Jacob Bell
New Member
STOCKTON, CA - A Sacramento businessman behind plans for a medical marijuana dispensary already booted from one Stockton neighborhood said he's now receiving resistance for asking to open shop not far from Cesar Chavez High School.
Nicholas Street is applying to run Stockton Non-Profit Collective Inc. from 3646 Telstar Place, next to Hertz Car Sales. Street said he chose the location because it's on a fenced-off lot and is tucked away in an industrial area.
That's exactly the kind of place city leaders told him to find, he said, when they rejected his bid earlier this year to open for business at a Fremont Street locale.
This conflict marks the latest bout of growing pains for Stockton as it loosens its grip on medical marijuana sales.
Street's plans for the business - less than a one-mile walk from Chavez - already have caught the attention of Carl Toliver, superintendent of the Stockton Unified School District. Toliver is mounting opposition.
"We just don't need our kids exposed to this," Toliver said. "We have enough going on in our community as it is."
Toliver said that at a regular district meeting Tuesday, he'll ask his board to pass a resolution objecting to the dispensary's plan to move into the neighborhood. Assuming the resolution is approved, Toliver will then deliver it to the city.
The Stockton Planning Commission is expected to consider Street's application Nov. 10.
Toliver said he doesn't object to the use of medical marijuana prescribed by a doctor, but he doesn't want his students having to walk by the type of storefronts that all too often attract an undesirable "element."
"We just want to keep our youngsters away from that," he said. "We'd prefer that it not be there."
Street said he's asked to meet with Toliver and Chavez principal William Nelson to explain how he and his business partner, Suneet Agarwal, operate a similar enterprise in Sacramento, but so far his requests haven't been granted.
In 2008, the pair launched El Camino Wellness Center in Sacramento. In their permit application to Stockton officials, they heralded it as "Sacramento's leading medical cannabis dispensary."
Also in that application packet, Street included 20 letters of support from the Sacramento dispensary's patients, a neighboring business and Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn, who calls it a "model dispensary."
Street's goal now is to allay Toliver's concern that students will be exposed to the Stockton dispensary coming from and going to the school. Telstar Place is a side street off Holman Road, the main route leading to Chavez, he said.
"There would be no students walking by, unless they were looking to rent a car from Hertz," Street said.
He also said he's prepared to donate money to the school's anti-drug programs; the dispensary will have security guards and cameras; and, most importantly, they're well within the legal terms prescribed by the city's ordinance.
Among its dictates, the ordinance says that dispensaries can open if they're not within 600 feet of a school, park or library. The measurement is made by the path of travel rather than a straight line. Street says he's more than twice the distance from the school's front door.
Smoking marijuana on or around the dispensary also is prohibited, the ordinance says.
"I know its a hot-button issue," he said. "All we want to do is just show them we're not bad guys."
Earlier this year, the city's Planning Commission told Street he couldn't open the shop at 1220 W. Fremont St. because it was within 300 feet of homes and lacked parking. It also was down the street from another planned dispensary.
City leaders feared creating "cannabis row" in Stockton, Street said.
Stockton's two other approved dispensaries have yet to open for business. City officials said that could happen in the next 30 days. They are Port City Health and Wellness at 1550 W. Fremont St. and Collective 99 in Eastland Plaza on Wilson Way.
Despite a second round of opposition to his venture, Street said he's not about to give up.
"We're champing at the bit," he said. "We've been waiting far too long."
Opinions remain mixed at and around Chavez. Nelson, the principal, said his job running the school prevents him from making political comments. But speaking as a native Stocktonian, he said he has problems with the dispensary.
It has the potential of exposing some 3,000 students to marijuana use. He has nearly 2,300 students at Chavez, and there are three more elementary schools nearby. Nelson said the dispensary runs contrary to the messages teachers impart in health class and during the annual Red Ribbon Week, which discourage students from smoking, drinking and drug use.
"I understand the city has made some decisions here," he said. "If anything, they need to find a place in town that is farthest from any campus."
But Sam Dunkan, who lives near Chavez, said having a dispensary in the neighborhood doesn't bother him.
The 71-year-old Vietnam veteran long ago raised his children to adulthood and said that trying to hide the reality of a progressive society - such as the use of medical marijuana - is doing children a disservice.
Children are bound to learn about it one way or another, he said. Ultimately, he said, parents are the ones who help form the next generation's sense of right or wrong, not the sight of a dispensary nearby.
"Education starts in the home," he said.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: recordnet.com
Author: Scott Smith
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Dow Jones Local Media Group, Inc.
Website: Medical marijuana plan meets resistance
Nicholas Street is applying to run Stockton Non-Profit Collective Inc. from 3646 Telstar Place, next to Hertz Car Sales. Street said he chose the location because it's on a fenced-off lot and is tucked away in an industrial area.
That's exactly the kind of place city leaders told him to find, he said, when they rejected his bid earlier this year to open for business at a Fremont Street locale.
This conflict marks the latest bout of growing pains for Stockton as it loosens its grip on medical marijuana sales.
Street's plans for the business - less than a one-mile walk from Chavez - already have caught the attention of Carl Toliver, superintendent of the Stockton Unified School District. Toliver is mounting opposition.
"We just don't need our kids exposed to this," Toliver said. "We have enough going on in our community as it is."
Toliver said that at a regular district meeting Tuesday, he'll ask his board to pass a resolution objecting to the dispensary's plan to move into the neighborhood. Assuming the resolution is approved, Toliver will then deliver it to the city.
The Stockton Planning Commission is expected to consider Street's application Nov. 10.
Toliver said he doesn't object to the use of medical marijuana prescribed by a doctor, but he doesn't want his students having to walk by the type of storefronts that all too often attract an undesirable "element."
"We just want to keep our youngsters away from that," he said. "We'd prefer that it not be there."
Street said he's asked to meet with Toliver and Chavez principal William Nelson to explain how he and his business partner, Suneet Agarwal, operate a similar enterprise in Sacramento, but so far his requests haven't been granted.
In 2008, the pair launched El Camino Wellness Center in Sacramento. In their permit application to Stockton officials, they heralded it as "Sacramento's leading medical cannabis dispensary."
Also in that application packet, Street included 20 letters of support from the Sacramento dispensary's patients, a neighboring business and Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn, who calls it a "model dispensary."
Street's goal now is to allay Toliver's concern that students will be exposed to the Stockton dispensary coming from and going to the school. Telstar Place is a side street off Holman Road, the main route leading to Chavez, he said.
"There would be no students walking by, unless they were looking to rent a car from Hertz," Street said.
He also said he's prepared to donate money to the school's anti-drug programs; the dispensary will have security guards and cameras; and, most importantly, they're well within the legal terms prescribed by the city's ordinance.
Among its dictates, the ordinance says that dispensaries can open if they're not within 600 feet of a school, park or library. The measurement is made by the path of travel rather than a straight line. Street says he's more than twice the distance from the school's front door.
Smoking marijuana on or around the dispensary also is prohibited, the ordinance says.
"I know its a hot-button issue," he said. "All we want to do is just show them we're not bad guys."
Earlier this year, the city's Planning Commission told Street he couldn't open the shop at 1220 W. Fremont St. because it was within 300 feet of homes and lacked parking. It also was down the street from another planned dispensary.
City leaders feared creating "cannabis row" in Stockton, Street said.
Stockton's two other approved dispensaries have yet to open for business. City officials said that could happen in the next 30 days. They are Port City Health and Wellness at 1550 W. Fremont St. and Collective 99 in Eastland Plaza on Wilson Way.
Despite a second round of opposition to his venture, Street said he's not about to give up.
"We're champing at the bit," he said. "We've been waiting far too long."
Opinions remain mixed at and around Chavez. Nelson, the principal, said his job running the school prevents him from making political comments. But speaking as a native Stocktonian, he said he has problems with the dispensary.
It has the potential of exposing some 3,000 students to marijuana use. He has nearly 2,300 students at Chavez, and there are three more elementary schools nearby. Nelson said the dispensary runs contrary to the messages teachers impart in health class and during the annual Red Ribbon Week, which discourage students from smoking, drinking and drug use.
"I understand the city has made some decisions here," he said. "If anything, they need to find a place in town that is farthest from any campus."
But Sam Dunkan, who lives near Chavez, said having a dispensary in the neighborhood doesn't bother him.
The 71-year-old Vietnam veteran long ago raised his children to adulthood and said that trying to hide the reality of a progressive society - such as the use of medical marijuana - is doing children a disservice.
Children are bound to learn about it one way or another, he said. Ultimately, he said, parents are the ones who help form the next generation's sense of right or wrong, not the sight of a dispensary nearby.
"Education starts in the home," he said.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: recordnet.com
Author: Scott Smith
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Dow Jones Local Media Group, Inc.
Website: Medical marijuana plan meets resistance
