PALM SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MAY VOTE TO ALLOW POT CO-OPS

The Palm Springs City Council could vote on a new ordinance Wednesday
that would make the city the first and only jurisdiction in Riverside
County to allow medical marijuana collectives and cooperatives.

The council will hold a public hearing on the law at its regular
meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way.

The city now has six dispensaries operating illegally, with at least
one more waiting on Wednesday's hearing and possible vote.

I'm trying not to open without everything being done," said Jim
Camper, who is putting the finishing touches on his dispensary,
Organic Solutions of the Desert, located at 560 S. Williams Road. "I'm ready."

The law would allow nonprofit dispensaries to operate in areas of the
city zoned for industrial use.

Other provisions of the Palm Springs ordinance:

Dispensaries would have to be set up as nonprofit collectives or
cooperatives, as recommended in the guidelines that state Attorney
General Jerry Brown issued in August.

California's medical marijuana laws prohibit the sale of medical
marijuana for profit. Federal law bans all use of marijuana.

Collectives would not be allowed within 1,000 feet of each other or
within 500 feet of schools, public park or playground, churches,
youth centers or residential areas.

Dispensary buildings would have to have barred windows.

The Collective Apothecary of Palm Springs, or C.A.P.S., relocated
from a medical office building on Palm Canyon Drive to 4050 Airport
Center Drive, in an industrial zone.

That's why we moved," said James Martin, a volunteer at the
dispensary. "We're in the right zone area."

But the new location is less than 500 feet from a Gold's Gym that
offers day care for members' children, which could put it at odds with the law.

Justin Lamore, manager at Gold's, said the gym offers day care
Mondays through Fridays, with the number of children ranging from
five to 30 a day.

It hasn't been a concern," Lamore said of C.A.P.S. "Nobody's
mentioned anything; no parents have complained."

The dispensary would move again, if need be, Martin said.

Joy Meredith, president of Main Street, the city's downtown business
association, said she supports the law in general but is concerned
about the city becoming a magnet for dispensaries.

You're also going to have those who don't have the best interests of
community (at heart), who don't have the integrity," Meredith said.
"We're all aware it can cause problems if managed incorrectly."

Roger Anderson of the Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition, a
Rancho Cucamonga-based group that opposes the law, is also concerned
about negative impacts on the city's tourist-driven economy.

If Palm Springs allows (dispensaries), the city will be traveled to
by drug users from around the region," Anderson wrote in an e-mail.
"The city's image will be severely damaged."

But most dispensary owners said they want to work with the city.

We'll do whatever it takes to keep getting the medicine to patients,"
said Shawn Marley of Community Caregivers, located on Palm Canyon
Drive. "Whatever we have to do, we'll go that route. We're here for
the patients."