POT FACILITY

Re: "Camden medical pot site pushed" (C-P, Nov. 26).

For the past year, I've been working to establish a medical marijuana
growing/processing facility and an alternative treatment center
(dispensary) here in Camden. I'm working with Camden property owner
Ilan Zaken, who owns two ideal buildings at 11th Street and Wright
Avenue in the Gateway office light industrial zone.

Our application for interpretation relief will be heard by the Camden
zoning board on Feb. 6. We're arguing that our proposed use, the
growing/processing facility only, is a permitted use in this zone. A
dispensary use variance application would also be heard on Feb. 6.

Our project would create about 100 new jobs and preserve two
ratebles. Our site is just two blocks from the Walter Rand
Transportation Center, where the River LINE, PATCO line and most
regional buses travel. It's also just one block from the two major
highways, Interstate 676 and Admiral Wilson Boulevard, and it's
several blocks from the nearest school and houses. It includes
off-street parking.

This facility would serve thousands of South Jersey residents who
have serious illnesses, including cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis
and glaucoma, and whose symptoms are greatly relieved by medical
marijuana. To enter the dispensary, each patient would need a special
state-issued identification card and a registered doctor's written
recommendation. It would not be open to the public.

In no way would this facility resemble any of the 150 open-air drug
markets in Camden. Those markets are unregulated and operated by
criminals. Our facility would be tightly regulated by the state
health department.

FRANK FULBROOK

Camden