POT DISPENSARIES, CITIES STILL BATTLING

SKIRMISH: They are in battles across the area, where many cities have
banned their operation.

Jose Avalos, 25, plunked down $35 for 1/8-ounce of a type of
marijuana called Purple Killer Kush to relieve his back pain.

The patient, who waited his turn inside Moreno Valley's fledgling
medical marijuana dispensary, said cannabis beats every drug he's tried.

"This is better than pharmaceuticals," Avalos said.

The dispensary, called G3 Holistic, Inc. -- for Third Generation meds
- -- opened this past November, despite being denied a business
license, said president Aaron Sandusky.

A city ordinance bans medical dispensaries. Now, with one up and
running, officials say they're going a step further.

After a police investigation, the city attorney filed a criminal
complaint this past week in Riverside Superior Court, according to
Michelle Dawson, acting assistant to the city manager. The complaint
includes several counts, including hazardous building and fire code
violations, in addition to illegal use, she said in an e-mail.

It's a skirmish that Sandusky is already fighting on another front.
Last August, Upland officials shut down three medical marijuana
cooperatives, including G3 Holistic, because the city's zoning
ordinance prohibits their operation. An attorney representing the
trio has filed a petition for review and an application for a stay
with the state Supreme Court in San Francisco.

Dispensaries are locked in similar battles across the Inland area,
where many cities and Riverside County have banned medical marijuana
storefronts through land-use regulations.

Even so, G3 joins several dispensaries, including one in Temecula,
that flout the municipal restrictions and remain open. Temecula city
officials say they're monitoring the self-described "therapeutic
cannabis resource center," but have declined to close it.

The city of Riverside is currently pursuing court injunctions against
a number of medical marijuana establishments. However, Sandusky is
optimistic that the law is on his side. Last Tuesday an appeals court
ruling allowed a banned dispensary in Wildomar to re-open.

Richard Stewart, the mayor of Moreno Valley, said he's "amazed" that
G3 Holistic is operating in the city, but admits he knows little
about the dispensary. "No doubt there are legitimate medical
concerns, but these places can become a magnet for the wrong kind of
people and crime, if not managed right," he said.

G3 Holistic is tucked between a smoke shop and a dry cleaner and is
several doors down from a CVS Pharmacy in a strip mall at 12276
Perris Boulevard. The dispensary falls in the district of City
Councilman Jesse Molina, who said: "I'm open minded. If (marijuana)
helps with the pain, I have nothing against it, as long as it's
legitimate and not for recreational use."

Sandusky, who has another medical marijuana facility in Colton, said
he's been open with Moreno Valley officials. He has introduced
himself at City Council meetings and unsuccessfully tried to get a
business license. He chose Moreno Valley because more than 850
members of his cooperative live in the city.

A security guard always patrols the site. Members of the co-operative
cultivate and grow more than 60 different kinds of marijuana, costing
anywhere from $10 a gram to $385 an ounce. Non-smokers can eat
cannabis in a wide selection of food from brownies to chicken pot
pies sold at the dispensary -- although consumption of any kind of
marijuana is forbidden on the premises.

Dan Forman, 45, the "bud tender" and patient consultant in the
backroom dispensary, is an easy talker behind the high wooden bud
bar. He can schmooze for hours on the different effects between two
basic types of marijuana, indicas and sativas.

Forman, who uses pot to ease pain from bleeding ulcers, listens to
patients' complaints. He then recommends the best strains to treat
pain, anxiety, insomnia, nausea or whatever the problem.

Using chopsticks, from big glass jars he plucks out the buds, drops
them in small pill containers, pops on a lid, and then staples them
in bags. Avalos is part of a steady stream of patients who say
they're turned to pot because drugs made them feel sick, disoriented
or even a little crazy.

Terrance Spencer, 46, or Moreno Valley, said he spends $50 to $100 a
week to manage back pain. "The indicas relax my body," he said,
opting for one gram of Blue Skunk. "I forget I'm in pain."

After losing a kidney to cancer, Ralph Sparacino, 53, finds the pain
from nerve damage unbearable. "He spends $25 a week for 1/8 ounce of
pot. It lasts two weeks, helps manage his pain, calms his fears,
increases his appetite and lets him sleep.

"What's so bad about smoking a little bit of this flower?" he said,
inspecting the house indica called Champagne.