POT STORE TO STAY OPEN

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) Marijuana crusader Andrea Nagy gets to keep her
pot store open, the Thousand Oaks City Council decided.

The fivemember council Tuesday fell one vote short of the four needed to
temporarily shut down the Ventura County Medical Cannabis Center, located
at a strip mall here. Backers of the moratorium had argued they did not
have enough information to allow the store to remain open.

``We have absolutely no idea ... how she operates,'' said Andy Fox, who
voted to close the shop.

Nagy, who smokes marijuana for headaches, sells the drug to people whose
doctors approve of their use of the substance for medical reasons. She
grows her own marijuana and serves 28 clients whose maladies include AIDS,
glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.

She said she had others who wanted to purchase the drug, but opted to sell
only to the most serious cases until the courts and the city agree on
guidelines.

Council members instructed the city staff to return within 45 days with a
set of standards that would govern the operation of such clubs in the city
in the wake of last year's Proposition 215, which permits patients to grow
and use marijuana as long as they have a doctor's recommendation.

The city attorney had recommended the moratorium because the city has not
laws addressing such operations.

``We don't intend to debate the medical benefits or evils of marijuana with
this ordinance,'' said City Attorney Mark Sellers. ``The idea is to call a
timeout.''

Cancer patient Vicki Batik was one of about two dozen patients and
sympathizers to defend the legitimacy of Nagy's establishment.

``Pain and nausea don't take timeout,'' she said. ``If I had to do so, I
would have taken the risk and gone to the streets'' to buy the drug, she said.

A state appeals court decision Friday ordering the closure of the Cannabis
Cultivator's Club in San Francisco could affect establishments such as
Nagy's statewide. The ruling takes effect in 30 days unless it is stayed on
appeal.

The club's owner, Proposition 215 coauthor Dennis Peron, has said he will
appeal the ruling to the California Supreme Court.

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