ALAMEDA REVOKES MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY'S LICENSE

The city of Alameda has issued an order revoking the Purple Elephant
medical marijuana dispensary's business license. But the dispensary
has appealed the decision and remains open.

A date for the appeal, which will be heard by the city manager, the
mayor and the city's finance director, has not yet been set. If the
dispensary's owner were to lose that appeal, he could appeal directly
to the City Council.

Ann Marie Gallant, the city's interim finance director and the person
responsible for making the decision, said in a letter to the
dispensary's owner that he failed to disclose the true nature of his
business on his license application as required by city codes. She
also said he failed to get the required zoning clearance for the
dispensary from the city's Planning and Building Department.

"The business license application you submitted did not set forth the
true and complete facts, and therefore the document you received
purporting to be a business license is invalid," Gallant wrote.

Gallant said Luke Coleman's listing of his business as "miscellaneous
retail" on his license application was untruthful.

"The phrase 'miscellaneous retail' suggests that a variety of lawful,
noncontroversial items will be sold. In contrast, the sale of
marijuana -- for any reason, medical or otherwise - is a federal
crime," she wrote.

The dispensary's owner, Coleman, did not return a call seeking
comment. But his attorney, Ed Higginbotham, said his client has done
nothing wrong.

"We deny that we have done any wrong, lied to anybody, deceived
anybody, or done anything illegal or immoral," Higginbotham said.

Higginbotham accused the city of denying his client due process
rights, because city employees asked for the revocation, held the
hearing and were responsible for the decision.

Gallant's letter said he argued that the city has no law that
specifically applies to medical marijuana dispensaries, allowing him
to list his business as "miscellaneous retail." The letter said he
argued that the state created the label "to avoid arousing suspicion
under federal law" and that he was advised by his attorney to use
it.

According to the letter, Coleman claimed he told business and
planning staff verbally that he planned to open a marijuana
dispensary, which Gallant dismissed as not credible.

Higginbotham said he did not wish to comment on the contents of the
letter. But he contended the Purple Elephant is the best-run
dispensary in the Bay Area and that it provides the city badly needed
tax revenue.

Coleman's business license for the Webster Street dispensary was
issued on July 11, 2008.

The City Council adopted a moratorium on additional dispensaries so
it can create rules governing how, or if, they can set up shop on the
Island. An ordinance is not due to be completed until June 2010.