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Hesperia:

DISPENSARY, LANDLORD FACE $1,500 DAILY IN FINES

HESPERIA With a new medical marijuana dispensary in town, Hesperia officials are touting a tough policy that could hit both the dispensary and its landlord with fines that can reach $1,500 a day after a 24-day warning period.

"It is an unacceptable use within the city of Hesperia," city spokeswoman Kelly Malloy said.  "While we can't allow something that the state of California prohibits, we have the authority to ban something that's ( allowed )."

"They don't have any grounds," argued A.J.  Shaw, CEO of the new High Desert Compassionate Collective at the intersections of Danbury and I Avenues.  "We didn't come here in disguise."

Shaw believes the law is on his side.  On Feb.  29, the state's 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that cities cannot ban medical marijuana dispensaries for being nuisances, after Lake Forest tried to kick the Evergreen Holistic Collective out of town.  But the decision contradicts other rulings, including another from the 4th District Court of Appeal that upheld Riverside's ability to ban dispensaries in that city.

Shaw has told his neighbors that the collective won't bring more crime to the area, citing the fact that several businesses in the area have previously been robbed.  The collective also erected 17 metal barriers outside, similar to the ones used by gas stations and fast food outlets to prevent motorists from knocking down gas pumps or knocking down walls.

Hesperia officials aren't deterred by the Lake Forest decision, crediting the city's tough stance with lowering the number of marijuana dispensaries from 19 in December 2010 to three in May 2012.

"The city believes that the law allows cities to regulate and prohibit medical marijuana facilities," Malloy said.

The matter isn't likely to be decided until the state supreme court takes up one or more of the cases, which may happen in 2013.  And even then, any decisions may to be appealed to the U.S.  Supreme Court.