Riverside:

SOME MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES CLOSE, OTHERS STAY

Riverside's legal efforts to close medical marijuana dispensaries
have led to several operations closing in recent months, City
Attorney Greg Priamos said.

But other dispensaries remain open, and the operators of one facility
said they'll keep trying to provide medicine to patients who need it.

The city is due in court today for a hearing on whether the Inland
Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center can remain open or must
close immediately.

Last month, Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Molloy ruled
that the city can use zoning to ban pot dispensaries. He delayed
enacting an injunction that would shutter the center, so its
operators could file an appeal.

Priamos' approach included filing requests for injunctions against
seven dispensaries, with two more to be filed this week, and letting
other facilities know about the legal actions to urge them to close.

He said Wednesday that out of 12 facilities the city knew of, seven
have closed, and he is still focused on the five that remain.

Supporters of medical marijuana have argued that state law allows
cities to regulate but not entirely ban dispensaries.

Serving patients

Marley Martinez, one of the partners who run Riverside City
Caregivers, a dispensary in a Hole Avenue strip mall, said she was
advised by the facility's attorneys to "keep doing what we're doing."

Partner Matthew Cupp said the facility originally opened as Discount
Mobile Collective in June but changed its name to Riverside City
Caregivers in October, after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the city.

Martinez was not certain how many patients the dispensary has but
said, "We have two filing cabinets that are full" of their paperwork.

"We just try to give people what they need," she said.

Martinez said the dispensary has a significant number of patients in
their 60s and older who use medical marijuana to ease the pain of hip
replacements or cancer treatments.

Two other dispensaries, Compassionate Wellness Center and Hole in One
Collective, were open for business Wednesday but had no one available
to comment, according to front desk employees.

Tim Molinari, 29, a Riverside City Caregivers patient who arrived an
hour before the 11 a.m. opening time, said he has used medical
marijuana to treat chronic back pain since he was hit by a car in 2005.

"No other medication is as effective as medical cannabis," he said.
"I've taken others."

Neighboring business owners had mixed opinions on whether the
dispensaries should stay or go.

Marc Kantar owns Wholesale Jewelry Exchange in a business park on
East La Cadena Drive, where the Inland Empire Caregiver dispensary
recently closed.

Other than one woman who told him she had cancer, Kantar said, people
visiting the dispensary looked young and healthy.

"They would come out with their bags in their hand like they had
candy," he said. "I think they were abusing the system."

Hairdresser Lupe Zamora, who works a few doors down from Riverside
City Caregivers, said she frequently smells marijuana smoke wafting over.

"Thank God," she said, on hearing of the city's efforts to close
dispensaries. "They have people in and out of there all day long.
People come in to pick up drugs and park wherever they want."

She said some patients straddle two parking spaces and others, with
no visible disabilities, park in the handicapped spots.

But Miguel Acosta, who owns the shoe repair shop next door to the
dispensary, said he has had no problems with the facility.

He estimated that 60 percent of the patients are older folks, the
other 40 percent younger people.

"The seniors who go in there look like they really need it," he said,
adding that some are in wheelchairs.

"I have no problem with them," he said with a shrug.

Approach questioned

Priamos said residents have tipped the city off to most of the
dispensaries it is pursuing.

"They don't want these establishments in their community," he said.
"The people who are calling to report them view them as a criminal enterprise."

Some have questioned Priamos' approach. The city's court filings name
as defendants not only dispensary operators but also property owners
and the banks that hold their mortgages.

Dwight Kelly, who heads a company that leases space to the Hole in
One Collective, said the city shouldn't be going after landlords of
dispensaries when it doesn't pursue fly-by-night businesses such as
illegal gold buyers.

"For them to even include landlords, that is hypocrisy," Kelly said.
"All we're doing is renting the building."

Priamos said it is the landlord's responsibility to know whether
businesses it rents to are legal.

While Priamos battles Riverside dispensaries in court, other
governments have made their own moves to limit medical marijuana shops.

Orange and Los Angeles counties recently banned them in
unincorporated areas, and Riverside County supervisors are
considering whether to pass regulations or ban the facilities.

[SIDEBAR]

Medical marijuana

in Riverside

City officials say their zoning forbids marijuana dispensaries.

Seven of the 12 marijuana dispensaries in Riverside have closed.

The city is seeking court injunctions to close the other five.

An 8:30 a.m. hearing today in Riverside County Superior Court may
decide whether one dispensary must close.