Pubdate: Wed, 16 Jun 2010
Source: Marin Independent Journal (CA)
Copyright: 2010 Marin Independent Journal
Contact:  http://www.marinij.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/673
Author: Jessica Bernstein-Wax

CORTE MADERA MAY SHUT DOWN POT DISPENSARIES

Corte Madera may file a lawsuit as soon as next week  seeking to shut
down its two medical marijuana  dispensaries, the town attorney said
Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the town sent cease-and-desist  letters to Marin
Holistic Solutions and Going Green  warning the dispensaries to stop
storing, selling and  cultivating pot by June 25.

"When they first applied (for a business license) in  the spring of
2009, they did not fully disclose the  nature of the business," Town
Attorney Jeffrey Walter  said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Walter added that the dispensaries are in violation of  town zoning
and municipal codes.

Last month the Planning Commission began considering an  ordinance
that would have regulated the two  dispensaries, both of which opened
last summer in the  same Tamal Plaza office complex. The proposed
ordinance  also would have allowed Marin Holistic and Going Green  to
apply for licensing, Walter said.

However, the Town Council voted 4-0 during a June 1  closed-session
discussion to authorize the  cease-and-desist letters, Walter said.
Councilman  Michael Lappert was absent.

Walter declined to explain the reasoning behind the  council's action,
saying that could jeopardize the  town's case.

About 50 medical marijuana patients and concerned  residents packed a
council meeting Tuesday night hoping  to speak about the
dispensaries.

The speakers, mostly supporters of Marin Holistic and  Going Green,
waited more than an hour to address the  council, at times spilling
onto the steps outside the council chambers because the  room was too
full to hold everyone.

"To say that you support medical marijuana, but you  don't want it in
your backyard is hypocrisy," Tiburon  resident Kevin Mazzatta said.

Mazzatta added that he doesn't use pot but has friends  and family
members who rely on it for treatment.

"This is not 15-year-old kids playing Xbox in their  mom's basement
smoking pot," he said.

San Rafael resident Travis Cozzi, an Operation Iraqi  Freedom veteran,
said he suffers from Post-Traumatic  Stress Disorder, anxiety and
depression and doesn't  want to drive to San Francisco for marijuana
treatment.

"These (dispensaries) are perfect for vets that have  issues," Cozzi
said. "Vets out here, they need this  medicine."

Several Corte Madera and Larkspur residents said they  support the
town's efforts to close the dispensaries  and criticized their
location near Redwood High School.

"They were not above-board when they filled out their  business
license applications," said Phyllis Galanis, a  Corte Madera resident
who works in the office complex  where the dispensaries are situated.

"We will not have a business in Corte Madera that is  against federal
law," she said.

Council members could not comment on the issue because  of the
potential for litigation, Mayor Carla Condon  said after the meeting.

Kim Pelham, who operates the Going Green dispensary,  said she had
been working with town officials and  police for a year and felt
"completely blind-sided"  when the cease-and-desist letter arrived in
the mail  earlier this month.

"Our business application said that we were selling  retail sales of
organic products," Pelham said  Wednesday. "It is still against
federal law for me to  put something on there that we're selling marijuana."

Pelham noted that many of her patients live in Corte  Madera but are
afraid to speak out because of the  stigma associated with marijuana
use. Going Green would  be willing to move farther from the high
school or only  accept clients over 21 if doing so enabled it to
remain  in Corte Madera, she said.

Both dispensaries said they prohibit people under 18  from entering,
and neither intends to shut down before  the June 25 deadline.

"We're not leaving," said Scot Candell, an attorney  representing
Marin Holistic Solutions. "If they want to  go through and file a
lawsuit and try to have an  injunction to kick us out, they can. I
think it's  questionable whether they're going to win, especially
since they gave us a license to be there through next  January."

Marin County officials have ordered Tree of Life  dispensary in Santa
Venetia to shut its doors, and they  said last month they planned to
send a similar letter  to the Marin Wellness Center dispensary in Kentfield. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake