POT SHOP LEGAL BATTLES CONTINUE

STOCKTON - Whether this Stockton medical marijuana dispensary will be
allowed to continue doing business remains to be seen.

But one thing is certain: Central Valley Caregivers Cooperative -
better known by its former moniker, Pathways - is persistent.

The dispensary is waging multiple legal fights in the months since a
San Joaquin County judge ordered it to shut down at a previous
Stockton location. That includes an appeals court case and a county
code enforcement action over a second location opened earlier this
year.

Lynn Smith, the cooperative's director, said the battles are not
motivated by the money to be made from medical pot.

"We have a significant number of members that would have nowhere else
to turn," Smith said. "It's hard for people to grasp, but my
motivation is for the good of the patient."

Pathways opened its first location on East Acacia Street in November
2009, reviving a long-dormant city discussion over dispensary
regulations, an issue that had been debated years before but abandoned.

The city sought to close the outlet, arguing the dispensary should not
be open before the city had figured out how to regulate such businesses.

After a legal back-and-forth, a San Joaquin County Superior Court
judge in June ordered the dispensary to suspend its operations and pay
$40,000 in fines.

Smith has taken the case to the 3rd District Court of Appeals. The
dispensary in part argues that its operation should have been allowed
as a retail business under the city's development code.

Also pending is a separate legal action the cooperative filed against
Stockton after the city revoked its original business license, Deputy
City Attorney Guy Petzold said. The city argued Pathways obtained its
business license under false pretenses before officials discovered it
was in fact a medical marijuana dispensary.

In the weeks after the dispensary lost its June court battle with
Stockton, Smith quietly opened a new outlet in one of Stockton's
pockets of unincorporated county.

After a neighbor complained about increased traffic around the
dispensary, located in a complex off Tomahawk Drive west of Highway
99, county code enforcers issued Pathways a notice to comply for
operating without a business license.

The dispensary appealed, arguing that it has attempted to obtain a
license. But county officials argued there is no appropriate category
under which the shop can apply, Smith wrote.

A hearing officer ruled against the cooperative in September. The shop
is still selling marijuana while Smith appeals the decision to the
county Board of Supervisors.

"They're continuing to violate," Assistant County Counsel Mark Myles
said. That the dispensary is still open could be a factor if
supervisors uphold the hearing officer's ruling and forward the matter
to the District Attorney's Office, which would consider further legal
action, Myles said.

Supervisors are expected to consider the dispensary's appeal in
December.

San Joaquin County has a temporary ban on medical marijuana
dispensaries while officials craft permanent rules for the outlets.

In a letter to the county, Smith argued that the ban doesn't apply to
him because his cooperative predates the moratorium's March approval.