WALNUT CREEK MARIJUANA COLLECTIVE PREPARES FOR CLOSURE

WALNUT CREEK - Outside a nondescript office building just off
Interstate 680, several customers hoping to obtain medical marijuana
from the 3C Medical Cannabis Collective were met at the front door
and told the collective was closed for the day.

The organization had locked its doors early because it had run out of
marijuana, according to Brian Hyman, its executive director.

Hyman said his depleted stock was in anticipation of the collective's
last day of business Monday. The collective was found to be in
violation of the city's zoning laws and ordered by a Superior Court
judge last month to close by Tuesday or face contempt-of-court
charges. Hyman said he plans to comply with the judge's ruling.

"It's difficult to sit there and tell people there's nothing I can
do," Hyman said. "It's a shame."

The city of Walnut Creek has been trying to shut down the collective
since it first opened in August. City leaders issued a $500 fine for
every day the collective remained in business. The bill now stands at
around $60,000, although Hyman plans to fight the penalties. But it
was the judge's preliminary injunction last month that ultimately
forced Hyman to begin shuttering the collective.

Hyman said he has spent months trying to work out a compromise with
the city, but to no avail. He suggested several ideas for potential
ordinances last September that would allow the collective to stay in
business. According to Hyman, the city simply ignored him.

"They just keep punting it back. Nothing sticks," Hyman said.
"They're really stringing patients along."

He plans to continue the fight to one day reopen.

Hyman recently joined forces with Americans for Safe Access, a
national medical marijuana advocacy group, and formed a new Contra
Costa County chapter. He also hopes to get a measure on this year's ballot.

"A lot of people are outraged and we have a good rapport with
patients," Hyman said. "We want to take this straight to the people."

Those who were turned away Saturday expressed concern that they would
no longer have the convenience of driving to Walnut Creek to pick up
their medication.

A woman from Pleasant Hill who requested anonymity said she was
unsure what she would do once the collective closed. A degenerative
disease in her back prevents her from driving much farther than
Walnut Creek and she uses medical marijuana to deal with the pain.

"I might have to go get it on the streets again," she said.

Hyman said the vast legal bills he has compiled over the past few
months - around $50,000 worth - have led him to the brink of
bankruptcy. But the thought of shutting his doors and just walking
away never occurred to him.

"We're going to continue to fight," he said, "because we know people want us."