GETTING TOUGH ON POT OUTLETS

Local Dispensaries Facing Strict Codes

PASADENA - Here, near the 10th anniversary of voter-approved
medicinal marijuana in California, the going is rough for purveyors
in the San Gabriel Valley. The two latest dispensaries opened and
quickly shut down due to county permit violations.

"Medical functions belong in a medical facility to protect the public
as well as patients," said Tony Bell, spokesman for county Supervisor
Michael Antonovich. "We believe these current operators' intention
is to circumvent the law. We have to be vigilant, and our office will
pursue every legal avenue ."

County code mandates that medicinal marijuana dispensaries possess a
business license and conditional-use permit, both required since a
moratorium approved unanimously in June 2005 by the Board of
Supervisors was lifted in June of this year, officials said.

On Wednesday, Alternative Caregivers of Pasadena closed shop after
receiving a violation notice from county officials.

"They were conducting a medical marijuana dispensary without a
conditional use permit first being obtained," said Alex Garcia with
the county's regional planning department.

A hand-made sign posted on the door Thursday told patrons the
dispensary, located in an unobtrusive office building at 3868 E.
Colorado Blvd., was closed.

Two blocks away and a day earlier, another outlet called California
Compassionate Caregivers, this one at 3682 E. Colorado Blvd., also
closed shop.

The owners alerted customers with a similar sign, as well as placing
a farewell notice on Weedtracker.com, a Web site dedicated to medical
marijuana.

"We put our heart and soul and truly wanted to make a difference, but
we failed you," reads the Web posting. "We wanted to serve The City
of Hope and its cancer patients. We wanted to help the AIDS center
located by us."

Los Angeles County Counsel Rick Weiss said letters were sent to the
owners of both properties informing them permits were required.

Weiss said the requirements were set up not to discourage them, but
to ensure they operate appropriately.

In Pasadena, a city zoning code amendment permanently banning the
dispensaries was approved in September 2005, despite an outcry from
advocates, said city spokeswoman Ann Erdman.

"People who advocated for medical marijuana packed the hearing room,"
she recalled, "but decided it should prohibit use in Pasadena
because a lot of people try to circumvent laws."

"It's easy to essentially buy a prescription off the Internet," she
added, "and there is no requirement at the clinics for patients to
show they have glaucoma or whatever legitimate illness they may claim."

But William Dolphin, a spokesman for Safe Access for America, a
medicinal marijuana advocacy group, insisted that despite such
claims, the 200,000 people considered to be in need of the drug
should be able to readily obtain the information and medicine they
need.

" is the most widely used recreational drug in the world," William
Dolphin said. "There hasn't been much of a problem getting it on the
black market. We're concerned about people who need to know about it
and where to get it."

An exemption from criminal penalties for medical marijuana use
created by Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act, approved in
November 1996 by 56 percent of voters, lies at the root of the
controversy; the issue has arisen statewide and in surrounding
communities including Monrovia, Monterey Park and Rowland Heights.

In fact, since the proposition passed, two dozen cities and seven
counties - including Los Angeles, Riverside and Santa Barbara - have
approved regulations allowing the dispensaries. However, three times
as many municipalities have passed moratoriums or banned cannabis
clubs outright, according to published reports.

And despite considerable interest in its use for treatment of
glaucoma, AIDS-related conditions, neuropathic pain, spasticity
associated with multiple sclerosis, and chemotherapy-induced nausea,
the FDA has not approved marijuana for medical use in the United
States.

Despite federal law, possession and sale of marijuana is carried out
in approximately 250 outlets statewide, having proliferated in the
last decade.