MEDICAL POT FOR SALE IN COLFAX

But a Councilwoman Says the Store Is Bad for the Town's Image.

A second medical marijuana store has opened in Placer County.

Located next to a pizza parlor on Highway 174 in Colfax, the Golden
State Patient Care Collective began selling marijuana about a month
ago.

Co-owner Jim Henry said his dispensary provides a needed service to
foothills residents and others with health problems.

"People come in every day and thank us for opening here," said Henry,
who is also an emergency medical technician.

As with the medicinal "pot shop" that opened in Roseville in January,
the Colfax store finds itself in some controversy.

At least one City Council member is unhappy that the issue of a
medicinal marijuana shop was never publicly discussed by the council
and says the store's presence is bad for the town's image.

"I don't think this type of business adds anything to the city," said
Councilwoman Sherrie Blackmun. "I don't want Colfax to be known for
this."

City administrators said the cannabis club went through all legal
channels to obtain a business license, and adheres to Proposition 215,
which was approved by state voters in 1996 and permits medicinal
marijuana for qualified patients.

In addition, a new state law that went into effect this year allows
qualified patients and caregivers to cultivate the plant.

However, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration refuses to recognize
the legality of California's medicinal marijuana laws and cautions the
Colfax store owner not to be surprised if agents pound on his door
with an arrest warrant.

"Marijuana is not a medicine," said Richard Meyer, special agent for
the DEA office in San Francisco. "We take issue with the term 'medical
marijuana.' "

The threat from the federal agency worries Henry, 55, a Nevada County
resident who along with co-owner Cheryle Reindeau, opened the Colfax
store April 2.

"But outweighing that fear is the opportunity I have to provide
cannabis to people who need it," Henry said.

Henry said he tried to open his store in Nevada County but encountered
opposition from District Attorney Michael Ferguson, who said he
interprets Proposition 215 to mean that only someone seriously ill can
possess and grow marijuana for medicinal purposes.

"To me, that means you can't open a shop and sell it," Ferguson
said.

Henry eventually chose Colfax after talking to Mayor Sharon Gieras,
who isn't opposed to the idea of a dispensary.

"It is supposed to be used medicinally." said Gieras, former owner of
a health food store.

Gieras said she began telling residents in March that a medicinal
marijuana store wanted to operate in town.

"Most people were shocked. They didn't think it was a good idea," she
said. "I told them that sometimes a sick person is unable to eat and
that medicinal marijuana allows the person to eat and to get his
appetite back. It can also be good for easing the person's pain."

City Councilman Joshua Alpine also supported the business.

"As long as they are doing it responsibly and have good control over
it, I don't see it as a problem," he said. "Anything that helps (a
sick person), I'm all for it."

City Manager Bob Perrault said his staff reviewed the business
application and "made the determination that there was no legal way
for the city to deny the use," he said.

Perrault said the store is viewed as a pharmaceutical use, which is
permitted in a commercial zone.

However, Councilwoman Blackmun felt the issue should have been
discussed in a public meeting.

Henry said his customers, who come to his shop from as far away as
Fresno and Bakersfield, include those coping with cancer, AIDS,
hepatitis, chronic pain, chemotherapy treatments or glaucoma.

The buyers need a doctor's written recommendation for the cannabis, he
said.

"The patient must have the original recommendation from the doctor and
a California identification," Henry said. " And I call the doctor to
make sure."

"So far, we have a steady flow of patients - about 45," said Henry's
daughter, Wendy, 23, who helps her father with the business.

Prices depend on the marijuana's quality, Jim Henry said. "The best
quality is $400 an ounce," he said.

Vendors and customers provide him the cannabis, he said.

Stores like Henry's are not a DEA priority, officials say. Many
cannabis clubs have operated in the Bay Area without being raided.
"All over California, our number one priority is methamphetamine,"
said Meyer.

Gordon Taylor, DEA agent in Sacramento, said there is a "statewide
misperception" that nearly every person who claimed to use marijuana
for a medical reason is suffering from a terminal illness.

"It's becoming increasingly apparent to us that many people who are
utilizing (Proposition 215) laws are doing it to justify their chronic
use of marijuana," Taylor said.

Meyer said his agency raided a home that had marijuana plants and the
occupant claimed he needed them to treat dyslexia, a learning disorder.

In Old Roseville, Richard Marino, who opened a medical marijuana
center called Capital Compassionate Care on Lincoln Street, said a
second business in Placer County is fine with him.

"Competition is always good," he said. "People who are sick won't have
to drive a long way."

But Marino wasn't pleased that a similar business is scheduled to open
in Citrus Heights this month.

"It doesn't make sense to have our center in Roseville and then
another in Citrus Heights just four miles away," he said. "I don't
think you need to open them on every street corner."

Marino is looking to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Elk Grove.
The City Council there has voted to place restrictions on such
businesses, partially to discourage them from setting up shop in the
community.

Marino's staff wouldn't give an estimate on how many patients they
serve daily, saying only that business is "consistent."