Pubdate: Tue, 27 Mar 2012
Source: Desert Sun, The (Palm Springs, CA)
Copyright: 2012 The Desert Sun
Contact: http://local2.thedesertsun.com/mailer/opinionwrap.php
Website: http://www.mydesert.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1112
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Author: Blake Herzog

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY SUIT COSTLY FOR RANCHO MIRAGE

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."

Plaintiff Desert Heart Collective was briefly open as a storefront 
medical marijuana dispensary before being shut down by a city 
moratorium in September 2010.

The dispensary sued after the council approved a complete ban on 
dispensaries in February 2011.

Mayor Dana Hobart said he doesn't consider the insurance policy part 
of the price of fighting the lawsuit.

"We would have to pay that every year, just like we would for any 
other insurance policy," he said.

He said the council still believes in Rancho Mirage's stance against 
allowing medical marijuana dispensaries.

"We believe our position is extremely sound and was the right 
decision to make," he said. "The fact there's litigation over that is 
not something that in any manner changes the direction a city should take."

Councilman Gordon Moller said he also believes the battle has been 
worth it. He noted the city has offered to pay transportation costs 
to dispensaries for qualified medical marijuana patients who live in the city.

"It's there. We're not preventing them from getting it," he said. 
"But I sure as hell don't want to become a city like many of the 
cities around us that have these things out there like hot dog stands."

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Randall White has ruled in 
favor of the dispensary on multiple occasions, most recently on March 
13 by ordering the city to process the dispensary's application for a 
certificate of occupancy.

But on the same day, White sided with the city by ordering Desert 
Heart Collective to turn over records to back up its claim of more 
than $2 million in damages.

Desert Heart Collective filed a request Thursday that the damages 
portion of the suit be dismissed.

Attorneys for the dispensary did not return calls seeking comment Monday.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom