Corte Madera may file a lawsuit as soon as next week seeking to shut down its two medical marijuana dispensaries, the town attorney said Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the town sent cease-and-desist letters to Marin Holistic Solutions and Going Green warning the dispensaries to stop storing, selling and cultivating pot by June 25.
"When they first applied (for a business license) in the spring of 2009, they did not fully disclose the nature of the business," Town Attorney Jeffrey Walter said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Walter added that the dispensaries are in violation of town zoning and municipal codes.
Last month the Planning Commission began considering an ordinance that would have regulated the two dispensaries, both of which opened last summer in the same Tamal Plaza office complex. The proposed ordinance also would have allowed Marin Holistic and Going Green to apply for licensing, Walter said.
However, the Town Council voted 4-0 during a June 1 closed-session discussion to authorize the cease-and-desist letters, Walter said. Councilman Michael Lappert was absent.
Walter declined to explain the reasoning behind the council's action, saying that could jeopardize the town's case.
About 50 medical marijuana patients and concerned residents packed a council meeting Tuesday night hoping to speak about the dispensaries.
The speakers, mostly supporters of Marin Holistic and Going Green, waited more than an hour to address the council, at times spilling onto the steps outside the council chambers because the room was too full to hold everyone.
"To say that you support medical marijuana, but you don't want it in your backyard is hypocrisy," Tiburon resident Kevin Mazzatta said.
Mazzatta added that he doesn't use pot but has friends and family members who rely on it for treatment.
"This is not 15-year-old kids playing Xbox in their mom's basement smoking pot," he said.
San Rafael resident Travis Cozzi, an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran, said he suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and depression and doesn't want to drive to San Francisco for marijuana treatment.
"These (dispensaries) are perfect for vets that have issues," Cozzi said. "Vets out here, they need this medicine."
Several Corte Madera and Larkspur residents said they support the town's efforts to close the dispensaries and criticized their location near Redwood High School.
"They were not above-board when they filled out their business license applications," said Phyllis Galanis, a Corte Madera resident who works in the office complex where the dispensaries are situated.
"We will not have a business in Corte Madera that is against federal law," she said.
Council members could not comment on the issue because of the potential for litigation, Mayor Carla Condon said after the meeting.
Kim Pelham, who operates the Going Green dispensary, said she had been working with town officials and police for a year and felt "completely blind-sided" when the cease-and-desist letter arrived in the mail earlier this month.
"Our business application said that we were selling retail sales of organic products," Pelham said Wednesday. "It is still against federal law for me to put something on there that we're selling marijuana."
Pelham noted that many of her patients live in Corte Madera but are afraid to speak out because of the stigma associated with marijuana use. Going Green would be willing to move farther from the high school or only accept clients over 21 if doing so enabled it to remain in Corte Madera, she said.
Both dispensaries said they prohibit people under 18 from entering, and neither intends to shut down before the June 25 deadline.
"We're not leaving," said Scot Candell, an attorney representing Marin Holistic Solutions. "If they want to go through and file a lawsuit and try to have an injunction to kick us out, they can. I think it's questionable whether they're going to win, especially since they gave us a license to be there through next January."
Marin County officials have ordered Tree of Life dispensary in Santa Venetia to shut its doors, and they said last month they planned to send a similar letter to the Marin Wellness Center dispensary in Kentfield.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Marin Independent Journal
Author: Jessica Bernstein-Wax
Contact: Marin Independent Journal
Copyright: 2010 Marin Independent Journal
Website: Corte Madera may shut down pot dispensaries
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
Earlier this month, the town sent cease-and-desist letters to Marin Holistic Solutions and Going Green warning the dispensaries to stop storing, selling and cultivating pot by June 25.
"When they first applied (for a business license) in the spring of 2009, they did not fully disclose the nature of the business," Town Attorney Jeffrey Walter said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Walter added that the dispensaries are in violation of town zoning and municipal codes.
Last month the Planning Commission began considering an ordinance that would have regulated the two dispensaries, both of which opened last summer in the same Tamal Plaza office complex. The proposed ordinance also would have allowed Marin Holistic and Going Green to apply for licensing, Walter said.
However, the Town Council voted 4-0 during a June 1 closed-session discussion to authorize the cease-and-desist letters, Walter said. Councilman Michael Lappert was absent.
Walter declined to explain the reasoning behind the council's action, saying that could jeopardize the town's case.
About 50 medical marijuana patients and concerned residents packed a council meeting Tuesday night hoping to speak about the dispensaries.
The speakers, mostly supporters of Marin Holistic and Going Green, waited more than an hour to address the council, at times spilling onto the steps outside the council chambers because the room was too full to hold everyone.
"To say that you support medical marijuana, but you don't want it in your backyard is hypocrisy," Tiburon resident Kevin Mazzatta said.
Mazzatta added that he doesn't use pot but has friends and family members who rely on it for treatment.
"This is not 15-year-old kids playing Xbox in their mom's basement smoking pot," he said.
San Rafael resident Travis Cozzi, an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran, said he suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and depression and doesn't want to drive to San Francisco for marijuana treatment.
"These (dispensaries) are perfect for vets that have issues," Cozzi said. "Vets out here, they need this medicine."
Several Corte Madera and Larkspur residents said they support the town's efforts to close the dispensaries and criticized their location near Redwood High School.
"They were not above-board when they filled out their business license applications," said Phyllis Galanis, a Corte Madera resident who works in the office complex where the dispensaries are situated.
"We will not have a business in Corte Madera that is against federal law," she said.
Council members could not comment on the issue because of the potential for litigation, Mayor Carla Condon said after the meeting.
Kim Pelham, who operates the Going Green dispensary, said she had been working with town officials and police for a year and felt "completely blind-sided" when the cease-and-desist letter arrived in the mail earlier this month.
"Our business application said that we were selling retail sales of organic products," Pelham said Wednesday. "It is still against federal law for me to put something on there that we're selling marijuana."
Pelham noted that many of her patients live in Corte Madera but are afraid to speak out because of the stigma associated with marijuana use. Going Green would be willing to move farther from the high school or only accept clients over 21 if doing so enabled it to remain in Corte Madera, she said.
Both dispensaries said they prohibit people under 18 from entering, and neither intends to shut down before the June 25 deadline.
"We're not leaving," said Scot Candell, an attorney representing Marin Holistic Solutions. "If they want to go through and file a lawsuit and try to have an injunction to kick us out, they can. I think it's questionable whether they're going to win, especially since they gave us a license to be there through next January."
Marin County officials have ordered Tree of Life dispensary in Santa Venetia to shut its doors, and they said last month they planned to send a similar letter to the Marin Wellness Center dispensary in Kentfield.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Marin Independent Journal
Author: Jessica Bernstein-Wax
Contact: Marin Independent Journal
Copyright: 2010 Marin Independent Journal
Website: Corte Madera may shut down pot dispensaries
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
