Pubdate: Sat, 3 Jul 2010
Source: Record, The (Stockton, CA)
Copyright: 2010 The Record
Contact: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=A_OPINION05
Website: http://www.recordnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/428
Author: Dana Nichols

DEVELOPER OPENS MEDICAL POT COLLECTIVE

VALLEY SPRINGS - Developer Guy Meyers has opened a nonprofit medical 
marijuana collective in the heart of the Valley Springs business district.

County officials say Meyers has not obtained the necessary permits 
and that they are investigating the legality of the enterprise.

Calaveras County Sheriff Dennis Downum confirmed Friday that his 
office is investigating the Forgotten Knowledge Collective at 10 Nove Way.

Downum said that while a collective - in which medical marijuana 
users and caretakers cooperate to provide the medication - could be 
legal, he has not seen any evidence that Meyers has obtained the 
necessary permits.

Meyers said he is complying with state laws regulating medical 
marijuana collectives.

"We went on the guidelines issued by the state attorney general," Meyers said.

He said that the collective is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through 
Saturday ad that customers must have a valid medical marijuana 
recommendation from their doctor.

Downum said that County Counsel Jim Jones and the county Planning 
Commission are taking the lead on the investigation.

A Calaveras County code adopted in 2005 outlines the process for such 
dispensaries to win approval to operate. That code puts the planning 
director, George White, in charge of enforcement.

The county code does not appear to distinguish between collectives 
and dispensaries, which have different definitions under state law. 
Jones declined to comment. "I just became aware of it," he said.

Meyers has a history of filing and sometimes winning lawsuits against 
various county institutions. Most recently, he was on the losing side 
of a five-year legal battle over the county's road-mitigation fee.

In an earlier case, Meyers won a settlement from the Calaveras County 
Water District after he was booted off the district's board in 1998.

Meyers is not the first person to open a medical marijuana collective 
in Calaveras County. KCare Collective, which opened last year, was 
shut down following the arrest of Jay Smith, who was operating the 
collective. Smith was arrested on marijuana sales charges in January.
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