ESSENTIAL HERBS AND OILS TO REOPEN TODAY

Cathedral City Continues Efforts to Revoke Medical Marijuana
Dispensary's Business License

Essential Herbs and Oils, a medical marijuana dispensary on E. Palm
Canyon Drive in Cathedral City, is set to reopen for business at 11
a.m. today.

Owner Virginia Hurn announced the reopening Wednesday, and added an
invitation to city officials to work with her to allow the business to
stay open.

"We're going to take the $30,000 we would have spent fighting them (in
court), and we're going to spend the money on helping (the
community)," Hurn said.

Mayor Kathy DeRosa declined comment.

The dispensary, located at 68-487 E. Palm Canyon Drive, has been
closed since Feb. 21, after a federal judge in Riverside granted a
request from Cathedral City officials for a temporary restraining
order against the business.

But Judge Stephen G. Larson refused the city's request for a permanent
federal injunction on Monday, ruling that Cathedral City did not have
right to pursue a case based on the federal ban on marijuana.

In issuing his ruling, Larson also encouraged the city to pursue the
case through the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. City officials
said they have contacted the office, but Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for
the office, declined comment.

Essential Herbs and Oils opened in January with a business license
issued from the city last November. One the license, owners Hurn and
Teresa Sotelo identified the business as a manufacturer and retailer
of herbs and extracts.

City officials issued two cease-and-desist orders against the
dispenary early in February, before filing the request for the
injunction and restraining order.

They are also attempting to revoke the shop's business license. A date
for a hearing on the revocation has yet to be set, said Deputy City
Manager Julie Baumer.