MARIJUANA OUTLET, NORCO SQUARING OFF

Dispensary: The City Says It Violates Land-Use Ordinances; the Owners
Plan to Fight the Ruling.

NORCO - Owners of a medical marijuana collective have vowed to keep
the dispensary open despite a legal challenge from the city.

Collective Solution opened Dec. 1 on a stretch of Sixth Street known
for veterinary clinics and animal feed stores. Owner Ken Andersen
said he and his partners opened the dispensary after a 45-day
moratorium on the businesses ended.

"When the moratorium expired, we rented this building, applied for a
business license and started signing up patients," Andersen said.

City Manager Jeff Allred said Norco denied Andersen's application for
a business license on the grounds that a medical marijuana dispensary
violated land-use provisions for the area.

"Basically, they thumbed their noses at the city of Norco and opened
it anyway," he said.

The city has since sent the collective a cease-and-desist order.

Andersen and his partners say they hope to work with city officials
to keep the collective open in the community.

"We have every intention to address the council in a respectful
manner," Andersen said. "We are putting together our presentation to the city."

Andersen said the group has consulted with lawyers who specialize in
land-use issues related to medical marijuana.

State and federal laws differ on the legality of the use and
distribution of medical marijuana, complicating the issue for local
governments.

In October, Riverside County supervisors approved a ban on marijuana
dispensaries in unincorporated areas, joining San Bernardino, Merced
and San Diego in challenging California's medical marijuana laws.

On Dec. 13 a Riverside County Superior Court ruling granted the city
of Corona a preliminary injunction needed to close a medical
marijuana dispensary that had opened in the city in May. The
collective remains open pending an appeal.

California voters passed Prop. 215 in 1996 to decriminalize the use
of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Andersen and his partners say the collective provides a safe place
for ailing patients to obtain medical marijuana.

"The alternative to safe access is to do it the illicit way, that is
your back alleys and everything else," Andersen said. "Can you
imagine sending your grandma out to who knows where?"