November from the building's landlord, David Cesena. "We won the trial," said Jeffrey Muth, Pebbles' attorney. After settling the legal dispute City Attorney Jeffrey Walter asked Pebbles to send the city a proposal to continue operating, said Muth. "The city attorney contacted us and said the city had decided to let [Pebbles] stay under certain conditions," Muth said. "He was going to draft the agreement and send it to us." Communication between Green Door and the city subsequently stopped. "After that the city attorney never responded to any of our calls or e-mails," Muth said. Pebbles opened the dispensary in April 2010 in hopes of making alternative medicine more accessible. "Lawrence is really concerned about the patients that the dispensary serves and what they'll have to do if it's shut down," Muth said. "He doesn't want them to have to buy it off the street. Lawrence is the only thing keeping it open - at his personal risk." Pebbles' establishment sits next door to the Green Tiger Collective, another dispensary. In September, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB1300, which allowed city governments to regulate local dispensaries. In November the Novato City Council extended a moratorium limiting new dispensaries. Many residents spoke at a Jan. 10 Novato City Council meeting in support of Green Door. "I have restless leg syndrome and arthritis," resident Larry Rothschild said. "My alternative was opiates." Rothschild expressed a fear of having to go to dangerous neighborhoods to get marijuana if the dispensary closed. "It's about whether we want to stop safe access," Pebbles said at the meeting. "My client decided not to shut down as soon as the Green Tiger did," Muth said. "He's more adamant about his future. I know that some dispensaries have been prosecuted, but commonly they are already violating state law, like being too close to a school." The federal government's crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries began in October and was led by four regional U.S. attorneys in California. The prosecutors said they planned to target large-scale commercial enterprises that operate under the guise of providing medical marijuana. California's Compassionate Use Act, approved by state voters in 1996, allows seriously ill patients to use marijuana with a doctor's permission, but federal laws criminalizing the drug make no exception for state medical marijuana laws. Joseph Henderson, vice president of public affairs with the Friends of Marin Holistic Solutions, a Corte Madera cannabis club, is an advocate for strict dispensary guidelines, as opposed to simply banning dispensaries. "There should be very clear and enforceable regulations. If someone deviates from that, game over," he said. Henderson has seen more business after the 2011 closures of the long-standing Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax, a Kentfield dispensary, the Marin Wellness Center, two Sausalito medical marijuana dispensaries and the San Rafael dispensary Tree of Life . - - Jessica Mullins contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D