Pubdate: Mon, 18 Aug 2014
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2014 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/0n4cG7L1
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
Author: Ryan Lillis

POT CLINIC MAKES A GOOD NEIGHBOR

The old Craftsman bungalow at 3015 H St. is directly across the street
from McKinley Montessori, a quaint little nursery school and
kindergarten. It's also about 200 feet from McKinley Park and not even
two blocks from Sutter Middle School.

That's all worth mentioning because the business inside the old
bungalow sells marijuana.

And so when the operators of A Therapeutic Alternative went to the
City Council last week seeking a permit that would allow them to stick
around, you might have expected an angry resistance. Would you want
your kid going to school across the street from a pot shop?

But not a single person showed up at City Hall to voice outrage.
Instead, one person after another spoke fondly of Kimberly Cargile's
business. A guy who used to run a cafe across the street said the pot
shop was a great neighbor. The directors of the Montessori school
wrote the city a letter saying the dispensary is a compassionate,
professional "asset to our neighborhood."

Cargile lives in East Sac. She's made her shop a part of her
neighborhood's fabric.

She tried to meet with every neighbor who sent the city a letter or
called a City Council member to express disbelief that a pot shop
could operate near schools and a park. The city prohibits medical
marijuana to be consumed within 20 feet of dispensaries. Cargile's
security guards enforce that prohibition for three blocks in every
direction.

"We had to prove ourselves," Cargile said. "We had to show we are not
stereotypical potheads."

Cargile was sitting in the dispensary on Thursday afternoon, speaking
proudly of what her collective has created. A friendly security guard
stood watch over the locked front door. Inside, the air was cool and
folk music played in the background. The antique furniture  red velvet
couches, an old lamp  gave the place the feel of a
bed-and-breakfast.

It's also unmistakably a medical pot shop. It sells a menu of goods,
from blends of weed called Purple Kush and Green Candy, to
marijuana-laced peanut butter and popsicles.

It's allowed to provide those commodities across the street from a
school because it was already in business when the city passed its
medical pot ordinance in 2010. New shops aren't given that same
benefit and can't operate within 600 feet of parks or schools.

Cargile thinks those rules are unfair. She said her drugs help people
suffering from terrible diseases and injuries. She is just 34 years
old, but it's clear she's worn out from being part of a movement that
keeps chugging along.

At least her path is safer now. She's one of 17 permitted pot shops in
the city. Nine more are in the pipeline, seeking city approval.

It's funny, but the one that's selling weed across the street from a
school may end up being the best neighbor of them all.
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MAP posted-by: Matt