DEVELOPER OPENS MEDICAL POT COLLECTIVE

VALLEY SPRINGS - Developer Guy Meyers has opened a nonprofit medical
marijuana collective in the heart of the Valley Springs business district.

County officials say Meyers has not obtained the necessary permits
and that they are investigating the legality of the enterprise.

Calaveras County Sheriff Dennis Downum confirmed Friday that his
office is investigating the Forgotten Knowledge Collective at 10 Nove Way.

Downum said that while a collective - in which medical marijuana
users and caretakers cooperate to provide the medication - could be
legal, he has not seen any evidence that Meyers has obtained the
necessary permits.

Meyers said he is complying with state laws regulating medical
marijuana collectives.

"We went on the guidelines issued by the state attorney general," Meyers said.

He said that the collective is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through
Saturday ad that customers must have a valid medical marijuana
recommendation from their doctor.

Downum said that County Counsel Jim Jones and the county Planning
Commission are taking the lead on the investigation.

A Calaveras County code adopted in 2005 outlines the process for such
dispensaries to win approval to operate. That code puts the planning
director, George White, in charge of enforcement.

The county code does not appear to distinguish between collectives
and dispensaries, which have different definitions under state law.
Jones declined to comment. "I just became aware of it," he said.

Meyers has a history of filing and sometimes winning lawsuits against
various county institutions. Most recently, he was on the losing side
of a five-year legal battle over the county's road-mitigation fee.

In an earlier case, Meyers won a settlement from the Calaveras County
Water District after he was booted off the district's board in 1998.

Meyers is not the first person to open a medical marijuana collective
in Calaveras County. KCare Collective, which opened last year, was
shut down following the arrest of Jay Smith, who was operating the
collective. Smith was arrested on marijuana sales charges in January.