COTTONWOOD MARIJUANA DISPENSARY OPENS TO MIXED VIEWS

COTTONWOOD - A medical marijuana dispensary that opened here last week
is being greeted with mixed views.

Several people are disturbed by its proximity to an elementary school
while the Chamber of Commerce welcomes it as a new business.

The dispensary, called Your Cottonwood Collective, is at 3317 B Main
St.

Only members of the collective can be customers and they must be
physician-approved, business owner and six-year Cottonwood resident
Matthew Mosher said.

"We also check to be sure the physician is legitimate," Mosher said.
"Some places don't even do that."

The dispensary would hold the marijuana that members bring in to sell
from their own medical marijuana plants, should anyone grow more than
they can consume of their medical allotment, Mosher said.

"By law, we're not allowed to sell (marijuana), but we can facilitate
transactions between members," Mosher said.

"I have mixed feelings," said Bill Price, who lives across Main Street
from the dispensary. "If it's done truly for medical reasons, then I
have no problems. If it's done as a guise to pass out dope, I do have
a problem with it."

The business is directly behind Roger's Frosty and slightly more than
two blocks away from East Cottonwood Elementary School. Business owner
Jan Kessner, Roger's Frosty manager Debbie Lomont and others took
issue with the dispensary's proximity to those establishments.

"The chamber welcomes new businesses, that's our position," Cottonwood
Chamber of Commerce President Cheri Skudlarek said.

Medical marijuana dispensaries have not been singled out for specific
zoning regulation by the county.

"Until directed by the Board of Supervisors ... we treat it like a
pharmacy," said Rick Simon, assistant director of resource management
for Shasta County.

"I don't think it needs to be in the community, out in front of kids.
I would prefer they bought their marijuana in secret somewhere,"
Cottonwood Barber Shop owner Woody Clendenen said. "I knew some people
that did this; there's nothing wrong with them. They're just stoners."

The legalization of medical marijuana use in California occurred with
the passing of Proposition 215 in 1996.

"We the people voted for it," Mosher said. "It's been 14 years now.
Counties have had ample time to make ordinances for it. It's time to
wake up and get used to what the people want."