CITY, COUNTY VOW TO CLOSE POT CLINIC

PASADENA - Claiming that it is operating illegally, officials tried
late last week to shut down a recently opened medical marijuana
dispensary in an unincorporated county area.

"It is a high priority," Los Angeles County Counsel Rick Weiss said,
"and will be pursued vigorously."

In June 2005, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a
moratorium banning such dispensaries. This past June, an ordinance was
passed requiring the businesses to obtain a conditional-use permit in
addition to a business license to open.

A handmade cardboard sign with a smiley face welcomes visitors to the
dispensary, located just outside Pasadena city limits on East Colorado
Boulevard.

The smell of burning marijuana wafted heavily into the stairwell from
behind an armed guard who opened the door.

"We have to protect our patients," he said, explaining his
sidearm.

Pasadena police Chief Bernard Melekian was angered that his department
was not notified by the county when the establishment opened.

"What I think is really unfortunate about this," he said, "is that it
never registered on conscience to alert the city 150 yards off of
the opening of such a business. We found out about through a second
party."

Repeated calls to the business, called California Compassionate
Caregivers according to Weedtrackers.com, a Web site dedicated to
medical marijuana use, went unanswered.

Owners of the business at 3682 E. Colorado Blvd. sparred with a county
zoning inspector last week, Weiss said, saying they opened in May
before the new ordinance went into effect.

"They may argue that," said Weiss, "but even if they opened in May, we
believe that they did not open legally because the moratorium was
still in effect then."

Weiss said county staff issued the business a violation notice
Thursday.

If its owners fail to comply, court action will be pursued, part of
which may require a temporary restraining order.

"If they pack up and leave we may not have to do anything," he
said.

Otherwise, Melekian said it was apparent from experiences within
Pasadena city limits that "medical marijuana clinics are a sham."

"That's not to say that there is not a medical use for marijuana," he
said, "because I believe there is. I just don't think these clinics
fill that need. If society wants to legalize marijuana, I wish they
would just do it."

The new dispensary adds to the controversy surrounding such
establishments, which have appeared in area cities including Monrovia,
Monterey Park and Rowland Heights, since the passage of Proposition
215 in 1996 created a exemption from criminal penalties for medical
use of marijuana.