With several cannabis legalization initiatives cruising towards 2010 ballot status and California Assembly Bill 390 — the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act — set to be heard early next year, there’s more than idle pot talk wafting through the air these days. A field poll conducted in April indicated that 56 percent of Californians support legalization. Add to that an October announcement by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that the Justice Department has more important things to do than arrest people using or distributing marijuana in compliance with state law, and it appears that trends are heading towards an unprecedented level of liberalism when it comes to weed.
Californians voted for a compassionate use act in 1996 and now there are more than 600 medical marijuana shops across the state, but are attitudes in Truckee/Tahoe and surrounding areas going with the flow or bucking the trend?
Almost the same day Holder made his declaration, the Colfax City Council voted to ban medical marijuana dispensaries. Golden State Patient Care, a collective operating since 2004 in Colfax, will be allowed to continue business as a non-conforming use, but if it closes, no other storefronts will be able to start up under the new law. The Nevada City Council banned pot shops in September and Grass Valley and Nevada County already have moratoriums in place.
Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) raids in early 2009 targeting three active dispensaries in South Lake Tahoe captured lots of media attention and ignited public controversy there. While the shops eventually re-opened and have been operating ‘with no hassle from law enforcement and open arms from the community,’ according to Patient to Patient Collective spokesperson Cody Bass, the South Lake Tahoe City Council finally ruled on pot shops on Nov. 18. A 4 to 0 vote enacted a moratorium on the establishment of any future shops and put strict rules on existing ones, including the requirement for them to obtain a city business license, a seller’s permit from the state Board of Equalization, an insurance policy, a compliance certificate and a lease agreement showing the shop was legally established prior to Nov. 1.
With no pot shops in the North Lake Tahoe area or Truckee, however, the issue remains out of sight, out of mind for the most part. Local patients with medical marijuana cards have a variety of options. They can travel to South Lake or Colfax, grow their own or discreetly obtain their medicine from Tahoe Herbal Care, a delivery service based in Truckee with nearly 200 registered patients.
The delivery model works well for Tahoe Herbal Care, according to its president, Anthony Mollins. While his ultimate goal is to open a storefront location in Truckee and he has received help from the Town’s planning department regarding the process, Mollins admits he currently doesn’t have the money to begin just yet. Opening an office where patients can choose from samples like ‘Purple Urkle,’ ‘Strawberry Deisel’ or ‘Blackberry Kush’ and then place orders is the next planned step, but he isn’t there yet either. As a small, non-profit collective whose business is somewhat seasonal, ‘We are not making much money,’ Mollins says.
Tahoe Herbal Care’s model is similar to other collectives operating in California — members legally grow the medicinal products and registered patients within the collective can make donations to cover the cost of growing and associated expenses. By law, delivery drivers can transport up to a half pound in a safe in the rear of the delivery vehicle, but according to Mollins, they never have anywhere near that much on board.
Despite the fact that Tahoe Herbal Care operates completely within the parameters of state law and also follows the applicable county statutes as well, Mollins still feels the company is under scrutiny.
‘The Placer County Sheriffs’ Detective said to go somewhere else. He also said any collective in Placer County would be investigated,’ Mollins said.
Scott Linden, Esq., from the medical marijuana legal advocacy service 420lawyer.com, confirmed Mollin’s dilemma in a recent email. ‘I do know of incidences where delivery people have been pulled over and arrested. Usually it’s a super-cop who does not care what the law says…in their mind it’s illegal…period. Or where the delivery person (stupidly) is driving while under the influence or is carrying the medication in the passenger part of the vehicle,’ Linden wrote.
In law enforcement’s view, medical marijuana dispensaries are nothing more than a breeding ground for crime and a front for legalized drug dealing. During the April 2009 ‘Summit on the Impact of California’s Medical Marijuana Laws,’ El Cerrito police commander Michael Regan presented attendees with an analogy on a PowerPoint slide. Pot shops are similar to combining a ‘liquor store and a casino and adding very little, if any, oversight.’
What’s a potential dispensary up against in Truckee?
The town has an oblique ‘Director’s Determination’ in place, which currently dictates policy. Put simply, since the shops are not listed in the development code as a permitted use, dispensing or distributing marijuana through a storefront in compliance with state law is not an allowed use. According to Truckee Community Development Director John McLaughlin, the town is ‘getting inquiries, but no formal applications.’
While the directive is neither an outright prohibition nor a moratorium, paying application fees and jumping through the development and political hoops is definitely discouraging potential store owners.
Mollins is planning on opening a new office in Tahoe Donner sometime in early 2010 where he can display samples. He’ll also begin collecting signatures on a petition in order to prove to local officials that there is local support for a cannabis dispensary. Mollins feels optimistic and thinks the Town has been supportive so far. ‘We need a storefront collective in Truckee,’ he said determinedly.
Truckee councilmember Barbara Green isn’t sure that a dispensary is necessarily right for the town.
‘I don’t want to do anything that creates a problem for police that they don’t already have,’ Green said. ‘But I understand pain. I’ve been in chronic pain myself and have sympathy for people who are suffering. I’ve tried marijuana…I don’t have a problem saying that. It’s not for me, but I’m open to finding a solution to meet the needs of those who need to use it.’
Nevada County District Attorney Cliff Newel also wants to accommodate individuals who have a legitimate need but is adamant about upholding the law, which he maintains is unambiguous. ‘Proposition 215 says you can’t sell or distribute marijuana. A delivery service is contrary to the law and so is a storefront. We don’t want to prosecute small collectives, we’re looking for people who are out to leverage the law,’ remarks Newell. ‘My job is to decide what’s legal and what’s not and what’s good for the community and what’s not…that’s what I was elected to do.’
We just may be in for a long, strange trip.
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