Pubdate: Thu, 6 Dec 2007
Source: Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Copley Press Inc.
Contact:  http://www.dailybreeze.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/881
Author: Sandy Mazza
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

MARIJUANA DISPENSARY TURNED DOWN

Panel Rejects Proposed Del Aire Facility, Citing a Nearby Child-Care Facility.

County regional planning commissioners Wednesday turned down a permit 
application that would have allowed a medical marijuana dispensary 
near Los Angeles International Airport.

The decision came after Del Aire residents complained that the store 
would contribute to the area's seedy atmosphere and be too close to a 
child-care facility.

A closed bar, check-cashing business, strip club and motel stand near 
the vacant building at 11816 Aviation Blvd. in the unincorporated 
neighborhood of Del Aire.

Del Aire Neighborhood Association President John Koppelman said the 
LAX Suites motel and Ye Olde Shack bar - which has been closed for 
three years partially due to his efforts - bring prostitution, drugs 
and violence to the neighborhood. He believes the marijuana 
dispensary would only exacerbate that.

"It costs $150 to get a doctor's recommendation for marijuana," 
Koppelman said. "That's all it takes. You don't have to be sick. If 
you live in the motel and sell dope, you could go next door and get 
the dope. If you have a dope house, you're going to get dope activity."

Lawrence Epstein, chief executive officer of the collective that 
wants to operate the dispensary, applied for a conditional-use permit 
to open it.

Epstein helped establish the Marina Caregivers dispensary in Marina 
del Rey in 2005, and said it has grown to more than 100 customers a day.

"We do have more competition now," Epstein told the commission 
Wednesday. "When we opened in 2005, this was something very new. 
"Patients coming from the South Bay area would come to this 
(proposed) facility."

The South Bay is currently served by at least eight door-to-door 
marijuana delivery services and a few dispensaries that opened before 
Torrance, Carson, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills Estates, 
Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne and Gardena 
instituted moratoriums on them.

California approved the use of medical marijuana more than 10 years 
ago, but it is still illegal under federal law. Still, more than 200 
medical marijuana dispensaries have opened in Los Angeles County since then.

Though the county allows dispensaries that adhere to certain 
regulations, members of the Regional Planning Commission questioned 
whether they should go against federal law, which maintains that 
marijuana is an illegal narcotic.

"The U.S. Constitution is a guideline that reigns supreme," Regional 
Planning Commissioner Pat Modugno said Wednesday, when considering 
the application.

But the sticking point for commissioners was a home child-care center 
a few blocks away. County code regulating dispensaries says day-care 
centers must be at least 1,000 square feet away.

"I've had a lot of thought on this issue, on both sides," 
Commissioner Leslie Bellamy said before voting down the permit. "I 
didn't know child-care facilities were in the area. This is a small 
community, and the community stated there are crime issues across the 
street - prostitution and drugs."

Epstein, who is leasing the building, said he plans to appeal the 
commission's decision.

"This has been a very eye-opening process for me," Epstein said. 
"It's the first time I've been through a conditional-use permit 
process, angry residents, newspaper reporters. I don't know anything 
about this.

"I am disappointed in the decision. I've put a lot of time and energy 
into this. I thought it was going to go the other way." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake