WALT WILEY: MEDICAL MARIJUANA STORE MAY OPEN ON FULTON AVENUE

Up in smoke: It had to happen sometime. Sacramento County has received
its first medical marijuana store business license application.

If it all comes to pass, the store will be in back behind other stores
at 1827 Fulton Ave., on the corner of the Alta Arden Expressway. The
applicant is Rick Fischer, who until 1995 owned New York Diamonds on
Sunrise Boulevard.

The county doesn't know quite what to do with the application yet.
"We're studying it now - and the county counsel's looking at it as
well," said Richard Maddox, chief code enforcer.

A big question is just what kind of business a marijuana store is, he
said. "I mean, is it just another retail establishment? Is it a
pharmacy? What?"

For Fischer, "pharmacy" sounds just about right. "I want it to be like
a Rite Aid - clean, well-lighted, efficient," he said. "Some of these
cannabis stores just aren't that. You even have to wait in line to get
in."

He said he got the idea to open his own store from his experience at
other stores filling a prescription for medical marijuana to help with
pain in his knees.

Maddox said he will have an answer in a week or so. "We have 45 days
to make a decision, but we'll be sooner than that. And meanwhile,
we've got another application for a cannabis store in Orangevale."