Pubdate: Sun, 15 Nov 2015 Source: Orange County Register, The (CA) Copyright: 2015 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321 Author: Scott Schwebke THEY WON'T BACK DOWN Marla James spends her days volunteering at the Sky High pot shop, navigating her wheelchair through the busy Santa Ana storefront, which serves more than 250 clients a day. Customers peruse weekly specials listed on a chalkboard advertising strains such as Purple Kush, King Louie and Charlie Sheen. A medical marijuana patient herself, James warmly greets each client, handing out bite-size samples. "It's like a Costco," she says with a laugh. For the past six months, a defiant James and her attorney have been locked in a calculated game of cat and mouse with the city of Santa Ana, which is equally determined to shutter the storefront clinic. Santa Ana police cite the Sky High Holistic collective's illegal status, and they say the department's ongoing, and at times controversial, enforcement action is part of a larger effort to crack down on unlicensed dispensaries across the city. Those efforts include a controversial May raid in which Santa Ana police officers were caught on video forcing Sky High customers to the floor, profanely referencing James in her wheelchair and munching on what James' attorney claimed were pot edibles. The bust, which went viral online, led to the suspension of three police officers amid an ongoing internal affairs investigation. When the dust settled, James, attorney Matthew Pappas and clinic employees reopened the pot shop for business, providing services for a clientele of 3,000 people with ailments such as cancer and anxiety. Weeks later, the police returned and shut down Sky High in a more restrained fashion. Sky High employees reopened. Then the cops closed them down again. So far there have been four rounds of enforcement, followed by reopening and the return of eager clients. "Sky High is one of the dispensaries still continuing to operate illegally," said Santa Ana police Cmdr. Chris Revere. "And we will continue to use all legal means at our disposal to get it to comply with the law." A personal battle Pappas is a Long Beach civil rights lawyer who represents medical marijuana users throughout Southern and Northern California. But the person he is most determined to help is his 23-year-old daughter. As a teen, Victoria Pappas struggled with her mental health, including serious bouts of depression. A friend suggested to her parents that she try cannabis to regulate her mood. For the 48-year-old lawyer, who says he does not smoke marijuana and does not possess a medical marijuana card, the suggestion was an epiphany. "I originally thought medical cannabis was a joke and people just used it to get high," Matthew Pappas said. "Then I saw the benefits for Victoria." His daughter was doing well until 2011, when a stranger followed Victoria Pappas, then 19, out of a Las Vegas party and attacked the 100-pound woman, nearly killing her. She uses medical marijuana daily to battle severe neck pain and debilitating migraines, along with a host of other medical issues, her father said. Matthew Pappas said the positive impact medical marijuana has made in the lives of his daughter and Sky High patients has made him passionate about fighting to keep the dispensary open. "Medical marijuana laws ... are for patients who often suffer from illnesses and disabilities and who have very limited financial resources," he said. Catering to various tastes Sky High opened in 2010 in a modest terra cotta storefront next to a Chinese restaurant on West 17th Street. The clinic is a nonprofit corporation owned by its member-patients, Pappas said. There is a large waiting room with a large dark sofa and folding chairs, along with whimsical bat decals. A sign on a computer monitor urges clients to "smile" because they are on camera. On a typical day, James can be found in the sales room chatting with clients who choose from a variety of products kept in large display cases. Those with a sweet tooth can find pot-flavored ice cream in a small freezer that sits against a wall. Pappas said the money Sky High collects goes toward operations, payments to providers who cultivate marijuana for the dispensary, legal fees and salaries for about 10 employees. He said he is angry about the city's relentless efforts to shut down the clinic. "What has happened in Santa Ana is the epitome of money being treated by government above the citizens they are there to represent," he said. "We are not treating the sick and disabled with the dignity they deserve." Challenging the lottery In 2014, Santa Ana voters approved Measure BB, which established a lottery system that selected 20 medical marijuana dispensaries for licenses. Sky High was not one of the lottery winners. So far, at least three licensed clinics have opened in Santa Ana. Pappas is suing Santa Ana officials in U.S. District Court over Measure BB. The lawsuit contends Santa Ana officials unfairly shut Sky High out of the lottery in favor of dispensary operators who are well-financed and politically connected. "We have a very shaky lottery-based ordinance put in place amidst allegations of wrongdoing by people," Pappas said. Pappas also contends Santa Ana authorities have repeatedly tried to close Sky High to eliminate the dispensary's revenue stream, stopping its ability to finance legal costs to challenge Measure BB. "They want to cut off funding to me so that I can't prosecute the lawsuit," he said. "Systematically, they are making it so that the opposition can't get redress in court. It's a sick way of doing things." Santa Ana City Councilman Sal Tinajero declined to comment on efforts to close Sky High, citing the pending lawsuit. Tinajero, however, said he believes Measure BB and the lottery have benefited the city. "Our staff is working diligently to implement this new (licensing) policy as efficiently as possible," he said. "This reduction in illegal dispensaries increases the quality of life around our neighborhoods, schools and parks." A way out of pain Marla James began volunteering at Sky High a year ago, several months before the first police raid. James, 54, and her husband, David James, 68, also a medical marijuana user, live in a small one-bedroom apartment in Huntington Beach. They met in 1990 at what they affectionately described as a "shipwreck hippie party." "It was like Gilligan's Island, only grubbier," David James said with a chuckle. Marla James, who grew up in Fountain Valley, said she worked 16 years in sales and marketing for Thomas Bros. Maps based in Irvine. She had to resign in 2000 after contracting a flesh-eating bacteria that required major surgery and resulted in four months of hospitalization. James' doctor prescribed OxyContin to help her cope with pain from the surgery, but the medication made her feel almost catatonic. "I had no quality of life," she said. "I couldn't do anything." Unable to handle the side effects of the potent painkiller, James went to another physician, who issued her a medical marijuana card in 2003. "There had to be a way out of pain," she said. "I did it with the help of medical marijuana." James initially bought pot from several underground dispensaries in Anaheim, Fullerton, Sunset Beach and Costa Mesa. Soon she and her husband began advocating for the legalization of dispensaries throughout Orange County. "We would hold up signs and speak at city council meetings," James said. "If you don't like medical marijuana, you don't have to use it. But don't stop me from using it." James, who has diabetes and is legally blind, suffered another major medical setback in 2010 when her left leg below the knee was amputated because of an infection from a previous ankle surgery. James is both a client and a volunteer at Sky High, where she helps educate patients about various products. "I help out where I can," she said. James defers the cost of her own marijuana use, which can run from $200 to $300 an ounce, by trimming medical pot for packaging at a facility in Orange County. In turn, she receives free marijuana. Since 2009, James also helps out when she can answering phones for Pappas' law firm. She said her disability has strengthened her resolve to speak out on behalf of medical marijuana users. "I'm more determined to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves," she said. Stepped-up scrutiny Revere, the Santa Ana police commander, said that in recent months, the city has reduced the number of illegal marijuana dispensaries from about 90 to fewer than 20 through a combination of enforcement actions and compliance. "As a result, the few that still operate illegally can expect more scrutiny from the city since they are in a smaller group of illicit dispensaries," he said. On Friday, Santa Ana police officers, accompanied by city workers, returned to Sky High. An inspector found several problems, including an interior wall covering some sprinklers, some sprinklers missing from a back room and exposed wiring, Pappas said. The city red-tagged the building, preventing Sky High from staying open. Pappas said he agreed to close the dispensary temporarily while items are repaired. The clinic will probably reopen within three weeks, he said. "I'm not opposed to laws related to public safety," Pappas said. "I'm opposed to laws that are arbitrary and invalid." Pappas and James aren't overly concerned about more police action. "We are not going to back down from Santa Ana in this important civil rights issue," Pappas said. "We are going to continue to fight this city as well as others that insist on putting money above patients." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom