As they come of age and register to vote, Millennials-that enormous generation born since 1981 - are surging so fast they're on the verge of overtaking the Baby Boomer behemoth as a share of the California electorate. And new evidence confirms that, so far at least, the GOP is losing them. Fewer than 1 out of every 5 Millennial voters in California is registered as a Republican. Not that the Republicans' loss is the Democrats' gain. Recent voter data shows that Millennials are the driving force behind the huge growth in Californians registering with no party affiliation at all. They're also more optimistic than other generations - the latest polls show them more approving than their elders of the job the Legislature is doing, and far more supportive of the direction in which California is headed. [continues 670 words]
Coachella City Council chambers were packed Wednesday night as local residents gathered to get a peek at the city's first-approved medical marijuana facility. City Council voted unanimously - Councilmember Manuel Perez was not in attendance - to approve the 111,500-square-foot marijuana cultivation and manufacturing facility proposed by Irvine-based Cultivation Technologies Inc. The facility, which will be located on six acres of land at 84-811 Avenue 48, will consist of two buildings, research labs, four indoor 22,000 square-foot cultivation fields and 9,000 square feet designated for manufacturing. [continues 201 words]
Patients prescribed medical marijuana will soon likely have two additional dispensary options in Palm Springs. The Palm Springs City Council approved a change to its medical cannabis ordinance, increasing the number of dispensaries from four to six. "They don't draw crime. They provide medicine to patients. And so I'm less concerned with the number. I think that competition is a good thing. And I think it drives prices down. So, I am in favor of expanding the number of permits," said Councilman Rick Hutcheson. [continues 437 words]
The recent U.S. Justice Department move giving Native American tribes the green light to legalize marijuana on their reservations gives us pause. While we respect the sovereign right of tribal governments to run their affairs as they see fit, the situation in the Coachella Valley is somewhat unique. The close proximity of tribal territory and adjacent cities gives decisions made by one entity tremendous impact on the entire region. This is especially true in Palm Springs, where the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has authority over 32,000 acres in the western Coachella Valley, including a checkerboard grid of sections encompassing about half the city. [continues 1110 words]
Saturday night, the Senate passed an omnibus spending bill, averting a government shutdown and keeping the government open through September 2015 once signed into law. In a rare moment of compromise, Congressional Democrats and Republicans were able to piece together a $1.1 trillion spending package that pays for many things on President Barack Obama's priority list. Topping headlines was the bill's targeting of the Dodd-Frank law, which aimed to curb some of Wall Street's riskiest trading, and its allowing of wealthy donors to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to lawmakers. [continues 379 words]
Cathedral City became the second Coachella Valley city to permit marijuana dispensaries Tuesday with a 3-2 vote, that included an amendment to allow three to open immediately, instead of two. Councilmen Greg Pettis, and Sam Toles and Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Vasquez voted in favor, with Mayor Kathy DeRosa and Councilman Stan Henry voted no. The council deadlocked 2-2 on the issue at its July 9 meeting when Toles did not teleconference into the session as expected. The ordinance, as presented earlier this month, permitted one dispensary per 20,000 residents, or a cap of two total until the city of approximately 52,000 reached 60,000 residents. Pettis' amendment changing that to one per 15,000 residents was approved. [continues 602 words]
CATHEDRAL CITY - City Council members were divided Wednesday on whether to permit medical marijuana dispensaries to operate in this city, but they did agree that the issue should go before voters. The council directed city staff to draft an ordinance by July for council consideration. If approved, the initiative would be placed on the November ballot where voters would decide if medical marijuana dispensaries will be allowed to operate within city limits. "I think we should be legalizing dispensaries and I've held that opinion from the start," said Councilman Greg Pettis. "We anticipate Desert Hot Springs putting it on their council agenda. We can't just pretend this is something not happening in the valley." [continues 513 words]
Desert Hot Springs Is Wise to Go Slow in Its Pursuit of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries. Go Very Slow. It's a complicated venture, but it does have the potential to provide revenue to a city desperately in need - from sales tax and, if two-thirds of voters approve, a fee on the dispensaries similar to the one approved by Palm Springs voters last year. The move should not be made out of desperation, however. The city must be confident that it has the resources to monitor dispensaries. [continues 504 words]
Ripe marijuana plants growing under the glow of fluorescent lights on a wooden farm-style table wait to be plucked. The thick, skunk-like smell of cannabis fills the back room of Organic Solutions of the Desert, and will linger on clothes hours afterward. The buds, once separated from the leaves, will be packaged and labeled with names such as Diablo, Earthshaker or Karma Krush, then made available to 6,000 dispensary members to alleviate everything from chronic body pain and anxiety to depression and HIV side effects. [continues 2450 words]
Laboratories that specialize in pot testing. Security companies that only guard dispensaries. Chefs that just make edibles for medical marijuana patients. Businesses that cater to cannabis are starting to flourish. "There's all kinds of companies out there," said Lanny Swerdlow, a medical marijuana patient and advocate from Whitewater. "When you go to a collective, there's pill bottles, pipes ... If there's a market, someone takes advantage of it." Collective Protective Services, based in Chino, focuses on providing security for cannabis clubs. It started with three employees in 2010 and now has 60 that protect more than 100 collectives across Southern California, including Desert Organic Solutions, a legal dispensary in north Palm Springs. [continues 845 words]
PALM SPRINGS -- Medical marijuana users in Palm Springs don't have to register with the state, but their information is entered into a local dispensary database that can be reviewed by city officials, a requirement some privacy experts say goes too far. Patient records, including a physician's referral, must be maintained by each dispensary and made available upon demand, according to the city's ordinance. Some dispensary owners wonder if the request violates HIPAA, the American Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The law protects individual medical records and other personal health information. [continues 1407 words]
Mandatory Pot Quality Tests, Allowing a Fourth Dispensary Considered PALM SPRINGS - The city's medical marijuana ordinance may be amended to require cannabis quality testing before the pot is dispensed to patients - a mandate that could be the only one in California, according to city leaders and medical marijuana advocates. Another potential change to the ordinance would allow a fourth dispensary license, something patients and advocates say can't come too soon. City Attorney Doug Holland said he hoped to have the proposed amendments ready for the City Council to debate this month, but is still working on the ordinance and couldn't say when it would be ready. [continues 721 words]
Thousand Palms Dispensary Shuttered; C.C.O.C. in Palm Springs May Also Close, Director Says Marijuana dispensary operators and patients are already starting to feel the effects of the state Supreme Court ruling Monday that determined cities and counties have the right to ban medical marijuana dispensaries from operating in their jurisdictions. On Wednesday, Leonard Ozar, the owner of Thousand Palms marijuana dispensary Hazy Colitas, closed his shop on the advice of his attorney - before Riverside County sheriff's deputies did it for him. [continues 1091 words]
I have a marijuana plant growing nicely in my office. I purchased it from the marijuana dispensary across the street from my senior community. I've never bothered with marijuana before. Tried it once in college and decided back then that a cold beer was a better deal. But time and glaucoma have finally taken its toll. I got the idea of trying medical marijuana from a neighbor who gave me the name of an doctor that would issue the proper legalizing paperwork. [continues 475 words]
Customers of Newly Reopened Dispensary Not Too Aware of Its Fight to Exist in Rancho Mirage RANCHO MIRAGE - A few miles away from the Betty Ford Center, a medical marijuana dispensary got off to a mellow restart Friday. About a dozen patients had floated in by mid-afternoon at Rancho Mirage Safe Access Wellness Center, which opened its doors again after its latest win in a legal face-off with the city. "It usually takes people about a week to start coming in," said general manager Alice Jensen. [continues 605 words]
RANCHO MIRAGE - Rancho Mirage City Attorney Steve Quintanilla confirmed Thursday the city lost a bid for a preliminary injunction to keep a medical marijuana dispensary closed. He said he will take the matter to the City Council during a special meeting scheduled Tuesday, and seek direction on the city's next move. "It will likely be an immediate appeal, going to the Court of Appeals or having the case removed to federal court," he said. An order sent to his office by the Riverside County Superior Court cleared up the confusion created Wednesday when the court website first said the injunction had been granted by Judge John Evans, before it was changed without explanation. [continues 695 words]
RANCHO MIRAGE - A medical marijuana dispensary could reopen as early as today after a Riverside County Superior Court judge ruled against an order sought by the city - in an apparent reversal of a statement released earlier Wednesday. Attorney Joseph Rhea declared victory for his client, Rancho Mirage Safe Access Wellness Center, Wednesday evening after discovering the minute entry had changed in his favor. "The medical marijuana ban in Rancho Mirage is over," he said. The Riverside County Superior Court's website said Wednesday afternoon that a preliminary injunction against the dispensary had been denied, and a temporary restraining order issued against it Aug. 6 had been dissolved. [continues 584 words]
RANCHO MIRAGE - A decision is expected by Thursday evening on whether a medical marijuana dispensary must remain closed until its future is determined in court. Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Evans heard arguments for and against extending a temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction at the Indio courthouse Monday. Rancho Mirage Safe Access Wellness Center opened in June at 72-067 Highway 111 and shut down after Evans granted the temporary order requested by the city on Aug. 6, on the grounds the dispensary failed to get a certificate of occupancy and business license before opening. [continues 361 words]
Rancho Mirage - The struggle between the city and a medical marijuana dispensary it shut down through a temporary restraining order is expected to return to court today. Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Evans granted the order Aug. 6, because the Rancho Mirage Safe Access Wellness Center, doing business as All Valley Desert Cooperative, had opened without a certificate of occupancy or business license from the city. Evans will hear arguments today on whether the temporary order should be extended into a preliminary injunction until the trial begins. [continues 307 words]
RANCHO MIRAGE - The city has won its request for a temporary restraining order to force a medical marijuana dispensary to shut down. Rancho Mirage Safe Access Wellness Center must shut its doors because it didn't acquire permits the city requires of all businesses, according to a minute order released Monday by Judge John G. Evans of Riverside County Superior Court. The city has also banned marijuana dispensaries, but that ordinance was ruled invalid by another judge, a decision now under appeal. [continues 169 words]
Authors: Unclear What Effect Dispensaries Might Have Over Time, Though As the debate over pot shops rages in the Coachella Valley and elsewhere, a study released Wednesday by UCLA researchers found no link between medical marijuana dispensaries and neighborhood crime. The study, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, analyzed 2009 crime rates in Sacramento neighborhoods. It considered their population densities, unemployment and poverty rates, vacant homes, and other factors linked to violent and property crime rates. "Once you adjust for those, dispensaries are not related to crime," said UCLA associate professor Bridget Freisthler, the study's coauthor. [continues 550 words]
PALM SPRINGS - While city leaders are still hesitant, Palm Springs is getting closer to having a fourth medical marijuana dispensary. The Palm Springs City Council on Wednesday voted 3-1-1, with Councilman Chris Mills opposing and Councilman Rick Hutcheson abstaining, to amend the medical cannabis ordinance to allow a fourth dispensary. Creating the fourth permit, however, may not be an easy feat as Mills and Hutcheson continue to oppose adding another collective in the city. Palm Springs is the only city in the Coachella Valley to permit the sale of medical marijuana. [continues 411 words]
RANCHO MIRAGE --- The city will file an appeal Tuesday to a Riverside County Superior Court judge's rulings which overturned its ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said today. He said the appeal will freeze the case and help the city turn back a new dispensary which has recently filed an application for a business license with the city. "It imposes an immediate stay, so the burden is on the other side to try to get the stay lifted," Quintanilla said. [continues 138 words]
City Licenses Illegal Shop, Set to OK a Fourth Store Permit PALM SPRINGS -- The only city in the Coachella Valley to permit the sale of medical marijuana will soon make way for a fourth dispensary. The Palm Springs City Council voted 3-2 this week to amend the city's 2009 medical cannabis ordinance, which originally called for just two legal dispensaries. It added a third permit in 2010. Zoning changes to allow a fourth are expected to be finalized next month. [continues 535 words]
RANCHO MIRAGE - The city's fight against a medical marijuana dispensary trying to open its doors in Rancho Mirage has racked up legal bills of $128,339. The city is covered by an insurance policy that covers up to $10million in legal fees after it pays the first $50,000 if it gets sued. The annual premium on the policy is $91,837. "We haven't used it on any other cases," City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said. "The city very seldom gets sued." [continues 307 words]
PALM SPRINGS - One of the city's three cannabis permits is up for grabs. The Palm Springs City Council is expected to discuss Wednesday what to do with a medical marijuana collective/cooperative operating permit recently made available when the city revoked it two weeks ago from CannaHelp, which is operated by local medical marijuana activist Stacy Hochanadel. The collective ceased operations in October as a result of Hochanadel's issues with his landlord. In February, after being inoperative for more than 90 days, City Manager David Ready decided to rescind the permit. [continues 271 words]
Lawyers for Rancho Mirage, Collective Say They Don't Expect Ruling Will Result in Facility Opening Soon Rancho Mirage - A Riverside County judge Tuesday nudged a medical marijuana dispensary one step closer to doing business within the city. The decision adds another wrinkle to the issue of medical marijuana in California. It also further complicates the 18-month battle between the city of Rancho Mirage and Desert Heart Collective. "One day the law favors the city, the next it's against the city," Rancho Mirage City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said Tuesday. [continues 654 words]
I do not know whether to be flattered or appalled by the inclusion of my name in your poorly thought-out editorial, "Ban On illegal marijuana providers must be upheld," Dec. 22. I am just one foot solder for the millions of Californians who believe this beneficial herb that has been used so safely and effectively during the past 5,000 years should once again be available. Riverside County government may have the legal authority to enact a medical marijuana distribution ban, but it certainly has no moral authority. Palm Springs is the only municipality in the Inland Empire with the moral authority to go after illegal medical marijuana outlets as they are the only city to have created an orderly process for patients to access medicinal marijuana. [continues 453 words]
Experts: New Year Won't Bring Clarity on Legality, but Courts Could Answer Questions on Regulation Palm Springs - Just over a year ago, voters were on the verge of making California the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, but public opinion turned, and the idea swiftly went up in smoke. That voter rejection left courts and local municipalities to grapple, yet again, with medical marijuana laws that are often vague, confusing, contradictory and vary from city to city. In 2012, don't expect any new laws or decisions that will clear the murky legal landscape for the hundreds of thousands of Californians who use medical pot - or for opponents of legalization. [continues 844 words]
Riverside County supervisors are right to shut down all illegal medical marijuana dispensaries in the unincorporated areas. The Board of Supervisors outlawed dispensaries in 2006, as has every city in the county except Palm Springs. However, county officials estimate there are now at least 36 illegal pot dispensaries, not counting the ones in cities. There's a cluster of 11 of them in, of all places, unincorporated Thousand Palms, which has less than 8,000 residents. Even Palm Springs, which allows up to three dispensaries or collectives to operate legally, has 10 of them and home-delivery services. [continues 198 words]
The two Coachella council members who were part of "Team Coachella" have apologized for entertaining the idea of making their city a hub for medical marijuana cultivation and distribution. Their remarks came after a resident, Lupe Rodriguez, got up at the City Council meeting last week and called Mayor Eduardo Garcia and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Hernandez "Cheech and Chong," saying their involvement in the pot discussions embarrassed the city. The Wednesday meeting was the first council session since the Nov. 20 Desert Sun report on the meetings that Garcia and Hernandez had with Rancho Mirage Councilman Scott Hines, who is also a public policy consultant. [continues 629 words]
Already facing a potential crackdown by federal authorities, some Coachella Valley medical marijuana dispensaries must now contend with a new, local push to shut them down. During its closed session meeting Tuesday, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors authorized its attorneys to sue any pot shops in unincorporated areas - plus any property owners who allow them to operate - unless those dispensaries immediately close. Riverside County has prohibited medical marijuana dispensaries from operating on unincorporated land since 2006. Last year, county supervisors briefly considered an ordinance that would have regulated these dispensaries but later stepped back and decided to uphold the ban. [continues 305 words]
Fewer Illegal Immigrants Caught Crossing Border Thousands fewer people but tons more illegal drugs were intercepted by agents of the U.S. Border Patrol in Southern California this year. The data released Monday match a nationwide trend that shows fewer arrests of immigrants entering the country illegally, a result of the enduring economic downturn and intensified efforts to secure the border. Those efforts have also led to more seizures of drugs at the border and along the remote stretches of desert on the 140-mile border between California and Mexico. [continues 429 words]
The notion that Coachella should become an industrial marijuana producer was a bad idea from the start. Coachella Mayor Eduardo Garcia and Councilman Steve Hernandez should have walked away. Instead, we have witnessed an unpleasant episode. Rancho Mirage City Councilman and private political consultant Scott Hines, working for Burke, Rix, Hines Communications of Palm Springs in the summer of 2010, said he considered medical marijuana compassionate service for people in pain. The Desert Sun also supports medical marijuana. With polls indicating voter support for legalizing marijuana for recreational use, Hines, thought it could become a lucrative opportunity. However, Proposition 19 was rejected by 53.5 percent of California voters. [continues 510 words]
Dispensary Landlord Wants Equipment Back PALM SPRINGS - Financial troubles continue to mount for desert medical marijuana activist Stacy Hochanadel. Earlier this month, Hochanadel's Palm Springs medical marijuana dispensary, CannaHelp, was evicted from its space at 505 Industrial Way. Hochanadel now faces a criminal complaint filed by his landlord, Michael Rice. Rice says Hochanadel and his employees ripped out $50,000 to $60,000 in electrical and ventilation equipment that should have stayed in the dispensary. Hochanadel also owes the landlord $400,000 in unpaid rent and loans for improvements made to the building to outfit the dispensary's grow room. [continues 290 words]
When 55.6 percent of voters approved the California Compassionate Use Act in 1996, it was heralded by supporters as a humane act to bring relief to people in pain by the tightly controlled marijuana prescriptions. In the 15 years since, debate has continued to simmer. Most California cities have banned medical marijuana collectives. In Riverside County, Palm Springs is the only city that allows them, largely because of the concentration of AIDS patients. Up to three licensed collectives are allowed here. [continues 404 words]
PALM SPRINGS - As efforts to open medical marijuana dispensaries have intensified, so has the debate over whether they bring more crime to a community. But an independent study released today finds no link between marijuana dispensaries and crime. The Santa Monica-based RAND Corporation analyzed crime rates around the huge number of pot stores and clubs in Los Angeles County, at one point believed to outnumber the Starbucks locations there before officials shut most dispensaries down last year. Read the RAND study on marijuana dispensaries and crime at www.rand.org [continues 642 words]
A lawsuit filed by two marijuana dispensaries against Rancho Mirage is moving forward after a judge overruled a city motion to have the $848,000 case thrown out. These motions, known as "demurrers," are frequently filed in a case's early stages and declare it has no legal basis. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Randall White ruled June 3 the issues underlying the case against the city were too large to be dismissed lightly. "The Medical Marijuana Act contemplates the existence of lawful medical marijuana dispensaries," he wrote. "It cannot be determined at the demurrer stage what a complete and permanent ban on such dispensaries can be reconciled with the provisions" of that law. [continues 395 words]
A new memo released this week by the Obama administration reaffirms federal authorities' right to target marijuana dispensaries - and those who cultivate and sell pot - regardless of state law. The move could expose non-sanctioned medical marijuana clinics operating in the Coachella Valley to greater risk of law enforcement raids, Palm Springs City Attorney Doug Holland said Friday. "We've always understood that the activity is illegal under federal law, and anyone who's engaged in that activity has to deal with that potential ramifications," Holland said Friday. [continues 543 words]
Marijuana Is Said to Ease Side Effects of Medications The Palm Springs AIDS Medical Marijuana Patient Group met for the first time on Saturday. The group consisted of 15 Coachella Valley residents, patients and dispensary owners all exchanging ideas on how to help provide much-needed medical marijuana to these types of patients at a low cost or as a no-cost option. Many AIDS patients use medical marijuana to help curb side effects - such as nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite - caused by their medications. [continues 349 words]
Coachella Valley residents who have AIDS may get some relief when it comes to paying for medical marijuana. Lanny Swerdlow, registered nurse and founder of the Marijuana Anti- Prohibition Project, is starting a new support group to collect no-cost and low-cost marijuana for patients who qualify. "The purpose of this group is to educate AIDS patients about why cannabis is beneficial to them and try to provide them with a realistic quantity of medicine for no cost or low cost," Swerdlow said Thursday. [continues 440 words]
School Officials, Data: Student Drug Use Is Persistent, but Not Growing Two months after police shocked Palm Desert High School by storming classrooms and arresting students accused of dealing drugs, both staff and students said they have learned from the undercover operation. School district officials said they have tweaked security operations at Palm Desert High and other schools based on information provided by undercover officers during their five-month operation. But students say those who use or sell drugs have learned to go farther underground. [continues 1056 words]
Rancho Mirage's decision to ban medical marijuana dispensaries but subsidize medicinal marijuana deliveries to residents makes no sense. It's one thing to ban the dispensaries; many cities have. But it's another to subsidize medicinal marijuana deliveries to qualified residents at up to $25 per delivery. The city's Medical Cannabis Compassionate Access Program is believed to be the first of its kind in the state. "This is an experiment," Mayor Richard Kite said. Why should taxpayer money be used to deliver medicinal marijuana? [continues 238 words]
The Rancho Mirage City Council voted Thursday to allow medical marijuana deliveries to qualified residents. And if their dispensary won't deliver for free, the city will subsidize up to $25 of travel costs per patient per month within a 12-mile radius. Dispensaries would be banned within city limits. The city's "Medical Cannabis Compassionate Access Program" is believed to be the first of its kind in the state. "This is an experiment," Mayor Richard Kite said. The dispensary ban was approved on a 4-0 vote, but Councilman Ron Meepos voted against the subsidy and allowing delivery. [continues 183 words]
Rancho Mirage could start helping residents who qualify for medical marijuana to get it from out-of-town dispensaries, rather than allowing the storefronts to open in the city. The City Council voted Thursday to throw out two draft ordinances that had been waiting for a vote since October, when council members halted a process that would have made theirs the second Coachella Valley city to allow dispensaries to operate legally. Mayor Pro Tem Dana Hobart put forward what he called the "Medical Cannabis Compassionate Access Program" at Thursday's meeting, which would ban storefront dispensaries and cultivation outside of medical marijuana collectives. [continues 229 words]
As Officials Grapple With How to Regulate Dispensaries, Access to Drug Getting Easier During the past four years, the Coachella Valley's elected leaders have limited and even banned medical marijuana dispensaries. But that hasn't stopped medical pot access from expanding in the valley in bold, creative ways. At least eight medical marijuana "delivery services" have opened across the valley during the past year and a half to cater to local patients. The services openly advertise on "WeedMaps.com." The operators of these services, who say they verify their customers as medical pot patients before making deliveries, are based in Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert and La Quinta. [continues 856 words]
Rancho Mirage faces a legal claim from a marijuana dispensary it shut down while officials sift through conflicting legal signals on the issue. On Thursday, attorney Jeff Lake filed a $530,000 claim with the city on behalf of Desert Heart Collective, the first step toward filing a lawsuit. Rancho Mirage has 45 days to either pay or reject the claim, at which point the collective would be ready to sue, Lake said. But he added it still doesn't have to come to that. [continues 367 words]
The owner of a Palm Springs medical marijuana dispensary accused of illegally operating a pot collective in Palm Desert four years ago will go on trial in April, a judge ruled Thursday. Stacy Hochanadel, owner of CannaHelp in Palm Springs, is charged with possession of marijuana for sale, transport and sale of marijuana and keeping a place to sell controlled substances. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Duane Lloyd set an April 4 trial date and allowed Hochanadel to remain free on his own recognizance. [continues 152 words]
The Rancho Mirage City Council put off debate and a vote on a proposal to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in the city for a third time Thursday, fueling frustration among residents on either side of the issue. Mayor Richard Kite said during the meeting that he would not be calling for public comments on the topic after receiving legal advice that the residents' comments had to be made at the same meeting the council discussed it, "which will not be today." [continues 448 words]
The Rancho Mirage City Council again put off a scheduled vote on how to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries when it met Thursday. The matter was continued to the Nov. 18 meeting without further discussion from the council or the public, before the council headed into a closed session to discuss legal issues, which likely include this one. Council members would not specify which aspects of the proposed dispensary regulations were being discussed. "We still have more work to do on the ordinance, and we'll continue working on it until we have have it right," Mayor Richard Kite said after the public meeting. "We want to do what is right for the residents of Rancho Mirage, and the businesses of Rancho Mirage." [continues 217 words]
