FEW APPLY TO OPEN BACKCOUNTRY POT SHOPS

Strict Rules Limit Potential Sites To 12

Taylor Griffith says her business will be an open book.

That is, if it ever opens.

The 26-year-old Vista resident is one of just three people who has
found a potentially legal site to open a medical marijuana dispensary
in San Diego County's backcountry ---- a property on Ramona's Olive
Street, tucked in an industrial zone.

"We really got lucky," Griffith said. "The one (site) we happened to
pick had an owner willing to lease to us."

She said she's fortunate, given the controversy that still swirls
around the medical use of pot, which California voters approved more
than a decade ago but which remains illegal under federal law.

Only three people have applied to open a medical pot shop in the
unincorporated county since the Board of Supervisors passed a strict
ordinance in June 2010 governing how and where the dispensaries can operate.

Last month, the board OK'd rules further limiting where dispensaries
can open. Those went into effect on Friday.

Twenty-five medical pot shops operated in the backcountry before the
June ordinance forced them to close, according to medical pot
advocates. Not a single one has met the county's rules to reopen or relocate.

That's largely because of the scarcity of places to open under the new rules.

County planners say only about 12 backcountry sites are more than
1,000 feet from homes, schools, churches, youth centers, parks and
playgrounds, as the rules dictate they must be.

But medical pot advocates say they've researched those 12 sites, many
of which are undeveloped vacant lots in places such as Borrego
Springs or Campo, and even they don't work.

The one suggested by the county in Campo, for example, is too close
to Mountain Empire High School, according to the San Diego Chapter of
Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group.

While many advocates say the county's rules are so rigid they amount
to a ban, Griffith said she's excited to push forward with her site.
She said she believes she's the closest to opening of any applicant,
though she estimates it will take six more months before she's able
to work through the county's requirements, which include upgrades to
nearby gutters, sidewalks, roads and streetlights.

That's not to mention the security cameras she'll have to install at
the business.

Griffith said she and her investors have already sunk six months and
$20,000 into efforts to open a shop.

She expects she'll have to pay potentially hundreds of thousands of
dollars by the time she's finished, depending on how steep the county
road fees are.

She'll also have to pay an annual Sheriff's Department fee of $11,000
to open and operate the dispensary ---- by far the highest fee the
department charges any business. The department is required to
closely inspect all backcountry dispensaries.

Griffith says she's committed to opening, despite the fact that many
others seeking to open a shop have given up.

"They either find it's too expensive or they're not willing to jump
through the hoops that we have," Griffith said. "And we're not finished."

A county spokesman said three applications are pending to open
dispensaries in the backcountry: Griffith's, one from another person
seeking to open a separate Ramona dispensary, and one for a shop in Alpine.

The county asked the first two to make corrections to their
applications and hasn't heard back from either, the spokesman said.
The Alpine application was just turned in, he said.

Griffith emphasized she's still seeking to open the shop.

Opening a medical pot dispensary remains a gamble for proprietors,
given law enforcement's distrust of the businesses.

Local law enforcement, in partnership with federal drug enforcement
agents, raided medical marijuana shops from San Marcos to San Diego
in September 2009, shutting down 14.

The raids were based on allegations that the dispensaries acted
illegally as for-profit businesses by selling to individuals outside
their cooperatives.

State law requires medical marijuana dispensaries to sell only to a
closed network of their members, or to their cooperative.

Three convictions resulted from the raids.

Several others trying to open medical marijuana shops in the
backcountry were reluctant to speak to the North County Times, saying
they did not want to bring too much attention to themselves.

North County Supervisor Bill Horn, who's been outspoken in his
opposition to the dispensaries, said in a statement provided by his
office that it was premature for him to comment on how well the
dispensary ordinance was working.

A spokeswoman for Health Advocates Rejecting Marijuana in San Diego
County, a collaboration of community groups, did not return a call
seeking comment on Friday afternoon.

Reflecting on her quest to open a dispensary, Griffith says she is
sometimes frustrated by the length of time it's taking. She said,
however, she feels by meeting all the county's rules, her business
will be transparent and, she hopes, a success.

"The more rules, the better," Griffith said. "We welcome the
opportunity for the Sheriff's Department to look into what we're
doing. We're not trying to hide anything. We're trying to provide
compassion. That's what it's all about."