City Shuts Marijuana Co-Op

By Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz -- A Pacific Avenue medical marijuana cooperative has been forced to close by the city Planning Department. The Planning Department demanded the immediate shutdown of Pacific Coast Cooperative on Friday after learning it allowed medical marijuana patients to sell and trade the drug with each other - a violation of the city's zoning laws.

"They claimed to be a professional consulting business, so we just signed off on it," said Alex Khoury, a principal planner with the Planning Department. "The zoning code clearly distinguishes that that use is not permitted in the downtown commercial district."

Medical marijuana became legal in 1996 when state voters passed Proposition 215. Related businesses are permitted in the city's community commercial district or the industrial district, streets such as Ocean, Mission, River and Soquel Avenue, Khoury said.

Harvey West Business Park and the Westside's industrial buildings are examples of where such medical marijuana businesses might locate, he said.

However, Khoury said, the business must be located a maximum distance from schools, parks and homes.

Pacific Coast Cooperative opened six weeks ago and served about 200 people, co-founder Peter Koch said.

The co-op, in a second-floor office facing Pacific Avenue above Internet provider Cruzio and the nightclub Blue Lagoon, is in an office building that also houses an architect, lawyer and unions. The bus station is across the street.

"We're located across from the Metro for a reason," Koch said. "Half of our patients use the bus and many of our patients don't drive."

Koch said he and co-founder Matt Hilliard wanted to use the downtown office as a way to fight the stigma often associated with people who smoke medicinal pot and prove its legitimacy.

He and Hilliard figured if they could run a clean and low-key medical marijuana service downtown without bothering other businesses or neighbors, others would become more accepting and understanding.

There are roughly 4,000 medical marijuana patients in Santa Cruz County.

"We did not intend to deceive the Planning Department," Koch said. "We did intend to put something in place that would show what a medical marijuana dispensary or co-op should be like."

Michael Moran, owner of Steamroller Systems Inc., a software development company in the same hall with the co-op, said he had no idea marijuana sales and trades were taking place.

"I have no complaints at all," Moran said. "I'm happy they're here. They're fine."

Compassion Flower Inn owner Andrea Tischler said a medical marijuana co-op is needed to help guarantee patients receive top-quality organic cannabis.

Plus, a well-run co-op would prevent medical marijuana patients from having to drive to San Francisco or Oakland to find such services, Tischler said.

"Medical marijuana patients need to have safe access," she said. "They're not going to have that if they have to buy marijuana on the streets.

"Why not downtown?"

For now, Pacific Coast Cooperative has shut its doors while Hilliard and Koch attempt to work amicably with the city to stay downtown.

If they are unable, Koch said they will relocate.

"If it means they don't want us here, and we have to move, fine, we'll move," Koch said. "We're not renegades. We're just trying to serve the needs of patients in the community."

A common complaint by medical marijuana opponents is that the practice sends a bad message to youth.

Proposition 215 critics say it was a deceptive and poorly written initiative to exploit public compassion for the sick to legalize and legitimatize the widespread use of marijuana in California.

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Author: Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer
Published: April 5, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: editorial@santa-cruz.com
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20458.shtml

 

By Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz -- Owners of a recently shuttered medical marijuana cooperative on Pacific Avenue are pleading for a change in city law to allow them to operate downtown. But their plea is getting a cold shoulder from city officials and a leading medical marijuana proponent, who believe a downtown location is inappropriate.

The Pacific Coast Cooperative opened in February and served about 200 medical marijuana patients before being forced to close March 31 for violating the city's zoning laws, included in a medical marijuana ordinance created in 2000 to establish rules for medical marijuana clubs to operate.

"The ordinance was written five years ago and a lot has changed since then," said Peter Koch, cooperative co-founder. "The ordinance needs to be reviewed not just for us, but for everyone. It's in the best interest of the patients."

Koch asked City Council members to review the ordinance during their meeting Tuesday. However, Mayor Mike Rotkin, a supporter of medical marijuana, said Pacific Avenue has enough problems projecting a clean image and he would not support amending the law.

"I would like to be encouraging to this group to find a location that works for them," Rotkin said. "I don't think we're going to open it up to Pacific Avenue. I don't think the council is going to risk the positive atmosphere we've worked so hard to construct there."

Though Koch's cooperative operated for six weeks without any complaints from nearby businesses or calls to police, Rotkin said there's always the risk that a less-responsible medical marijuana business would set up shop downtown if the law were changed.

Since the statewide passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, medical marijuana businesses have been allowed to locate in the city's industrial zones, areas such as Harvey West and the far Westside.

Pacific Coast Cooperative obtained a business permit from the Planning Department by applying as a "professional consulting business."

Koch, a medical marijuana patient himself because of knee problems related to weight, recently moved to Santa Cruz from Sacramento to start the cooperative with business partner Matt Hilliard.

They opened the cooperative to prevent Santa Cruz medical marijuana patients from having to drive to Oakland or San Francisco to find such services, Koch said.

When Planning Department officials were alerted to marijuana transactions taking place in a second-floor office above Internet provider Cruzio and nightclub Blue Lagoon, they immediately called for the cooperative's closure.

Valerie Corral, founder of Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, said there's no question Santa Cruz County needs more outlets for its estimated 4,000 medical marijuana patients to access legal marijuana, but downtown is the wrong spot.

"Someone could walk out and use their medication. We don't want to expose pedestrians to the possibility of that happening," Corral said. "By being accountable to the community, it creates a better sense of trust."

Since the closure, Koch and Hilliard have been trying to find a new office for the cooperative, but so far have found a dearth of options.

They called that odd for a town that made medical marijuana a cause celebre.

"It's next to impossible to find a location that meets the current ordinance and an owner who lets us operate in their building," Koch said. "We keep running into brick walls."

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Author: Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer
Published: April 14, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: editorial@santa-cruz.com
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Link to article: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20514.shtml

 

By Shanna McCord , Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz -- The city nationally recognized as a medical-marijuana booster- including a law on the books sympathetic to the cause since 2000 - may soon see its first medical-marijuana shop. A proposal for a medical marijuana outlet on DuBois Street in the Harvey West Business Park sailed through the Planning Commission.

Commissioners voted 5-0 Wednesday night, with members Deanna Purnell and William Schultz absent, to approve a special-use permit for Boulder Creek resident Lisa Molyneux to operate Greenway, a medical marijuana dispensary.

Molyneux's plans must now pass the City Council, which will consider the issue Tuesday.

Molyneux, who has been renting an empty 5,000-square-foot office for several months to house the dispensary, agreed to a list of conditions to help Greenway "be a good neighbor" to the Harvey West area.

Patrick O'Hara, chief executive of Ambios Technology on Pioneer Street, three blocks from Dubois Street, was the only person to speak against the dispensary.

O'Hara, disappointed in the outcome, said a pot shop, even for seriously ill people, sends the wrong message about Santa Cruz to the greater business community.

"The impression of business executives I know in the Silicon Valley is that this is not a place for serious business. They think anything goes in Santa Cruz," O'Hara said. "Santa Cruz isn't presenting itself as a place conducive to anything but drugs, derelicts and homeless people."

However, Molyneux, a thyroid cancer patient in remission, says she'll run Greenway in a manner that will ease the fears of critics.

Greenway would operate 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and be watched by a security guard. All marijuana buyers and sellers would be required to show a valid card sanctioned by the state Health Department.

Using the medication in the office or the parking lot would not be allowed and loitering would be prohibited. Problem individuals would be "blacklisted."

"We want to be low-key and not be a burden," Molyneux said.

The Planning Commission stipulated that a review take place six months after opening to identify possible problems.

Commissioner Rod Quartararo expressed reservations about how the city's ordinance fits with the federal law, which forbids the use of marijuana even for medical reasons.

Quartararo was also concerned with issues raised in a letter from police Lt. Rudy Escalante, who recommended the commission deny the proposal because the dispensary would be within 600 feet of the Wagoner Grove area. Wagoner Grove is popular for swimming, barbecues and youth activities.

"The area near Wagoner Grove (already) receives regular complaints of drinking and drug use by persons who frequent the homeless shelter," Escalante wrote. "The proposed use will adversely affect the health, safety and welfare of the businesses in the area."

No one from the Police Department attended the Planning Commission meeting.

Commissioner Kaitilin Gaffney said the dispensary would "be a strong public benefit," saving the county's estimated 4,000 medical marijuana patients from making "the hellacious trek through Fremont and 880 traffic just to hold their food down."

The difficulty of finding sympathetic landlords has delayed the opening of a medical marijuana dispensary because the city strictly limits where such businesses locate, Gaffney said.

"This is a real Catch-22," she said. "We say we want this kind of business, but there's no room at the end to allow this. If not Harvey West, where else is it going to go?"

Mayor Mike Rotkin said he expects the dispensary to "sail through the City Council as well."

What's next for proposed pot shop:

The Santa Cruz City Council will listen to public comment, then vote on the issue, starting at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Owner Lisa Molyneux must obtain a business license to operate in the city.

Security details must be reviewed by the Police Department.

Complete Title: Santa Cruz Leaders To Decide Whether To Allow Medical-Marijuana Dispensary

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Author: Shanna McCord , Sentinel Staff Writer
Published: July 23, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: editorial@santa-cruz.com
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Link to article: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20985.shtml

 

By Shanna McCord , Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz -- Seriously ill patients who need marijuana to ease their pain should soon be able to buy the drug at a dispensary in the city. Plans by Boulder Creek resident Lisa Molyneux to open a medical marijuana dispensary on DuBois Street in the Harvey West Business Park were unanimously approved by the City Council on Tuesday. "There will always be something too complicated and too cumbersome to deal with," Councilwoman Emily Reilly said. "We should move forward, stay conscious and aware and responsive."

Police Chief Howard Skerry and Dannettee Shoemaker, director of the city Parks and Recreation Department, expressed reservations about the pot shop's proximity to Harvey West Park.

Both Skerry and Shoemaker recommended denial of Molyneux's application.

The Harvey West Area Association also wrote a letter opposing the special-use permit for a medical marijuana dispensary in their neighborhood.

No one else from the public spoke against the dispensary.

Shoemaker pointed out several youth activities at the park - soccer, swim lessons, Little League and day camps - that could be impacted by the dispensary's business.

Skerry said police departments in other cities have experienced problems with medical marijuana outlets located near parks.

Harvey West, he said, "continues to be the subject of numerous complaints regarding drug dealing, drinking, illegal camping and garbage complaints."

Still, council members strongly favor a medical marijuana shop and were criticized for not allowing such a business to open sooner.

Molyneux's shop will be limited to buying and selling the drug. Patients will not be allowed to consume marijuana at the site, nor will plants be sold.

A security guard is required to be on site during business hours, which are limited between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Other activities, including massage, education, support groups and chiropractic care, would not be allowed until Molyneux proves she can operate the dispensary with few problems.

A review by city officials will be done six months after opening.

The council also listened to public comment about the draft environmental impact report for the city's integrated water management plan, which includes a proposal for a seawater desalination plant during times of drought.

Few people spoke against the desal plant, though questions were raised about its high cost, energy use and waste water discharged into the ocean.

Officials with the city Water Department said no environmental issues are considered to be significant except for noise during the project's construction.

Public comments on the draft environmental impact report are due to city officials by Friday.

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Author: Shanna McCord , Sentinel Staff Writer
Published: July 27, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: editorial@santa-cruz.com
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20991.shtml

 

By Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz -- Beginning Wednesday, local medical marijuana patients should be able to legally buy pot at an office in the Harvey West industrial area. Boulder Creek resident Lisa Molyneux secured the necessary permits from the city to open Greenway Compassionate Relief Inc. on DuBois Street, a plan that was unanimously approved by the City Council on July 26. Police Chief Howard Skerry and Dannettee Shoemaker, director of the city Parks and Recreation Department, recommended the council deny the project.

Skerry, refusing to comment Thursday, previously told the council that the proximity of Harvey West Park to the marijuana dispensary could exacerbate drug dealing, drinking and illegal camping in the area.

The Harvey West Area Association also wrote a letter opposing the special-use permit.

Despite the reservations, Molyneux's final hurdle before opening Greenway is a walk-through inspection with city officials set for Monday to examine security measures and planned operations for the medical marijuana business.

If everything passes, she said, the shop will open 11 a.m. Wednesday.

"I'm ready. I want to get this thing open," Molyneux said. "Patients come by all the time when I'm there working on stuff. They're all looking at me to open."

Molyneux's dispensary will be the first legal business of its kind in Santa Cruz, a city sympathetic to the cause.

The dispensary could face an uncertain future as state and local laws allowing marijuana use for medicinal reasons defies a staunch federal law and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that declares the drug illegal.

City officials have made it clear that Molyneux would be responsible for whatever legal fights might be ahead.

The police and fire departments signed off on Molyneux's building permit Wednesday, Mike Ferry of the city Planning Department said.

So far, Molyneux, who left her job as a broadcast engineer with Fox News Sports in Los Angeles after the council agreed to her plan, has spent $100,000 in getting the business ready to open.

Monthly rent on the 4,000-square-foot building is $5,000, she said. Molyneux will only use about 1,000 square feet initially.

Greenway will be limited to buying and selling the drug, and patients will not be allowed to consume marijuana at the site, nor will plants be sold.

Patients can purchase up to 2 ounces of marijuana at a time, depending on the recommendation from their doctor, Molyneux said. Her prices will range from $25-$55 for an eighth of an ounce.

Once the business gets going, Molyneux hopes to drop the prices.

Pot will be provided by patients who grow the plant, she said.

"This is about patients taking care of patients," Molyneux said.

A security guard will be stationed in the lobby, and a receptionist will verify medical marijuana cards and physician licenses, Molyneux said.

The council denied Molyneux from offering massage, education and support groups until it's proven she can run the dispensary with few problems.

A city review is planned six months after Greenway opens.

"I can't do anything but dispense for six months," she said.

The council also required Molyneux to write an operations manual for Greenway, which the city attorney approved Sept. 9, Ferry said.

She plans to be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Complete Title: Pot Shop Lights Up The Town: Medical Users Get Santa Cruz Outlet




Young Patient Wants To Ease Other Patients Concerns, Fears

By Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer

UC Santa Cruz student Mike Clifford learned what it's like to become a medical marijuana patient three years ago.

At age 19, Clifford found himself suffering a hernia and a stomach condition called gastritis, something that severely limited his ability to eat. He'd become full on only half a slice of pizza, he said.

A medical marijuana prescription saved his appetite, he said. But it was an internship with MediCann, an organization of alternative medicine clinics statewide dedicated to medical marijuana patients, that opened his eyes to the widespread problems related to patients and their access to the drug.

"It was like our hands were tied," said Clifford, a senior studying economic justice. "We have a prescription, but it's illegal to buy and sell."

Clifford is now channeling his frustrations and expertise into a downtown information center that caters to the questions and anxieties of medical marijuana patients.

The Local Patients Advocacy Group opened at 903 Pacific Avenue recently.

The office, located across from the Metro bus station, is designed "to provide a comfortable environment for members to discuss issues, review educational material, access the Internet and, most importantly, become involved in an organization to call their own."

About 25 members signed up during the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana's WAMMFest at San Lorenzo Park on Saturday, Clifford said.

The advocacy group will operate on membership dues and donations, he said.

Inside the office are folding tables, milk crates and computers, he said.

Clifford swapped two months of office rent - $1,200 - for helping the landlord with some construction projects.

He is seeking members, volunteers and supporters. Call 454-0215.

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Author: Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer
Published: September 16, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: editorial@santa-cruz.com
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21118.shtml

 

By Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz -- The pungent odor of marijuana wafted through the office Wednesday as the city's first medical marijuana dispensary opened. "Finally," sighed owner Lisa Molyneux, a Boulder Creek resident who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1997. Molyneux has worked 14 months for the necessary city permits and approvals to start Greenway Compassionate Relief Inc. The City Council, faced with almost no public opposition, gave Molyneux its unanimous approval in July.

Molyneux said she's spent about $100,000 to start the business, including monthly rent for the 5,000-square-foot office and arranging security.

The DuBois Street pot shop in the Harvey West industrial area is a place for the estimated 3,000 medical marijuana patients in Santa Cruz County to safely and legally access the drug, she said.

Having a place to buy medical marijuana in Santa Cruz means local patients don't have to drive to San Francisco, Oakland or Hayward, Molyneux said.

Wednesday, clients lined up outside the office in the morning waiting for Molyneux to get started at 11 a.m.

Counterintuitive to Santa Cruz, no one protested the business.

Medical marijuana patients chose their pot Wednesday like someone picking out a cookie or muffin from a bakery.

Behind two large glass cases were a range of marijuana varieties with names such as "Haze Heaven," "Sativa Special," "Ron's Rags" and "Morning Star."

Each eighth-ounce of marijuana was sealed in a clear, small plastic bag with a Ziploc-like top.

Patients walked out with their pot inside a small, white paper sack.

Brandon Brown, 42, an antique dealer in Corralitos, spent $90 on two-eighths of marijuana Wednesday at Greenway.

He suffers chronic stomach pain and said, "Something like this was desperately needed."

He said pot controls his nausea and it helps him sleep.

"This is very comparable to a San Francisco clinic," Brown said. "It's packaged even better. It's ethical and it's very well done."

Molyneux's shop operates based on state and local laws that allow the use of marijuana for serious medical reasons

The federal government, however, denies marijuana has any medical use, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June reaffirmed the drug is illegal.

"My hope is by following state and city laws strictly, the feds will overlook us," Molyneux said. "I'm sure they know we're open."

Mike Corral, who founded Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana with his wife, Valerie, in 1993, enthusiastically supports Greenway.

WAMM, a cooperative with 200 medical marijuana patients, faces the same uncertain future as Greenway because of federal restrictions.

"I'd tell Lisa (Molyneux) to operate in the cleanest possible fashion," Corral said. "Because all of us in the medical marijuana industry are under scrutiny.

"We don't know what the feds are going to do."

Despite recommendations from the Police and Parks and Recreation departments to deny Greenway from setting up near Harvey West Park, Mayor Mike Rotkin welcomes the business as an asset to the area.

"I'm feeling quite confident this isn't going to cause problems in our community," Rotkin said. "I expect it's going to be a very smooth-running operation."

As far as others duplicating what Molyneux started, Rotkin said they would have to meet the same stringent standards.

"They would have to be as responsible and organized as she is," he said.

Complete Title: Harvey West Pot Dispensary Sells Marijuana To First Customers

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Author: Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer
Published: September 22, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: editorial@santa-cruz.com
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21131.shtml

 

By Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz -- Some city leaders want to sell medical marijuana to ill residents by creating a new department within the city: an Office of Compassionate Use, with a five-member advisory commission and the capacity to archive patient records. The office would provide the drug to people suffering from serious illnesses who have a note from their doctor. "I see it as a real opportunity to do something that can help people," Councilwoman Emily Reilly said Monday.

The city has long struggled with balancing strict federal marijuana laws with looser state and local laws.

"It's really a shame we should be in this position," Reilly said. "The people in this state made it clear medical marijuana is something we want."

Reilly and Mayor Mike Rotkin, sponsors of the proposed ordinance that would create the office, will seek approval for the new department from their colleagues on the City Council tonight, but say they will only establish the office after getting approval from the federal government - something that ensures a long legal fight.

Assistant City Manager Martin Bernal said no figures had yet been calculated on how much the department would cost to run, nor how many employees would be needed to operate it.

But Reilly and Rotkin say it could be financed with fees paid by participants of the program.

The city is struggling financially and recently cut $720,000 from its general fund.

Rotkin said the idea for an Office of Compassionate Use was broached by the American Civil Liberties Union and Wo/Men Alliance for Medical Marijuana - a local cooperative founded in 1993 with 200 members that was raided by federal agents in 2002. The two groups see the proposal as a way to legally test the state's autonomy over the use of marijuana for medical reasons.

California voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996 to allow marijuana consumption by seriously ill patients. However, the federal government is steadfast in viewing marijuana as a dangerous and illegal drug, and in some cases has challenged its use and distribution.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana users can be prosecuted by the federal government.

Allen Hopper, attorney for the ACLU's Santa Cruz-based Drug Law Reform Project, said the proposed ordinance is a way for the city to assert its 10th Amendment rights - that certain powers are reserved for state governments.

"We believe the city government, under the 10th Amendment, has the authority to opt out of the federal government's marijuana prohibition scheme," Hopper said. "WAMM figured this ordinance is a way to get medical marijuana to those who need it without the individuals being subject to federal prosecution."

Santa Cruz is the first city in California to introduce an ordinance for establishing an Office of Compassionate Use, Hopper said.

"The Santa Cruz city government has always been extremely supportive of medical marijuana," he said. "We hope others follow suit and use Santa Cruz as a model."

The city's first sanctioned medical marijuana dispensary, Greenway Compassion Relief Inc., opened in September in the Harvey West Business Park. The business is owned by Boulder Creek resident Lisa Molyneux, who says she provides marijuana for up to 100 patients a day.

Molyneux supports the city operating a similar business.

"I'm all for it," Molyneux said. "It's probably the best way to control what's going on out there with the feds."

Rotkin said he envisions the Office of Compassionate Use contracting with a pharmacy to provide the drug.

"I don't think anybody's upset with the idea that a pharmacy can sell codeine," he said. "Why wouldn't medical marijuana be distributed the same way?"

Police Chief Howard Skerry said his input was not sought when creating the city's proposed compassionate use ordinance, and it's too early to say how the Police Department would be impacted.

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Author: Shanna McCord, Sentinel Staff Writer
Published: October 25, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: editorial@santa-cruz.com
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Link to article: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21225.shtml