FULLERTON TAKES ACTION ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

The legality of medical marijuana in cities across California is a
foggy subject and local governments are struggling to decide how
dispensaries should be managed.

While some cities have no ordinances banning the business of medical
marijuana dispensaries, Fullerton and other cities have taken
measures to keep these pot-distributing cooperatives away.

Ever since the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and Medical Marijuana
Program Act were passed, cooperative networks of medical marijuana
distribution have grown immensely.

Currently, marijuana has been legalized in various states for
medicinal purposes, but ironically, the drug is still classified as a
Schedule I controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement
Administration. This implies that marijuana still has a high
potential for abuse and is not currently accepted for use in medical treatment.

Technically, dispensaries should be able to operate legally as long
as they're nonprofit. However, many cities have avoided the
additional costs of law enforcement, zoning regulations and overall
community impact. In effect, many cities have enacted ordinances that
prohibit the business of medical marijuana dispensaries. In February
2008, Fullerton's City Council overturned the decision to allow
dispensaries in town in a 4-1 vote.

Don Bankhead, a Cal State Fullerton alumnus and Fullerton's current
mayor pro-tem, served on the Fullerton City Council in 2008. Based on
his own marijuana research, his vote against the dispensaries was
justified by his disagreement with the methods being used to
distribute the drug and the ease of access to individuals.

"If there is an actual medical benefit, it should be disbursed the
same way as other medicine. It should be prescribed by doctors that
practice medicine and dispensed through a regular pharmaceutical," he said.

In July, a Fullerton marijuana dispensary was shut down by local
authorities for being too close to an elementary school and in
August, a marijuana transaction went sour when a courier was robbed
of $20,000 worth of pot by three men pretending to run a legitimate dispensary.

"Marijuana dispensaries, collectives and cooperatives are not allowed
to operate within the city of Fullerton," said Fullerton Police Sgt.
Andrew Goodrich in a July ABC 7 news brief.

Staying out of the limelight is the Advanced Holistic Healthcare
collective, a family-owned and operated, nonprofit organization out
of Buena Park. Unlike its dispensary counterparts, the AHH collective
is strictly a delivery service and has been in business since March.

The AHH collective delivers around a 10-mile radius, from Cerritos to
Fullerton, and offers medical marijuana to be smoked, grown or eaten.

According to Michelle Perry, AHH's chief financial officer, the
majority of clients fall between the age of 18 to 86 years old, with
the most frequent return clients being around the age of 50.

"We get a lot of doctor referrals, so once they come in we basically
become their pharmacy," said Perry.

Perry feels Orange County authorities are a bit skeptical about the
types of patients that marijuana dispensaries serve. She used people
that have tattoos as an analogy to make the point that those who seek
medical marijuana are looked down on and misunderstood by an
uninformed society.

Even with the 2008 ordinance in place, Fullerton is still prone to
the covert distribution of medical marijuana.

Joshua Serrano, 23, a marketing major, lives in Placentia and knows
of distribution networks other than dispensaries.

"I've got friends that smoke. A couple of them get it from clinics,
but a majority of them just buy off pot dealers or other friends.
It's definitely not hard to come by if you really want it," he said.

A couple of his friends even have medical marijuana cards and Serrano
said they're not hard to obtain.

"My friend just said that his back was hurting and my other buddy
just said he couldn't sleep and they were able to acquire cards," he said.

Because various cities have enacted different policies concerning
dispensaries, there is a lot of confusion on how to deal with medical
marijuana. While proliferation of dispensaries may increase the abuse
of marijuana, without them, individuals who truly rely on the drug
for medical purposes may suffer.