Pubdate: Tue, 28 Aug 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
Author: Blake Herzog

RANCHO MIRAGE, MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY TRADE BARBS

RANCHO MIRAGE - A decision is expected by Thursday evening on whether 
a medical marijuana dispensary must remain closed until its future is 
determined in court.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Evans heard arguments for 
and against extending a temporary restraining order into a 
preliminary injunction at the Indio courthouse Monday.

Rancho Mirage Safe Access Wellness Center opened in June at 72-067 
Highway 111 and shut down after Evans granted the temporary order 
requested by the city on Aug. 6, on the grounds the dispensary failed 
to get a certificate of occupancy and business license before opening.

Safe Access subsequently applied for a certificate of occupancy, but 
City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said Monday it's been denied because 
the building didn't meet parking or other requirements for disabled access.

"I find it distressing that a business that purports to serve ill 
patients (some of whom may be physically disabled) does not seem to 
be genuinely concerned with disability access issues," Quintanilla 
said in an email.

He said the permit was also denied because of the city's 2011 ban of 
dispensaries. That law was declared invalid under the state 
constitution after another dispensary sued the city.

That decision is under appeal, and cities and counties throughout 
California await a decision from the state Supreme Court on whether 
they can adopt total bans on dispensaries, after a series of 
conflicting rulings from county and appeals courts.

Safe Access attorney Joseph Rhea said the dispensary never had a 
chance of getting the permits, and an employee was told as much by 
two city staffers, one of whom was captured in a video clip saying 
there is a separate process for medical marijuana dispensaries.

He called the city's denial of the certificate of occupancy 
"transparently a joke. That building has been there for 35 years, and 
they're finding this out now?"

He said it is considered a "heritage building" under the 1992 
Americans with Disabilities Act, so requirements aren't as stringent.

He said the city had invented a separate, if unwritten, set of 
permitting standards for dispensaries: "It's one thing to say you 
don't like marijuana; it's another thing to create these fraudulent 
procedures. That's just shady."

Quintanilla said Monday the same rules apply to all businesses, and 
he'd just thought of another that could apply to Safe Access, since 
the dispensary has stated on a website it delivers to patients in 
Rancho Mirage.

Medical marijuana delivery is permitted in the city, he said, but any 
service must also get a business license.

"I'm going to tell them that, and if they don't apply for one, we'll 
cite them for that, too," he said.
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