NEW POT DISPENSARY IN VALLEY

Mayor: Shop Has License - but Not for Marijuana

A new medical marijuana dispensary called Essential Herbs and Oils
has been open about a month in Cathedral City.

The business is located at 68-487 E. Palm Canyon Drive in a
commercial complex that includes a dental office and insurance firm.

A woman answering a phone at Essential Herbs and Oils on Monday would
not give her name but confirmed it is a dispensary and that the
facility has a business license from the city.

Cathedral City Mayor Kathy DeRosa confirmed that Essential Herbs and
Oils does have a business license. But, she said, "It is not for
medical marijuana."

The license, issued Nov. 5, lists the owners as Virginia Hurn and
Teresa Sotelo. It also describes the business as a spice and extract
manufacturer and spice and herb retailer.

Anthony Curiale, attorney for Essential Herbs, countered that the
descriptions on the license are irrelevant.

"There is no legal definition of a dispensary," Curiale said. "A
business license is not for the purpose of regulation. It's for the
purpose of generating revenue for the city."

Cathedral City has no law either allowing or banning medical
marijuana dispensaries. Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage are the only
two valley cities with neither a ban nor moratorium in force.

Indian Wells, La Quinta and Palm Desert have bans. Coachella, Desert
Hot Springs, Indio and Palm Springs have moratoriums.

DeRosa would not comment on whether the Cathedral City dispensary
might spur the city to take action on the issue.

The store joins two other existing dispensaries in the valley, both
in Palm Springs - Compassionate Caregivers and the Collective
Apothecary of Palm Springs.

Both are operating in violation of the city's moratorium on
dispensaries, originally passed in March 2006.

Palm Springs officials have been working on a law that would allow
small patients' cooperatives in the city, but not dispensaries, said
City Attorney Doug Holland.

"It will deal with six or more patients or their caregivers," Holland
said. "If you have too many in a group, (there are) too many plants
in one location."

A draft of the law could be ready for review this month, he said.