Medical marijuana store opens in Pacific Beach

Friday, May 15, 2009

24 comments | read comments | post a comment

San Diego: A patient fills out documentation for medical marijuana to treat pain from his martial arts-related injuries at 929A Turquoise St. (Photo by Sebastian Ruiz)

A patient fills out documentation for medical marijuana to treat pain from his martial arts-related injuries at 929A Turquoise St. (Photo by Sebastian Ruiz)

A medical marijuana facility called the Pacific Beach Collective opened at 929A Turquoise St. on Monday, May 11 to the dismay of several neighboring business owners and community members who say the facility will attract crime and illegal drug use to the neighborhood.

While residents and businesses in north Pacific Beach protest the dispensary, they may have to grin and bear it because marijuana used for medicinal purposes is legal under state law. Federal law, however, prohibits the sale of medical marijuana.

Some neighbors are livid. “I don’t see any positive aspects to it,” said Jack Story, a 20-year resident. “It’s probably not good for business.”

Story said many older folks in north Pacific Beach fear the store will attract crime and make people afraid to patronize nearby businesses. And with Pacific Beach Elementary within walking distance, at least one parent fears the store might attract dangerous drug addicts to the area.

“There’s nothing wrong or illegal, and they’re certainly necessary, but as someone who walks around with her children – for me – that’s not the kind of business we want in our community,” said Dawna Deatrick, president of Friends of Pacific Beach Elementary School, a parent-teacher organization. “It’s a necessary evil but we just don’t want it in our backyard.”

Lenny Olsen, manager of the Pacific Beach Gardens at 910 Turquoise St., said there was no announcement about the facility. There is no public noticing requirement for starting a dispensary, according to Pacific Beach Collective store managers.

Olsen said he wants one. “If I want to have an establishment to sell alcohol, I have to notify the community, but they can open up a medical marijuana store?” Olsen said. “How come they don’t have to notify [the public]?”

Olsen added that he doesn’t want his 10-month-old son exposed to a neighborhood culture that would “normalize” marijuana drug use.

While many in the neighborhood take issue with the store, the facility is protected under California law as a result of the voter-approved Proposition 215. The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 legalized marijuana for seriously ill persons as long as they have a doctor’s recommendation, according to San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Steve Walter.

In 2004, the Medical Marijuana Program Act, Senate Bill 420, established a voluntary patient identification and registration system. While the intent of the regulations is to help patients in serious pain, many recreational drug users circumvent the law by faking a need for it.

“Most people that voted for [Prop 215] were thinking of people who were gravely ill and marijuana was something to ease their pain… it’s unfortunate that there’s people that have taken it to the extreme and are ruining it for whom the law it was intended for,” Walter said.

Robert, 36, showed up at Pacific Beach Collective for different reasons on the store’s opening day. A Pacific Beach resident, Robert asked that his last name not be published. Robert, a mixed martial arts instructor, said a series of knee operations and shoulder and other training injuries had left him in a lot of pain. Robert said doctors prescribed him pharmaceutical painkillers that had addictive side effects and made him ill. Robert registered with the Pacific Beach Collective and can now legally acquire the medicine he needs.

“Hopefully people can understand that it’s the lesser of two evils when it’s necessary,” Robert said.

Sean Grady, the dispensary’s treasurer, said he wants to dispel rumors that the store is a methadone dispensary clinic or needle exchange program. He added that a plainclothes, unarmed security guard will monitor activity inside, along with a video camera security system.

“Hopefully, the community will see how we actually handle things and embrace us,” Grady said.

While Grady hopes for community support, the County of San Diego has historically sided with the federal law on the issue. San Diego and Merced counties filed a civil court case in February of 2006 questioning the legality of dispensaries under federal law.

Later that year, federal and county law officials cooperated to shut down approximately eight beach-area dispensaries and several others throughout the county, according to published reports.

The case has been appealed and challenged all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Judges have sided with the California law up to this point, according to Deborah McCarthy, chief deputy counsel for the County of San Diego.

“The case is still alive,” McCarthy said. She said the county has filed a petition to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the case. The Supreme Court could make a decision to hear the case or not as early as next week. Meanwhile, a movement to legalize and tax the federally controlled substance is underway.

Assembly member Tom Ammiano (D- San Francisco) introduced Assembly Bill 390 in February to regulate and tax the plant the same way the state regulates beer and liquor. The legislation would generate up to $1.3 billion in revenue, according to Ammiano’s Web site.

Sebastian Ruiz writes for the Beach and Bay Press where this story originally appeared.

Tags: SDNN

This entry was posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 11:08 am and is filed under Environment, Health, Politics & Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

READER COMMENTScomment rules | moderation | privacy

Comment by: Ganja Gary Posted: May 15, 2009, 11:54 am

What a bunch of fear mongering hysteria! These people must have never had a loved one in severe pain, never held a spouses head as they vomited from chemo, never used a wheelchair.

Pacific Beach is full of bars, and bars are setting a good example? Does the guy care if his 10 month old son is exposed to obnoxious drunks puking in his yard? San Diego needs medical marijuana, not fascists!!

Comment by: Mark Montgomery Posted: May 15, 2009, 12:08 pm

This is good news because pot should be legal. I hope the store does banner business. Mexico just legalized possession of small amounts of all drugs. Switzerland just legalized heroin. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and their experience has been positive. Now if you are caught with a 10 day supply of your drug or less you face an administrative court, not a criminal court, but in practice they are just not arresting people. A group of 10,000 very serious policemen, prosecutors, attorneys and citizens have formed a group to legalize ALL drugs, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (http://leap.cc ) They see what happened when we legalized alcohol in 1932 as a good example of how drug legalization would work. This foolish war on drugs has lasted 37 years and cost us over a TRILLION dollars and we are not an inch closer to stopping drugs. How many millions of Americans are we going to lock up in prison for decades? Mark Montgomery boboberg@nyc.rr.com

Comment by: Ryan Posted: May 15, 2009, 12:10 pm

This article seems quite one sided. Did no one care what the store owner had to say about going about the proper procedures involved with opening a legitimate business?

And drug addicts being drawn to the area? Are you crazy? Do you know that you have to have what’s called a “Medical Marijuana Card” to purchase any amount of marijuana legally? Drug addicts will buy from illegal dealers and are of no concern to the surrounding businesses of the stores.

If you don’t like it, get the state law reversed. And good luck with that.

Comment by: S.Diesel Posted: May 15, 2009, 1:33 pm

Oh my God regulated cannabis is going to ruin the city! That’s just asking for more children to start smoking grass. Now it’s too easy for them to just get a fake ID and go to a licensed Doctor, to get a prescription for a medical condition, before getting verified at the collective. Kids used to have to go through impossible means to find marijuana, like going to school or texting their friends. Just wait till these new marijuana abusers jump in a car, operate heavy machinery, or handle small children.

Comment by: Medical marijuana store opens in Pacific Beach « A Patients Paradise 420 Blog Posted: May 16, 2009, 11:29 am

[...] Posted by A Patients Paradise on May 16, 2009 By Sebastian Ruiz, Beach & Bay Press [...]

Comment by: AB390 Posted: May 16, 2009, 12:22 pm

If you live in California and favor legalizing marijuana, YOU can make it happen. Tell your representatives to support California Assembly Bill 390. It’s easy. Visit yes390.org

Comment by: Jeff Posted: May 16, 2009, 4:58 pm

Lets say you get diagnosed, god forbid, with a life threatening illness and your DOCTOR RECOMMENDS that you use marijuana.

Where are you supposed to get it? Is it supposed to magically appear, perhaps left by the fairy marijuana god mother?

I can’t believe that the people of san diego aren’t standing up for their sick and dying!

Disgusted,
Jeff

Comment by: Will S. Posted: May 16, 2009, 9:42 pm

When you go to the pharmacy how many drug addicted criminals do you see? None, right? Cannabis dispensaries are legal businesses which attract none other than ordinary people who just so happen to be suffering from terminal, or chronic diseases. This “reefer madness” mentality needs to stop.

Comment by: Thomas Posted: May 17, 2009, 11:46 am

“In theory”, a cannabis club or Medical Marijuana Dispensary is small group of patients and supporters that provide marijuana to the very ill. If this were true, a Medical Marijuana Dispensary should not be a problem to most everyone in society. Unfortunately, most of these so called Medical Marijuana Dispensaries are money laundering businesses controlled by gangs that attract crime such as narcotics activity and robberies. Thus, Medical Marijuana Dispensaries should be regulated by City ordinance as to who can operate the Dispensary and where the Dispensary can be located. If a Medical Marijuana Dispensary is opening in an area with high narcotics activity, you can bet the operators are up to no good. Don’t you think a legitimate Medical Marijuana Dispensary would be located near hospitals or hospice facilities not on the beach???

Thomas

Comment by: rofl-ing Posted: May 18, 2009, 10:27 am

I find it hilarious that residents of Pacific Beach are worried about a Medical Marijuana Dispensary setting a bad example. Take a stroll down Garnet St and you will find a slew of meat-market bars, creepy drunken men, and self-objectifying women. Clearly the residents in Pacific Beach are concerned about setting examples for children…

As far as gang violence surrounding a dispensary- anyone who can swallow that one should stop watching fear-mongering news television.

The real issue is fear that marijuana causes a person to question and act against societal norms. The jokes on prohibitionists though, marijuana won’t start a revolution. Except for maybe in the cereal production business.

Comment by: thomas Posted: May 18, 2009, 12:32 pm

Residents, who think that criminal activity at illegitimate Medical Marijuana Dispensaries is just made up TV fear mongering, obviously have never lived near a bad one. For example, look at some facts about Compassionate Collective of Alameda County this place was not in the compassionate care business but a front for narcotics trafficking:
• Opened in 2004, that year they took in $74,000.
• In 2005, sales rose to $1.3 million.
• In 2006, sales hit $21 million.
• And in the first six months of this 2007 took in a whopping $26.3 million.
• November 5, 2007; Winslow and Abraham Norton were indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute and distribution of marijuana as well as conspiracy to launder money and money laundering.
• Seized were several hundred pounds of marijuana, approx. $200,000 in cash, two bank accounts, two IRAs, a 2005 Mercedes Benz, a 2006 ML500 Mercedes Benz, a residence and two commercial buildings
Don’t you think that these places need to be regulated??-please just do some research on this issue.

Thanks
Thomas

Comment by: Jeff Posted: May 20, 2009, 10:51 am

Legalize, regulate, tax. It will save money on law enforcement, generate new revenue, reduce crime, and give people an alternative to beer that is just as safe. Duh!

Comment by: Debbie Posted: May 20, 2009, 2:33 pm

I live a block away - please don’t count me and my neighbors as part of the hysterical NPBers scared of cancer patients.

Comment by: kannabis ken Posted: May 20, 2009, 5:58 pm

to Thomas,

Are you trying to equate dispensing marijuana with narcotics trafficking? If so, you may also want to believe smoking marijuana makes you crazy. If you don’t believe me, just watch “Reefer Madness” sometime.

Comment by: Matt B Posted: May 21, 2009, 7:26 pm

This is great for the community. This will make a safe place for medicinal patients to access safe medicine. There is zero evidence of crime increasing around these businesses. Since 1996, crime has actually been down in California. 1996 was the first year for Prop 215. People need to stop being so ignorant. It is MEDICINE!

Comment by: Craig Kindel Posted: May 23, 2009, 4:14 pm

It truly is time for us to grow up and face the truth about the benefits of marijuana. Economically, medicinally, and most importantly socially.

Besides, alcohol is far more dangerous in our community. Alcohol’s ability to lower serotonin in the brain has far more toxic social ramifications. Everyone knows this. You don’t hear about the man who beat his wife or children because he was too high. THC doesn’t promote fights, aggression, or outrageous sexual behavior.
Alcohol does. People who are on THC drive slower, are mellow, and are the last people who want to start a fight about anything. Alcohol is our leading lubricant for social stupidity… not marijuana. With hundreds of alcoholic academies in Pacific Beach littering our community with perrenial violence, it’s amazing that people have fear of marijuana, one of the mellowest drugs ever created. Why is common sense so uncommon?

Comment by: 420 soljah Posted: May 23, 2009, 4:34 pm

Oh come on. Now I agree the neighbors responses are laughable…heck there is a smoke shop few blocks W. across the street from Albertsons…

However, I do think saying all the people who buy via dispensary are “sick” is an overstatement. Everytime I have gone to renew my card which I have for “anxiety” (sic) I am sitting in a room full of stoners watching Cheech and chong waiting to see the MD. ONLY ONE TIME did I see an older couple where the man was trying MJ for the first time in his life, to help with his Cancer pain mgmt. I think it should be legal, but I also think the truth of the matter is most people who use “medical” Marijuana are really just stoners being legal about it.

Comment by: Elizabeth Posted: May 26, 2009, 1:14 am

Hello - There are so many drugs in Pacific Beach - There is so much violence and crime. Stoners don’t have the ambition to be the hardened criminals that will rip a necklace right off your neck, like what happened to my girlfriend outside of the bars. We stopped spending our wild nights in PB when we were like 22. Cause it’s too wild and drugged and drunk and crazy. GET A GRIP ON REALITY. Those PB folks sound like they need to move to DEL MAR$$$ People come from across the United States to P-A-R-T-Y in P-B! Just driving there on a friday night is like playing the dang lottery.
HINT - If there are constantly sobriety checks outside your windows, guys - it’s probably not the best place to raise a child.
Sincerely,
Resident of North UC and Medical Marijuana Supporter & REFORMED PB PARTY GIRL!

Comment by: Carlos Murphy Posted: May 27, 2009, 9:56 pm

The neighborhood will not fall apart. Thieves and murderers are NOT going to invade and begin random slayings of school children on the street…in fact, dispensaries usually frown upon illegal activity nearby and work with the police to make street dealers and gang activity disappear! In fact, short of the media trying to make a big stinking deal about this shop opening there will be no impact on the community whatsoever. Let’s all say it together: THERE WILL BE NO IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY WHATSOEVER…except that already law abiding citizens who have exercised their right to use marijuana as medicine will NOT have to drive all the way to O.C. to get medicine. How much fuel will that save? less emitted CO, hey it’s better for the environment to have these dispensaries here, so c’mon already!!! Tax it…and get past it.

Comment by: San Diego Sportswire Posted: May 30, 2009, 11:18 am

To Thomas - Last time I checked the World economy is in its worst state since the depression because of banking execs. doing exactly what you listed above on a much LARGER scale, but they are not being indicted. I love how the sky is falling because of someone trying to provide a service that is needed by many. SORRY WE DON’T SHARE YOUR PARANOIA! Most of us have good jobs, pay our taxes, contribute to the community. Like it or not, we are your doctors, nurses, cops, firefighters, lifeguards, waiters, bartenders, etc. You probably bag on pot smokers to your friends without knowing they had to smoke before they came over to your house to even deal with you.

Comment by: Medical marijuana ID cards no longer a pipe dream? Posted: June 3, 2009, 8:57 am

[...] Medical marijuana store opens in P.B. [...]

Comment by: Undercover operation nets medical marijuana patients Posted: June 3, 2009, 8:06 pm

[...] Medical marijuana store opens in Pacific Beach Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/?s=marijuana#ixzz0HPWdzKCE&B swfobject.embedSWF(”http://www.youtube.com/v/Jpqn_C9gPKU&rel=0&fs=0&showsearch=0&showinfo=0″, “vvq-19715-youtube-1″, “300″, “240″, “9″, vvqexpressinstall, vvqflashvars, vvqparams, vvqattributes); swfobject.embedSWF(”http://www.youtube.com/v/Xt1YT9hB2Iw&rel=0&fs=0&showsearch=0&showinfo=0″, “vvq-19715-youtube-2″, “300″, “240″, “9″, vvqexpressinstall, vvqflashvars, vvqparams, vvqattributes); swfobject.embedSWF(”http://www.youtube.com/v/U79w5zMXKDM&rel=0&fs=0&showsearch=0&showinfo=0″, “vvq-19715-youtube-3″, “300″, “240″, “9″, vvqexpressinstall, vvqflashvars, vvqparams, vvqattributes); swfobject.embedSWF(”http://www.youtube.com/v/mlkXdU8oDdw&rel=0&fs=0&showsearch=0&showinfo=0″, “vvq-19715-youtube-4″, “300″, “240″, “9″, vvqexpressinstall, vvqflashvars, vvqparams, vvqattributes); [...]

Comment by: TakeAction! Posted: June 6, 2009, 12:41 am

MEDICAL MARIJUANA SUPPORT RALLY!
Be there or be square!!!!!!!
June 16th at the San Diego County Building on Harbor Drive, 8:00am
This will be the first County Board of Supervisors meeting since the United States Supreme Court has made it clear:
San Diego must follow state law!
Dont let them tell you this was only about cards.
This was a clear multimillion dollar attempt to overturn state law.
LET US STAND TOGETHER AND DEMAND OUR RIGHTS!!!!!

Comment by: Ganja Man Posted: July 2, 2009, 7:22 pm

Interesting. Thanks!

Version 3.21