Pubdate: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 Source: Press-Enterprise (CA) Copyright: 2006 The Press-Enterprise Company Contact: http://www.pe.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830 Author: Joan Osterwalder, The Press-Enterprise Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) MEDICAL-POT DISPENSARY ALLOWED TO OPERATE Palm Desert's lone medical-marijuana dispensary can stay open under an agreement reached Thursday after it was threatened with losing its business license. The city notified CannaHelp owner Stacy Hochanadel on Feb. 9 that it would consider revoking his license because the operation has been linked to criminal activity and possession of marijuana is illegal under federal law, among other reasons. CannaHelp opened before the city enacted a temporary ban on dispensaries in December. But police said they were having a hard time verifying whether people possess marijuana for medical purposes. In one instance, a CannaHelp customer tried to sell marijuana to teenagers, police said. The council was scheduled to hold a revocation hearing Thursday, but at the beginning of the meeting Mayor Jim Ferguson announced an agreement had been reached. Hochanadel's attorney, James Warner, said CannaHelp can continue to operate as long as its roughly 480 patients obtain optional county-issued ID cards. So far, about 10 percent of patients have the cards, he said. A tentative 30-day deadline was set for CannaHelp to comply with the new requirement, he said. Several medical-marijuana patients held a rally at the council chambers Thursday. Alan Layton, 53, of La Quinta said he is a CannaHelp patient and prefers going to a dispensary than getting marijuana on the street. "It definitely provides an air of legitimacy," he said. Medical marijuana is legal in California since voters passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996. The law allows patients with a doctor's recommendation to transport and use marijuana to treat symptoms of illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma or chronic pain. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake