MEDICAL POT COLLECTIVE TAKES LONG BEACH TO COURT OVER PERMIT APPLICATION

LONG BEACH - A medical marijuana collective is taking the city of Long
Beach to court today after it wasn't allowed to submit an application
for a permit under the city's new marijuana law.

Alternative Herbal Health Collective, 3702 E. Anaheim St., filed a
petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Aug. 16 asking the
court to force the city to accept the collective's
application.

That hearing is set for Nov. 23, but Friday's hearing in downtown Los
Angeles is for a temporary restraining order against Long Beach to
allow the collective to remain open past an Aug. 30 city deadline. The
collective wants to continue operating until its legal challenge is
resolved.

Under the medical marijuana ordinance approved by the City Council in
March, collectives can't be located within 1,500 feet of high schools
or 1,000 feet of elementary schools.

Alternative Herbal Health Collective is too close to both types of
schools, Deputy City Attorney Cristyl Meyers said Thursday.

That meant that the collective couldn't even apply for a permit to
continue to operate.

"They were advised that the proposed location wasn't within a
permitted area and that the city wouldn't accept the application, nor
would it accept the processing fee," Meyers said.

In the collective's petition for a peremptory writ of mandate filed
with the court, it disputes that it is within the school buffer zone.
The collective also says that it has complied with all of the other
requirements of the law.

Richard Brizendine, the attorney for the collective, couldn't be
reached for comment Thursday.

Even if the collective had been able to submit its permit and pay the
$14,742, non-refundable application fee, that wouldn't mean that it is
guaranteed to continue operating.

In addition to schools, Long Beach's ordinance prohibits collectives
from being within 1,000 feet of each other, as well. Collectives that
meet the requirements of the law and file their permits on time are to
be placed in a lottery to determine which ones can stay open.

The collectives that didn't meet the initial requirements to submit a
permit at all were advised that they must close by Aug. 30, Meyers
said. If they don't, Long Beach could take criminal and civil legal
action against the collective operators, she said.