A BUDDING BUSINESS, OR WITHERING WEED?

A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge will decide Tuesday whether
to shut down Gilroy's medical marijuana dispensary even as the
community debate over the collective ramps up.

Superior Court Judge Mary Jo Levinger is slated to rule in San Jose
on the city's request for a preliminary injunction that would mandate
immediate closure of MediLeaf, a cannabis collective that opened Nov.
9 at First Street and Westwood Drive without a business license.

The city is also seeking an injunction that would permanently close
MediLeaf for operating without a business license and for operating
in an area that is not zoned for dispensaries.

If the temporary injunction is granted, the dispensary would not be
able to open again until the matter of the permanent injunction was
decided - a process that will involve a trial - according to Andy
Faber, an attorney for the City of Gilroy.

MediLeaf staff have said they received legal advice stating that they
do not need a business license because they are a nonprofit mutual
benefit corporation. However, city officials said that although
nonprofits do not have to pay a licensing fee, they must obtain a
business license. For example, nonprofits such as local churches, the
Salvation Army and Goodwill do not have to pay licensing fees, but
all of them had to go through a licensing process.

Nonetheless, Levinger denied the city a temporary restraining order
Nov. 23 - a move that did not come as a surprise to city officials,
as restraining orders often are used to maintain the status quo. Neil
Forrest, who serves as a director for MediLeaf along with Patricia
Kuburovich and Goyko "Batzi", said Thursday that MediLeaf would
comply with any court decision.

MediLeaf received attention for the third consecutive City Council
meeting Monday when Glen View Elementary School parent club president
Karin Clements showed the council a petition with 243 signatures
supporting the council's stance to shut down the dispensary.

Eric Madigan, MediLeaf's ombudsman, presented a document during the
same meeting that gave statistics on the dispensary's membership. As
of Dec. 4, MediLeaf had 608 registered members, including 335 Gilroy
residents and 76 members older than 65 years of age, according to the
document. Madigan also estimated that Gilroy members who used to go
to the Oakland-based Harborside dispensary save nearly $21 in gas
costs by going to MediLeaf. He estimated that Gilroy members can save
up to $100 per month in fuel and cannabis costs. He also said the
dispensary will provide tax revenue for the city, although he did not
provide specific numbers.

"I hope we can get past the legalities," Madigan said Monday. "I think we can."

At the meeting, Councilman Craig Gartman requested that the council
discuss the way in which the city has processed planning documents,
including those pertaining to the dispensary. Gartman has contended
that city staff has wrongly handled MediLeaf's application process by
rejecting the collective's business license application outright
rather than allowing zoning and licensing issues to be discussed
openly at recent council meetings. However, City Administrator Tom
Haglund said during Monday's council meeting that the council weighed
in on the matter when it voted 4-3 Oct. 12 to reject an ordinance
that would have created for zoning laws for the dispensary.

Several council members said they did not want to revisit the
MediLeaf issue and wanted to move on.

"We've spoken," Mayor Al Pinheiro said. "We've done what needs to be done."

City Attorney Linda Callon urged council members not to discuss
MediLeaf's zoning and licensing issues publicly because the matter is
in litigation, although she said it would be fine to discuss planning
documents in general.

In the end, council members voted 6-1, with Gartman dissenting, to
discuss the processing of planning documents in general during its
annual retreat next month rather than discussing matters that solely
pertain to MediLeaf.

Gilroy's City Council had previously voted in closed session 4-0 on
Nov. 16 to allow Callon to pursue legal action to shut down the
dispensary. Council members Gartman, Perry Woodward and Peter
Arellano boycotted the vote because they felt that zoning and
permitting issues, which Callon said pertained to the litigation,
should be discussed in public.

Last week, Madigan provided the Dispatch a tour of the facility,
showing areas where its cannabis is sold, bagged and bar-coded so
that it is easily traceable.

Patients are required to show dispensary operators a doctor's note,
Madigan said, and security guards demonstrated how they guide
patients out of the lobby.

All of the dispensary's cannabis is grown from members of the
collective and most of it comes from Gilroy residents, Madigan said.

"I've been really impressed by the quality and caliber of our
cultivators," he said.

A white board inside the room where the cannabis is sold lists the
different marijuana strains on offer - such as indica for body
ailments, sativa for anxiety and stress, and hybrids of the two.

Within those categories, there are lists of specific strains, many of
which have exotic titles such as Jack the Ripper and Purple Goo. Most
of those names have been around for many years, Madigan said, before
cannabis dispensaries were legalized. A sheet of paper that describes
the various strains lists the THC count in each variety.

Madigan and general manager Javier Patterson oversee the day-to-day
operations of MediLeaf, Madigan said. Meanwhile, Forrest and Patricia
Kuburovich oversee client intake, and director Batzi Kuburovich works
on obtaining funds and dealing with zoning issues, Forrest and Madigan said.

As the city and MediLeaf directors await Tuesday's court hearing,
Forrest said he appreciated Gartman's concern about speeding up the
processing of city documents for MediLeaf and other businesses.
Businesses have to pay rent and day-to-day expenses as they await a
city's decision on permits and licenses, Forrest said.

"It's a financial hardship on the people who are trying to start
something new," he said. "You only have so much capital to work with."