MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES BOOM IN NORTH STATE

Cristal Dawn Speller saw a need in Redding for her medical marijuana clinic.

So the Glendale-based doctor opened Natural Care For Wellness in
downtown Redding in July and has been doing brisk business.

Speller, who went to Stanford University Medical School and
specialized in pediatrics, opens the center on Fridays for three
hours and typically sees between 20 and 50 patients. Each pays
Speller $175 for a one-year recommendation - renewals are $150 - that
allows them to use, purchase, grow and transport cannabis in California.

The 41-year-old physician flies up each week to see patients. She
also operates a clinic in Chico, which opened in 2007.

"I started here in Redding because I noticed last year that more and
more patients from Redding were going to Chico," Speller said.

Hardly a coincidence, medical marijuana co-ops doing business in
Shasta County have increased dramatically in 2009.

Responding to the sudden growth, the cities of Anderson and Shasta
Lake recently passed temporary moratoriums on medical marijuana shops.

Supervisors of Shasta and Tehama counties on Tuesday will consider
taking up 45-day bans on new collectives. The Shasta County measure
was spurred by the opening of Your Cottonwood Collective in the
historic cattle town.

But with the Obama administration declaring that it will stop
frequent raids on cannabis co-ops and dispensaries, the businesses
already have gone main street in the north state.

River Valley Collective opened in late July next door to the historic
Cascade Theatre on Market Street in downtown Redding.

Trusted Friends, a co-op that opened late last year, has seen its
membership blossom to some 2,700 people, a 50 percent jump since
June. The nonprofit recently relocated to Pine Street in downtown
Redding and opened a second location on Churn Creek Road in Redding.

In fact, co-ops doing business in Redding have gone from four in June
to more than 10 today.

"I think with the viewpoint of the current administration and also
our economic situation, people are trying to survive right now," said
Michael Vasquez of Trinity Gardens Inc., which opened on Railroad
Avenue in Redding in July.

Redding doesn't have a specific ordinance for the nonprofit co-ops
within the city limits. The city treats them like pharmacies and
requires they do business in appropriately zoned areas.

Vasquez and others want the city to further regulate marijuana co-ops
before they start showing up on every corner. They even suggest
putting a city tax on sales.

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that there are 966
dispensaries registered in Los Angeles.

In July, Oakland voters approved a 1.8 percent tax - on top of the
typical sales tax - on gross receipts of cannabis businesses. Oakland
officials estimate the tax will raise $294,000 in additional revenue in 2010.

"There's been no discussion related to implementing new or burdensome
taxes of that nature," Redding City Manager Kurt Starman said.

Starman, though, suggests it would behoove Anderson, Shasta Lake,
Shasta County and Redding to work together on regulating the co-ops
to avoid "unintended consequences," such as a plethora of medicinal
cannabis shops opening in one location.

"I think it's important for us to be consistent," Starman said.

Tawnya McKee, who has smoked marijuana medicinally for about 13
years, would like to see a cap on co-ops in the area.

"You need some kind of control - like not by schools," McKee said.
"Before you know it, there will be a pharmacy in Walmart selling marijuana."

McKee, 32, visited Speller on Friday to "become legal." Marijuana
helps McKee cope with the effects of endometriosis, a painful
condition in which the tissue that normally lines the uterus grows in
other areas of the body. McKee said she can't tolerate pain
medications like Vicodin.

"I don't have to hide anymore," McKee said of getting a
recommendation, which she received after spending 10 minutes with Speller.

Speller asks all of her patients to bring either a note from a
doctor, medical records or a radiology report before she will write
up a 12-month recommendation. Speller said she has written thousands
of recommendations since 2005.

Insurance isn't accepted, but Speller tells patients they can forward
their receipts in hopes of getting an insurance reimbursement.

Speller said the side effects of marijuana are few and many patients
suffering with pain have found relief from the herbal remedy.

"It's medicine like any other. That's the way I treat it," Speller said.