VALLEJO DISPENSARY ROBBERY REIGNITES CHIEF'S CONCERNS

Greenwell Cooperative, a medical cannabis dispensary in Vallejo, was
the scene of an attempted robbery on July 9, according to Vallejo police.

"This is why I'm concerned about dispensaries in Martinez," said MPD
Chief Tom Simonetti, after learning of the incident. "My view has been
consistent from the beginning and that is a concern for public safety
in the event a dispensary is opened in our City. The recent take-over
robbery this past weekend in the City of Vallejo or the two homicides
at two different Los Angeles dispensaries in late May are only a
couple of examples of what our City faces, should a dispensary or
dispensaries be allowed to open."

Two men were arrested on charges of attempted armed robbery,
possession of a hand gun and conspiracy after a high-profile police
chase involved numerous Vallejo PD and Solano Sheriff officers, who
blocked off downtown streets in their pursuit.

Dale Gieringer, Ph.D., vice chair of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) said Wednesday the attempted Vallejo
robbery is the fourth such incident at Northern California
dispensaries since January.

In contrast, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in 2009
- -- the most recent statistics available -- 710 robberies occurred at
California banks.

Just after 10 a.m. last Friday, police allege Larry Bowier and Rashad
Gaines, both 20 and Vallejo residents, entered the Greenwell
Cooperative at 714 Marin Street with guns drawn, demanded money and
pushed passed employees to access the product dispensary room. While
grabbing cannabis and stuffing it into garbage sacks, the suspects
heard police sirens, so they bolted from the premises, running in
different directions, said Vallejo Lieutenant Tenorio Abel on Wednesday.

Bowier was tackled almost immediately by a Vallejo police corporal,
while Gaines was apprehended a few hours later when police spotted him
in a car near Sonoma Blvd. The suspects' guns were recovered at the
time of the arrests.

Abel explained the incident was still under investigation; he was
unable to confirm the custody status of the two arrestees. Dispensary
employees provided a positive ID of the suspects as the two who had
attempted the robbery.

An attempt to contact Greenwell's administrative staff to confirm
details provided by Lt. Abel was brusquely met with an employee
mumbling "we're not saying anything," followed by him slamming down
the phone.

Lieutenant Ken Faulkner of the Solano County Sheriff's Office said
yesterday that deputies responded as is the norm in armed robbery
incidents, not because it occurred at a cannabis dispensary.

"That just happen to be the place [where it happened], and we
responded because Vallejo had an insufficient [number of officers on
hand]," Faulkner said.

Gieringer stressed the spate of robberies or burglaries at Northern
California dispensaries "mostly involved unregulated dispensaries,
fly-by-night operations that don't have very good security." He
explained that in Oakland, where regulation has been strictly enforced
by the City for the past seven years, there have been no criminal incidents.

"The city-licensed facilities, the record is very good, much better
than at liquor or convenience stores, where robberies are a dime a
dozen," said Gieringer, adding that problems arise when there is an
undue amount of cash on hand at the facility as a result of cash-only
policies. Per Gieringer, this happens when the dispensary's bank
refuses to allow credit card transactions because it's medical
cannabis being sold.

"Banks have been closing the accounts of dispensaries, for example,
here at NORML, [an advocacy non-profit], PayPal canceled our account
because we were accepting payments from dispensaries to be included in
our directories," Gieringer said.

The incidents of banks denying financial services to medical cannabis
businesses is so prevalent among national banks such as Bank of
America, US Bank, Chase and Wells Fargo that 15 members of Congress
penned a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in May, urging
him to dispense new guidelines to financial institutions to stop the
practice.

According to the patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, who
"has received dozens of reports over the past couple of years from
medical marijuana providers in California, Colorado and other states
who have either been denied financial services or had their existing
bank accounts terminated with little-to-no justification," the letter
read "it seems clear that legitimate state-legal businesses are being
denied access to banking services, which does not serve the public
interest," and stated the denial of financial services produces "an
increased risk to public safety with potential theft or robbery that
any cash-only or cash-reliant business faces," and is "an affront to
fundamental fairness."

If a Martinez dispensary is allowed to open, municipal code would set
strict operating parameters, said City Council member and Public
Safety Subcommittee member Mike Menesini. He pointed out the large
number of armed robberies that occur on a regular basis at ATMs,
cautioning against a knee-jerk reaction opposing dispensaries in light
of this week's attempted robbery.

"While I fully understand that any business that handles large of
amounts of cash is a potential robbery target, we currently do not
have these ‘targets' in our City," said Simonetti. "Why would we
want to invite this type of crime to Martinez?"

On Monday, the Public Safety Subcommittee continued their line-by-line
evaluation of the new medical cannabis dispensary ordinance written by
the City Attorney upon direction from Council.

"We're trying to be very careful to come up with something we think
will work for patients who need medical cannabis and be consistent
with public safety concerns," said Menesini. "It's a relatively
tedious exercise to essentially determine what should be left to the
[dispensary operators] and what should be included in the ordinance,
which we will eventually recommend to Council."