MEDICAL MARIJUANA FACILITIES CONTINUE TO STIR CONTROVERSY

BLOOMINGTON - Cheri Sicard joked Thursday about the stereotypes
associated with medicinal marijuana users.

"Do I look like Cheech and Chong?" the 50-year-old Big Bear Lake
resident asked. "Not that there's anything wrong with them."

A freelance writer and Web developer, Sicard visited the Inland Empire
Patient Group's facility for the first time Thursday.

She uses the drug to treat chronic nausea. The medicine not only
alleviates her nausea, but it helps her sleep better. She says it also
got her off Zoloft - an anti-depressant some say Cheri Sicard, 50, of
Big Bear Lake waits to receive medical marijuana at a clinic in
Bloomington on Thursday. The Inland Empire Patient Group is being
scrutinized after a Rancho Cucamonga anti-drug coalition tipped off
authorities that it was violating laws. (Gabriel Luis Acosta/Staff
Photographer) is highly addictive.

"I'm so happy to see these guys here," she said. "It is needed. There
are patients here who are in much more severe pain than I'm in."

It may not be here for long.

The group last week received two separate inspections from authorities
after complaints came in that it was operating illegally in the county.

Sheriff's deputies stopped by Monday.

"They were there when we arrived," Director Ryan Michaels said. "They
wanted to review all our procedures and how we ensure that a patient
is valid."

Two days later, agents from the county's Land Use Services Department
inspected the facility to evaluate procedures and the potential
impacts on traffic and neighboring businesses.

The action came as county officials work to adopt regulations for
these types of facilities. The county Board of Supervisors voted last
week to extend a moratorium on the issuance of permits for
dispensaries until June 19, 2010, so officials can craft guidelines
for them.

The group's facility opened June 22, one day before the original
45-day moratorium was enacted.

Members of the Rancho Cucamonga-based Inland Valley Drug Free
Community Coalition say they were the one who tipped authorities about
the facility.

"There are places that will try to open before the ban is enacted, to
slide in under the radar," said Lori Green, a parent volunteer for the
coalition. "We feel dispensaries are illegal under federal and state
laws, (and) we see them sneak through the back door."

California voters in 1996 approved Prop. 215 with 55 percent of the
vote, permitting access to marijuana for medicinal purposes. In May,
the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit the county filed
jointly with San Diego County that sought to overturn the so-called
Compassionate Use Act.

Regardless, the Land Use Services Department says Michaels' group is
indeed operating illegally because county code doesn't mention
dispensaries.

"If (the code) doesn't say it's permitted, since it's not in the code,
it's not in legal use," said Julie Rynerson Rock, director of the department.

The department is consulting with county lawyers to determine how to
enforce the law, she said. Meanwhile, her department is working to
construct guidelines for an eventual ordinance that would regulate how
future facilities will operate.

"I'm between a rock and a hard place," she said.

Michaels believes his 200-member group is a model for the county. He
says it is a private collective with each member allowed to cultivate
six mature cannabis plants for the purpose of exchanging medicinal
marijuana with one another as needed.

Members also donate money to pay for the costs of cultivation. The
group doesn't allow members under the age of 21 or on-site consumption
of the drug.

Those applying for membership must verify that a licensed doctor has
recommended the treatment. Members must agree to rules such as not
using a cell phone at the facility and not bringing guests to the facility.

The group also keeps a profile on "suspicious buyers" for tracking
those who would attempt to acquire the medicine at a level beyond what
is typically needed for their ailment, Michaels said.

"It's a cautious process," Michaels said. "You never know when the
criminal element would want to take advantage. I practice a lot of
discreet things. I have to be concerned with diversion (because the
medicine) is intended for patients."

Those in violation of the group's guidelines will have their
membership revoked and may be reported authorities, Michaels said.

Some members choose alternative methods of consuming the drug, because
of medical reasons or the stigma attached to rolling "joints." Some,
like Sicard, use the medicine through vaporizers. Still others put it
in food.

Owner Jan Werner runs another facility in Lake Forest where he said
several other groups are operating in the same building.

"It's like the auto mall of marijuana," Werner joked.

He said he gets less grief about medical marijuana in Orange County,
but that might be changing.

The day after Sheriff's deputies inspected his facility here, group
members saw them crossing the street in their direction with two
marijuana plants from a nearby residence, Werner said.

The deputies asked the group to help identify whether the plants were
of the male or female variety, because it's the female kind that is
used for medicinal use.

Werner said the group identified the plants for the
deputies.

"Now they know where to go," he said.