MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY IN PORT ANGELES NEEDS WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

PORT ANGELES -- Before Richard Pharr can open the North Olympic
Peninsula's first medical marijuana dispensary, he will have to make
his shop accessible to wheelchairs.

The building at 303 Tumwater Truck Route in Port Angeles, where Pharr
wants to open the Olympian Canna dispensary, is not compliant with the
Americans with Disabilities Act, said city of Port Angeles Planning
Manager Sue Roberds last week.

Roberds said the storefront would have to be made wheelchair-accessible
before Pharr is granted an occupancy permit, which he needs to move
into the location.

Pharr, 31, could not be reached for comment.

Pharr's dispensary would provide a central location for people who
have been authorized by their physician to use marijuana to access the
drug.

City Hall staff members gave the green light to the proposed medical
marijuana dispensary last month, saying that the dispensary would be
permitted because it doesn't violate the city's municipal code and
appears to comply with state law.

Since then, Pharr has applied for a building occupancy
permit.

The Port Angeles Police Department will not intervene as long the
dispensary provides marijuana only to those who have been authorized
to use it by a doctor, Police Chief Terry Gallagher has said.

The use of marijuana for medicinal purposes was authorized by the
state's Medical Marijuana Act, passed by voters in 1998.

The drug is used as a painkiller or to increase a patient's
appetite.

State law allows patients to designate providers of
marijuana.

But it also says that a provider can't supply more than one person at
a time and that a patient or provider can grow only up to 15 plants.

Pharr plans to get around those laws by having the provider/patient
agreements last only while a transaction is being made and by having
medical marijuana users who are authorized to grow plants provide the
marijuana for the dispensary.

The dispensary will charge for compensation for services.

Pharr said he will be licensed with the state Department of Health as
a "health aid agency."