# Owners open Gilroy pot shop despite rejection



## FruityBud (Nov 10, 2009)

Two men have opened a medical marijuana dispensary in north Gilroy less than a month after the City Council effectively rejected their business application.

Morgan Hill residents Batzi Kuburovich and Neil Forrest have been trying to start a cannabis collective in Gilroy since May and hit a major roadblock last month when the City Council voted 4-3 against creating a special ordinance for marijuana dispensaries in Gilroy. The vote effectively nixed the application, but specified that the city should reconsider the idea in January.

However, the business has apparently opened anyway at 1321 First St. - near Lana's Dance Studio and Togo's. The dispensary was originally slated to open near this location, but the dispensary proprietors have considered several other locations. It was unclear whether the men had permits to open a business in Gilroy.

State law permits medical marijuana dispensaries, but federal law prohibits cannabis across the board. Without a local law, City Attorney Linda Callon said last month that staff are unable to process MediLeaf's business application. The applicants had argued they deserve due process in front of the planning commission, which can impose project-specific conditions on unorthodox business applications.

One of many cases winding its way through state courts came from the Second District Court of Appeals last month. The court upheld a Claremont city ban on dispensaries, a move which suggests cities can bar citizens from setting up shops that are specifically permitted by state laws. In addition, the Los Angeles County District Attorney announced last week that prosecutors would pursue hundreds of "over the counter" collectives in the area that exchange marijuana for cash - a sticky situation Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Lowney told the council it should avoid by working with District Attorney Dolores Carr on any proposed ordinance.

While the proposed ordinance would have regulated store hours, security requirements and products, council members said they were swayed to vote against it by an outpouring of e-mails and phone calls from constituents. They also expressed concerns of a dispensary inviting legal interference from above.

*hxxp://tinyurl.com/yz2dorv*


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## mr.greengenes (Nov 15, 2009)

As it happens, Gilroy is almost my back yard...or rather near. And so I took my MMJ card to the nascent dispensary and became a member. I purchased 1/8 oz of 'medicine' for $60 as a tolkin' gesture of support. And here's where I am torn. I obviously support the mmj cause and movement in CA, but I think this controversy is unwise and potentially harmful. Worse, the proprietors trumpet the fact that their dispensary is a beneficial non-profit organization...yet they pay themselves $10,000 a month as administrators which seems excessive and opportunistic. Maybe they need to do that in order to pay for legal expenses...but still.

Here is a draft of a letter I intended to send to a local newspaper. This forum is the only outlet for the text. My wife lobbied successfully against my doing so because she correctly feared it would make us a target. (Lysistrata has nothing over my wife and her compelling powers of reason).  

Here goes:

The recent controversy regarding the medical marijuana cooperative opening its doors against Gilroy's ordinances is unfortunate and counter productive to progressive government planning and the medical marijuana movement in California. I would offer that medical marijuana continues to suffer from the 'stoner stigma' - a pre-conceived, pejorative notion assigned to recreational drug users and dealers. 

Newsweek magazine reported November 13 that the American Medical Association is reconsidering its 72 year old policy position on marijuana. The AMA resolved that "marijuana's status as a federal Schedule 1 controlled substance be reviewed" with the goal of facilitating clinical research. Let's hope that cannabis finally gets its day in court based on modern science. 

Those of us with family members who are very sick or have passed away from termial illnesses such as cancer may have experienced, second-hand , the relief that medical marijuana consumption offers patients. The medical marijuana movement is gaining strength based on the self-evident truth that doctor-recommended marijuana consumption, either alone or in combination of 'conventional pain relief medication', is an effective palliative care treatment option for very ill people.

I support the medical marijuana movement because my sister discovered pain relief with its use during her 9 year fight with terminal breast cancer. The City of Gilroy and MediLeaf should turn this unfortunate controversy into a teachable moment; each should agree to work with the other for the greater good of the community. This issue is too important to be denigrated through local Draconian laws against medical marijuana dispensaries and allegations of civil disobedience. 

I ask that the City of Gilroy employ a measure of tolerance consistent with president Obama and Gov. Schwarzenegger; that is, to engage in a thoughtful debate regarding medical marijuana dispensaries in its community. Like the civil rights movement of the past, there is a legal and moral paradigm shift taking place that benefits clinically diagnosed patients who have sanctuary to medicate themselves with cannabis under state law. 

In turn, MediLeaf should do a better job of presenting a responsible case to the City of Gilroy through positive efforts to educate the public in its cause. The perception of civil disobediance and defiance of authority is harmful to the tenets of Prop. 215 and the medical marijuana community in California. 

Yours Truly,
Mr. Greengenes


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## tcbud (Nov 15, 2009)

These battles are being fought arcross the state and nation.  My county also is struggling with growers/collectives and the "threat" of a despensary.  It could all go away if it was federally legalized to all.

Very well written letter Mr. Greengenes.  It is a shame that becomming a target is something that would happen in this state.  I do agree with the wife tho, unfortunately.


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