Pubdate: Thu, 19 Jul 2012
Source: Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, CA)
Copyright: 2012 Swift Communications
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/fXmayKuh
Website: http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/443
Author: Adam Jensen

MARIJUANA DISPENSARY TO FIGHT PERMIT REVOCATION

A second medical marijuana dispensary in South Lake Tahoe is facing 
closure after having its operating permit revoked last week.

The city revoked Patient to Patient Collective's dispensary permit 
July 11 after making several unsuccessful attempts to get the medical 
marijuana dispensary to properly install a fire safety wall, Interim 
City Manager Nancy Kerry said Tuesday.

During a July 13 inspection, city officials also found the dispensary 
growing marijuana in an upstairs room at the property in violation of 
their permit, Kerry said.

Matt Triglia, the owner of the collective, said he has been in 
compliance with city rules for months and was never told that he was 
prohibited from growing upstairs at the dispensary's location. 
Patient to Patient immediately filed an appeal to the permit 
revocation, Kerry said.

The City Council is scheduled to hear the appeal at its Aug. 7 
meeting. The collective is allowed to continue operating until the 
appeal is heard, City Attorney Patrick Enright said.

City Councilman Hal Cole said that, although he supports giving 
patients access to medical marijuana, he is concerned with the 
seemingly high profits associated with the collectives and the 
possibility the city has "legalized drug dealing."

Cole referenced a police report in which a Matthew John Triglia and 
an Erika French were stopped in a motor home with Nevada license 
plates in St. Charles, Mo., in December 2011. Authorities allegedly 
found two large duffel bags that smelled heavily of marijuana and an 
estimated $85,000 bundled in rubber bands and heat sealed in a plastic bag.

"The packaging method was very commonly associated with that of 
currency and narcotic smugglers," according to the report.

The Matt Triglia named in the document was taken into custody 
following the traffic stop, according to the report. The outcome of 
the arrest is unknown.

Although the description of the couple involved in the December 2011 
incident is similar to South Lake Tahoe dispensary owner Matt Triglia 
and his wife, Erika Triglia, the owner of the collective denied 
involvement in the incident Tuesday and told Cole he didn't know what 
the councilman was talking about. He called the report "hearsay."

"If that's the case I'd be sitting in jail right now," Triglia said.

Patient to Patient Collective is the second of three medical 
marijuana dispensaries in South Lake Tahoe to face closure after the 
council declined to approve a relocation of City of Angels 2 
Collective earlier this month.

The council did not ratify the move after receiving a letter from 
South Shore narcotics officers alleging area collectives are involved 
in illegal marijuana trafficking.

At Tuesday's meeting, the owner of City of Angels, Gino DiMatteo, 
said the city has violated his due process rights because he received 
an OK from former City Manager Tony O'Rourke to begin work on the new 
location in June, only to have the City Council deny the move the 
following month.

DiMatteo said he was a victim of "trail by ambush and guilty by 
innuendo," and said the collective is "100 percent legal."

The council did not take any formal action on its rules regarding 
medical marijuana Tuesday. Council members directed staff to continue 
enforcing the rules as written.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom