California, Tracy

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local


Cannabis club comes and goes

Denise Ellen Rizzo
Tracy Press
May 20, 2006

<img src=bin/west-valley-resource-co-op.jpg align=right title="Medical marijuana customers come and go as they find the West Valley Resource Co-op that closed Friday.">Tenants in the Opera House building on Central Avenue are upset about their new third-floor neighbor — a medical marijuana store.

West Valley Resource Co-op opened at 209 Central Ave. on Tuesday and since then has had a steady stream of clients going in and out of the building, tenants said.

“It’s making me very upset,” said Johnny Bahar, who operates a mortgage business in the office next to the co-operative.

“Tuesday, I walked up the stairs and asked if a skunk died here. I got high yesterday and I had to leave. People knock on my door and think I’m the marijuana guy.”

Although he moved in during mid-January, Bahar said having the co-op next door has forced him to take action and move his mortgage company.

An assistant for a first-floor real estate company said she has seen teenagers going in and out all day since the business opened.

“I was pretty shocked,” Lani Baker said. “Yesterday, their manager asked me if I could smell anything.

“There’s been people going in and out all day. I want to see what happens and how long they get away with it.”

Both tenants said the building management never notified them that a cannabis club was going to open on the third floor.

On Friday afternoon, there were three young men and an older man waiting in the lobby of the co-op. A few minutes later, a teenage boy on a skateboard was seen going up to the business.

The city issued a business license to the co-op owner, listed as Jack Norton, on May 5. The license was for the collective distribution of medical cannabis to qualified patients.

The owner of the building, Dennis Ward, said that at first he was unsure about leasing the suite to the co-op. He said he wanted to know about the legalities and sent them to get a city license.

“I had mixed emotions about it. They’re serving a real need in the community if it’s done right,” Ward said.
On Friday afternoon, Ward said he talked to the center’s owner on the telephone and asked him to leave immediately.

“I asked them to be out today. This afternoon I had 12 kids in the lobby. It’s not a good mix and match for our building.”

The co-op signed a three-year lease, but Ward said the owner agreed to leave without objection.

Tracy police Capt. Mike Maciel said he wasn’t aware of a cannabis club in Tracy. He said the department would review it because of conflicts regarding state and federal laws.

“From a police prospective, there are issues we have to look at.”

According to the state law, the club is legal, but federal law says it’s illegal to sell marijuana, medical or otherwise.

A man who answered the locked door of the co-op identified himself as the manager but refused to give his name. He said word about the co-op has spread verbally and through listings by known cannabis centers.

When asked why the co-op moved to Tracy, the manager said Tracy offers a good, central location.

• To reach reporter Denise Ellen Rizzo, call 830-4224 or e-mail drizzo@tracypress.com.

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Article Last Updated: 05/23/2006 02:58:41 AM PDT

First San Joaquin pot club closes days after opening
By Mike Martinez, STAFF WRITER
The Daily Review


TRACY — The first Cannabis Buyers Club in San Joaquin County was snuffed out before it ever got rolling.

And it is not because federal, local or state agents shut down the odorous operation on the third floor of the Opera House building in downtown Tracy.

Last Thursday — three days after opening for business — building manager Jim Ward said he asked the owners of the West Valley Resource Co-Op to move out, and they were gone the next day. He said they didn't have a problem with it.

"Whether they had a medical need for it or not, their clientele was a little younger than I had expected," Ward said. "I just told them things weren't working out."

He said the aroma of their product spilled out of the "club."

A business license was issued to John Norton, Sean Bruett and Daniel Tapia on

May 5 for the West Valley Resource Co-Op, city officials said. A phone number listed on the business license had a Los Angeles area code. A message left at the number was not returned.

Tracy police Capt. Mike Maciel said the operation may have been legal to operate, within state law.

"We would certainly want to ensure that they are meeting all the requirements of state law in the operation of the business and that the people acquiring marijuana are (qualified patients)," Maciel said. "The fact they shut down is not our doing."

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215 — the Compassionate Use Act — providing the seriously ill with the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.

According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, therapeutic benefits from smoking the plant are well-documented. Marijuana provides relief from nausea, stimulates appetite and weight gain, and helps combat glaucoma, according the organization's Web site.

The issue has turned into a legal dogfight between states and the federal government. Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal laws prohibiting the use of medical marijuana remain in effect regardless of state laws that permit its use.

Phil Urie, deputy district attorney for San Joaquin County, said the dispensary, if it really was one, was the first to operate in San Joaquin County.

Even so, the way the county interprets the law, it may have been illegal.

"Our position has always been, and continues to be, that the retail sale of marijuana, even to those who have a (doctor's) recommendation, is not legal," Urie said.

"Grow your own, that's what 215 says. The whole (issue) with dispensaries was completely out of the realm of Prop. 215 ... Counties like Alameda, San Francisco and Marin, they don't have the political guts to apply the law."

According to the Tracy City Clerk's Office, nothing relating to cannabis clubs has come before the City Council in at least the last 13 years.

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Medical marijuana club opens, then closes downtown Tracy shop

The Record
Rick Brewer
Record Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, May 24, 2006

TRACY - Police Capt. Mike Maciel said he and a colleague investigated a reported cannabis club in downtown Tracy on Tuesday that drew controversy before its small office was closed three days after opening last week.

"They're out of here. They're gone," said Jim Ward, manager of the building that formerly accommodated Tracy's Opera House restaurant at Ninth Street and Central Avenue, where the club briefly operated.

The city Finance Department issued a business license May 5 to John Norton, Daniel Tapia and Sean Bruett to operate a medical cannabis club.

The trio then obtained a lease to rent an office on the top floor of the Opera House building, and associates apparently began selling medicinal marijuana May 16. Calls to the Los Angeles number listed on the license application were not returned.

San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office spokesman Les Garcia said the Tracy operation was the first of its kind in the county.

Accountant technician Rocki Chaparro, whose duty is to issue business licenses in Tracy, said she was on vacation when Norton, Tapia and Bruett obtained their permit. She recalled someone calling about the possibility of opening a cannabis club in town and referred the inquiry to the city attorney's office.

"Business licenses are just a tax. They are not regulatory," Chaparro said. "People with business licenses need to abide by all (use permit) rules. If they are found to be out of compliance, then they can be taken away."

Apparently that wasn't necessary. Complaints quickly came from neighboring business owners, who said the stench emanating from the office was overpowering. Some said teenagers lined up outside the door awaiting their chance to sample the product.

On Thursday, Ward asked proprietors to vacate the building. He said they left Friday without incident.

"If it was a legitimate business, then they had a right to be here," he said. "But they weren't and didn't."

There's still debate over whether any cannabis club is legal to operate. Despite passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, the issue has been tied up in federal courts for the past decade, and it remains a federal offense to grow, possess or sell marijuana.

Still, there are 34 registered cannabis clubs in San Francisco alone, according to the California Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and a city law passed in November 2005 allows them to operate. Customers are required to possess a valid city or state identification card, and sales are limited to 1 ounce per customer to discourage redistribution.

Stockton does not allow marijuana dispensaries, although City Council members voted unanimously in July to let a city moratorium on them lapse.

Manteca and Lodi officials said Tuesday that although no rules have been established and no applications submitted in those cities, they would be outlawed, because they are in violation of federal law.

Maciel said there are legal provisions for marijuana dispensaries in California, but if future operators expect to open shop in Tracy, the Police and Planning departments will be more aware of them.

"We'd make sure they operated the way they were supposed to. We'd want to make sure that no anomalies were taking place," Maciel said.

"Frankly, this is the first time we've had to deal with something like this."

Contact reporter Rick Brewer at (209) 833-1141 or rbrewer@recordnet.com

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Pot club under Tracy's nose?

'Skunky' odor raises suspicions about secretive Wellness Center


By Jake Armstrong
November 18, 2006
Record Staff Writer
RecordNet

<table class=posttable align=right width=175><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg src=bin/valley_wellness_center_collective.jpg></td></tr></table>TRACY - The smell penetrating the walls of Tracy Cyclery made owner Ed Phippen curious about his new neighbors. The odor emanating from the nondescript West 11th Street storefront next door was familiar. After all, Phippen had been to rock concerts.

"I could smell that skunky smell," Phippen said.

City officials are investigating whether a cannabis club - a dispensary for medical marijuana - quietly opened up shop this month under the moniker Valley Wellness Center Collective.

If so, it's the second such club to open in Tracy this year. And like the previous club, which was shuttered three days after opening, there's a chance it could be forced to close.

That's because the city's zoning code does not list medical marijuana dispensaries as an approved use, Assistant City Attorney Bill Sartor said.

The business license application submitted Oct. 30 by Anthony Denner, listed as the chief executive officer of the Valley Wellness Center Collective, states "retail sales conducted by a nonprofit corporation" as the nature of the business.

"It's our position that it is not a listed use. 'Retail sales' does not say what it is," Sartor said.

The city doesn't have laws prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries from operating, but - like any other business - a dispensary must conform to the zoning code, Robinson said.

"Nowhere within their business license application did they tell us what they would be selling," city spokesman Matt Robinson said.

The business is discreet.

Wicker blinds cover the windows, and a security guard mans the front door, from which the strong smell of burning incense pours out when opened.

Denner could not be reached for comment. Employees inside the business Friday declined to comment, the uniformed security guard at the club's front door said. A man leaving the business also declined to be interviewed.

Calls to the business are received by an answering machine that advises callers to bring a valid doctor's recommendation and California ID.

Employees in neighboring Amore's Italian Restaurant said they did not know what type of business was next door. An online gaming company occupied the storefront until about a month ago.

After the smell hit his nose about three weeks ago, Phippen questioned its owners and said he was told the business is dispensing marijuana to patients but that patients were not allowed to "medicate" on site.

Phippen said he doesn't mind the business being next door "as long as it doesn't cause any negative repercussions on my business."

Tracy's first known cannabis club, the West Valley Resource Co-Op, opened in May on the second floor of the building that once housed Tracy's Opera House on Central Avenue in downtown. It closed three days later due to zoning regulations, Robinson said.

Contact reporter Jake Armstrong at (209) 833-1141 or jarmstrong@recordnet.com

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Tracy pot store to be shut down

Phil Hayworth/Tracy Press
Tuesday, 21 November 2006

Tracy officials say they will shut down a medical marijuana store that quietly opened in town about three weeks ago.


<table class=posttable align=right width=300><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg width=300 src=bin/valley_wellness_center_collective-sign.jpg></td></tr><tr><td class=postcap>Glenn Moore/Tracy Press - SMOKE OUT:The Valley Wellness Center Collective, a medicinal marijuana provider that opened few weeks ago, will likely close its doors soon.</td></tr></table>“Sally” describes herself as a 50-year-old professional in the education field who uses marijuana to relax back muscles that often get so tense that she can’t sleep.

Her doctor recently prescribed marijuana for the tension, and she remembers how well it worked 10 years ago when she had cancer and the chemotherapy made her so sick that she had no appetite.

It helped her then, and it helped her again Monday, when she drove in from Stanislaus County to buy a $10 marijuana-laced brownie from Tracy’s medical marijuana dispensary, which quietly opened three weeks ago in a nondescript storefront on West 11th Street.

“It was just like a doctor’s office,” she said.

It had a professional atmosphere, she said, including information booklets on display and even a Good Housekeeping magazine. And she said one giant brownie — like the one she picked up — can last a week and relaxes her back muscles immediately.

Tracy’s dispensary is a far cry from the ones in Oakland, she said, where people hidden behind black sheets dole out pot in dark corners.

“It made you feel like you were doing something wrong,” she said. “But I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I have a medical marijuana card and a doctor’s prescription.”

She’s hoping those bad old days of sketchy, back-alley marijuana dispensaries are over.

Unfortunately for Sally, the Valley Wellness Center Collective, the name of Tracy’s second medical marijuana dispensary, will likely close as quickly as it opened.

That’s because Tracy, like every city in San Joaquin County, doesn’t list marijuana dispensation as legal use, and the city already has the store in its sights.

“Any use not listed is prohibited,” said city deputy attorney Bill Sartor.

“It sounds like they’re going to use the same old ‘zoning’ argument that they’re using in Stockton and other cities,” said Nathan Sands, spokesman for The Compassionate Coalition, a nationwide medical marijuana group with 13 chapters spread throughout California and four other states.

It’s also the same argument used to shut down Tracy’s first dispensary, which opened in May and closed just three days later.

Sartor said no one has ever asked the city to list marijuana dispensation as legal use. Until they do so and win, any group that opens a dispensary will likely be quickly investigated and closed.

“We will be taking appropriate actions,” Sartor said. “It’s not a listed use, therefore it’s prohibited under our zoning.”

The business license lists Anthony Denner as the collective’s owner. It opened Oct. 31, almost 10 years to the day that California voters passed Proposition 215, allowing people suffering certain ailments to grow and use marijuana to relieve symptoms.

But that doesn’t matter, Sartor said. City ordinances prevail over state law. If dispensaries open in county jurisdiction, “the counties simply work with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service to shut it down,” Sands said.

“I think everyone’s waiting for Congress to change the law,” Sands said.

But even if Congress makes medical marijuana legal — eliminating the conflict with state law — cities and their councils would likely reserve the right to have the final say as to where and exactly how medical marijuana is dispensed, if at all.

Until the legalities are worked out, groups like the Valley Wellness Center Collective will likely have to operate surreptitiously. For example, the center listed on its business license that it was a retail operation. Had it listed marijuana retail as an activity, it wouldn’t have been issued the permit, Sartor said.

The center’s manager, who identified himself as James and declined to give his last name, said he had no idea how authorities and news media found out about his business.

About 75 people use the center each week, but nearly 80 percent — about 60 people — are from Tracy, he said. Out-of-towners like Sally are rare visitors, even as dispensaries have been driven from elsewhere in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.

There are an estimated six dispensaries in Sacramento — 40 in San Francisco, 40 in the Bay Area and 150 statewide.

James said people sick with cancer, AIDs and other diseases are often too weak to drive long distances for their medication. And although there are specialized services that deliver medical marijuana, few sick people can afford it.

“Really sick people need this place,” he said. “All we wanted to do was offer an accessible and affordable way for sick people to get their medication.”

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Tracys new club may get smoked

City rules medical marijuana dispensary in defiance of codes

By Mike Martinez, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:11/21/2006 02:50:20 AM PST

TRACY — The second cannabis club to open in Tracy has quietly lasted longer than the first one, but it might not be around much longer.

Matt Robinson, spokesman for the city, said the City Attorneys Office has ruled the Valley Wellness Center Collective, located at 130 W. 11th St., doesnt comply with city code.

The club has been open three weeks.

Its not about the law; its more about zoning and code enforcement, Robinson said. When they filled out their business license, they were very nonspecific in what they were going to do. That also raised the red flag with us.

Although there is nothing in the city code banning medical marijuana dispensaries, city of-ficials said the group misrepresented themselves on its business license. The collective said their activity would be retail sales conducted by a non-profit corporation.

A man identified only as James said he manages the collective and said it serves upward of 15 customers a day.

With shades drawn for privacy and a security guard at the locked front door, James said they were trying to be discreet to protect patient confidentiality.

Patients have no access to medicine from Sacramento to Bakersfield, James said, citing the lack of cannabis clubs in the Central Valley. What we do here is provide the patients medication in a safe and affordable manner.

He said they verify everyone who comes in to make sure they are a qualified patient with a prescription from a doctor.

At Amores Pizza Kitchen, the smells of marijuana and incense have penetrated the walls and spilled into the restaurant, manager Francisco Santana said, sometimes overpowering the scent of the food.

He said there have been no problems with his new neighbor and none of his customer have complained, but the new odor isnt good for families to have their children join them (for dinner).

A deputy district attorney for San Joaquin County said the way the county interprets the law, the retail sale of marijuana, even to those who have a doctors recommendation, is not legal.

Grow your own, thats what (Proposition) 215 says. The whole (issue) with dispensaries was completely out of the realm of Prop. 215, Phil Urie said earlier this year.

According to the Tracy City Clerks office, nothing relating to cannabis clubs has come before the City Council in at least the last 13 years.

Both Tracy clubs were the only such institutions in San Joaquin County.

The first Tracy club was snuffed out before it ever got rolling.

In July — three days after opening for business — the Opera House building manager asked the owners of the West Valley Resource Co-Op to move out and they were gone the next day.

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215 — the Compassionate Use Act — providing the seriously ill with the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.

According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, therapeutic uses from smoking the plant are well-documented. Marijuana provides relief from nausea, stimulates appetite and weight gain, and helps combat glaucoma, according the organizations Web site.

The issue has turned into a legal battle between states and the federal government. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal laws prohibiting the use of medical marijuana remain in effect regardless of state laws that permit its use.


Mike Martinez can be reached at (209) 832-3947 or at mmartinez@trivalley-

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Tracy pot club gets its walking papers


By Jake Armstrong
November 23, 2006
Record Staff Writer
The Record

TRACY - City officials on Wednesday issued a cannabis club orders to roll up and move out.

The Valley Wellness Center Collective, which opened quietly at 130 W. 11th St. about three weeks ago, has until Dec. 5 to vacate its location. City officials also revoked the club's business license and mailed its owner a refund of the business license fee, Assistant City Attorney Bill Sartor said.

An unidentified man who answered the club's phone said the owner, Anthony Denner, was unavailable and the club had no comment on the city's order.

The city sent a similar notice to the building's owners, Chemanoor and Bernadette Zacariah, to ensure they force the club out of their building by Dec. 5.

Denner could face criminal, civil or administrative penalties if he fails to comply with the city's order, Sartor said.

The city has no law banning medical marijuana dispensaries, which are allowed in California under Proposition 215. However, since the city's zoning code does not list such businesses as an allowable use, cannabis clubs cannot operate unless the use is added to the code.

The club's owner would need to petition the Planning Commission or the City Council to have the use added.

"It's on them to change things," city spokesman Matt Robinson said.

The city did not learn of the club until late last week. In his Oct. 30 application for a business license, Denner described the nature of his business as "retail sales conducted by a nonprofit corporation." City officials said that statement did not fully describe the business and revoked and refunded the license as a result.

The Valley Wellness Center Collective is the second medical marijuana dispensary forced to close in Tracy. The first, West Valley Resource Co-Op, was shuttered due to similar zoning regulations three days after it opened in May earlier this year.

Contact reporter Jake Armstrong at (209) 833-1141 or jarmstrong@recordnet.com

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Tracy orders pot shop to close

City attorney says retail sale of marijuana violates city codes

By Mike Martinez, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated: 11/30/2006 02:54:03 AM PST

TRACY — It wasnt exactly what Tracy City Manager Dan Hobbs had in mind for his greening of Tracy plan.

The medical marijuana dispensary, which opened under the nose of city officials late last month on the outskirts of downtown Tracy, has been ordered to close.

Although there is nothing in the city code specifically banning medical marijuana dispensaries, theres also nothing that allows them. The Valley Wellness Center Collective was ordered to discontinue the non-listed use of distributing medical marijuana in Tracy on or before Dec. 5.

Each day that the conditions exist is a separate violation of the (Tracy city code) for which citations (administrative and otherwise) may be issued in conjunction with this order to abate or show cause, Pat Zona, a city code enforcement officer, wrote.

As such, I strongly urge you to act quickly to remedy the above listed violations as failure to do so could expose you to significant costs over and above what it may cost you to remedythe nuisance violations, Zona wrote.

City officials said the group misrepresented themselves on their business license. The collective said their activity would be retail sales conducted by a nonprofit corporation.

Officials at the dispensary declined to comment at the behest of their lawyers.

Bill Sartor, assistant city attorney, said the sale of medical marijuana isnt a listed use under the city code.

He said the store should never have opened and the city would prefer they shut down before the deadline, because they are out of compliance.

It was unlawful yesterday, its unlawful now and unlawful tomorrow, Sartor said. If a hearing officer ruled it was lawful, I might have to revisit that a little later, but I dont see that happening.

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215 — the Compassionate Use Act — providing the seriously ill with the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.

In July — three days after opening for business — the Opera House building manager asked the owners of the West Valley Resource Co-Op to move out and they were gone the next day. It was the first cannabis club in San Joaquin County. The Valley Wellness Center Collective is the second.

According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, therapeutic uses from smoking the plant are well-documented. Marijuana provides relief from nausea, stimulates appetite and weight gain, and helps combat glaucoma, according the organizations Web site.

Phil Urie, a deputy District Attorney with San Joaquin County, said the way the county interprets the law, the retail sale of marijuana, even to those who have a doctors recommendation, is not legal.

He said other counties throughout the state that allow storefront sales are wrong, as dispensaries are outside the realm of the proposition.

The law simply does not allow the sale of marijuana, Urie said. People are allowed to posses and cultivate it, but they cant buy it. Its a huge hole thats always been there in Prop. 215. There is no legal mechanism for obtaining marijuana.

Hobbs idea for the greening of Tracy involves the creation of additional park space and the legal planting of trees and grass.


Mike Martinez can be reached at (209) 832-3947 or at mmartinez@trivalleyherald.com.

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Tracy pot club vows to stay put

Cannabis dispensary accuses city of infringing on constitutional rights

By Mike Martinez, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated:12/05/2006 02:50:12 AM PST
The Tri-Valley Herald

TRACY — The medical marijuana dispensary, which was ordered to close by the city of Tracy, has filed a request for an administrative hearing and vowed to continue operating.

Oakland attorney James Anthony said the Valley Wellness Center is a legal medical cannabis collective and would remain open under the threat of fines and citations.

"It causes no harm, and it provides a beneficial community service on a nonprofit basis," Anthony wrote in an e-mail. "The city's legal position — that anything not explicitly permitted is therefore prohibited — is dubious and infringes on constitutionally protected property rights."

Although nothing in the city code specifically bans medical marijuana dispensaries, there's also no specific code that allows for it. Last month, the collective was ordered by city code enforcement officers to "discontinue the nonlisted use of distributing medical marijuana" in Tracy bytoday.

City officials contend the group misrepresented themselves on their business license, saying their activity would be "retail sales conducted by a nonprofit corporation."

"It would have surprised me not to (file an appeal), but it doesn't surprise me," Bill Sartor, Tracy's assistant city attorney, said. "We'll schedule a hearing and go from there." Sartor maintained his position that the sale of medical marijuana isn't a listed use under the city code. He said the store front never should have opened and the city would prefer they shut down because they are out of compliance.
In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215 — the Compassionate Use Act — providing the seriously ill with the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.

The San Joaquin County District Attorney's office interprets the retail sale of marijuana, even those who have a doctor's recommendation, as illegal.


Mike Martinez can be reached at (209) 832-3947 or at mmartinez@trivalleyherald.com.

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Medical pot group hires lawyer to fight closure

By John Upton
San Joaquin News Service

First published: Tuesday, December 5, 2006
The Lodi News-Sentinel

Locals prescribed marijuana to fight pain and illness may soon be breathing cloudy sighs of relief, with a nonprofit group announcing Monday through a lawyer that it would fight city plans to close its downtown medical marijuana dispensary.

Tracy code enforcement officer Pat Zona told the Valley Wellness Center Collective in a Nov. 22 letter that it would expose itself to daily fines if it continued selling marijuana. The letter gave the wellness center until 5 p.m. today to appeal.

Zona said in the letter that the sale of marijuana is not listed in Tracy's zoning laws.

Wellness center attorney James Anthony said Tracy had given only vague reasons for closing the month-old dispensary, and he claimed the decision violated his client's property rights.

"It seems to me that they're saying that because it (the dispensary) is not permitted, it's therefore prohibited," said Anthony. "Do you have to trot along and ask their permission for every little thing? I'm not sure.

"They haven't regulated medical cannabis collectives. They haven't banned them. They haven't put a moratorium in place to see how they might regulate them."

City spokesman Matt Robinson said he was amazed to hear that the center would challenge its banishment.

"They just won't go away, will they?" Robinson said.

The city has received one complaint about the center from a neighboring restaurant, said Robinson.

A center employee estimated that 75 people visit the 11th Street dispensary every week. There are an estimated 150 dispensaries statewide.

The city closed a marijuana dispensary in the downtown Opera House earlier this year.

Contact reporter John Upton at jupton@tracypress.com.

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Tracy pot club plans appeal

<span class=postbigbold>Marijuana dispensary was ordered out</span>

By Jake Armstrong
Record Staff Writer
December 06, 2006 6:00 AM
RecordNet.com

TRACY - Officials representing a medical marijuana dispensary intend to appeal a city-issued order to close, claiming the order only vaguely explains the legal reasons the nonprofit club cannot conduct business in an 11th Street storefront.

James Anthony, attorney for the Valley Wellness Center Collective, said the club is seeking an administrative hearing to fight an order from city code enforcers who claim medical marijuana dispensaries are prohibited because the city's zoning code does not specifically list the business as an approved use.

<table class=posttable align=right width=300><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg width=300 src=bin/anthony-james.bmp></td></tr><tr><td class=postcap>James Anthony, attorney for Valley Wellness Center Collective, explains the Tracy medical marijuana dispensarys policies inside the club, which intends to appeal a city order to close due to oning regulations.</td></tr></table>Just because the use does not exist in the code doesn't mean it is illegal, Anthony said.

"That's not my understanding of property rights under the Constitution," he said.

Assistant City Attorney Bill Sartor disagrees.

"That's exactly what our code says - that any use not listed is prohibited," Sartor said. "It's clearly a zoning issue."

Sartor said the administrative hearing would likely take place in a few weeks, probably in front of an independent attorney.

Valley Wellness Center Collective, which opened quietly at 130 W. 11th St. about a month ago, could face a fine each day it remains in operation, Sartor said. Fines could begin at $100 the first day and grow to $500 a day within a week, he said. However, city officials have not decided if they will levy fines against the dispensary.

The city also refunded the club's business license fee, claiming the license documents were not complete.

Anthony said the club will continue serving its roughly 200 patients while it awaits the hearing, even if that means incurring fines.

"We don't think we have to pay until there is a judgment," said Anthony, adding club officials are prepared to go to court if they are unsuccessful in winning the administrative appeal.

The city does not have any laws banning medical marijuana dispensaries from operating, though a similar zoning flap forced the closure of another dispensary that opened in downtown earlier this year.

Sartor said the zoning code gives city decision-makers the ability to identify common uses and assign restrictions to those that are uncommon, such as medical marijuana dispensaries. By limiting approved uses, the City Council or Planning Commission can require that a business meet certain conditions or restrictions, such as not operating near a school, he said.

Anthony said he believes the club is legally allowed to operate under voter-approved Proposition 215, which allows medical patients to obtain a doctor's recommendation for marijuana use, and the city can't use land-use law to subvert state law and shut the club down.

"As far as we're concerned, it's the city violating the law and not us," Anthony said.

Contact reporter Jake Armstrong at (209) 833-1141 or jarmstrong@recordnet.com

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Tracy weighs future of pot club

<span class=postbold>Hearing on Thursday to consider legality of The Valley Wellness Center</span>

FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Tri-Valley Herald
Article Last Updated: 01/03/2007 02:57:55 AM PST


TRACY — While the national debate over the use of medical marijuana has yet to be settled, city officials hope to resolve the confusion over whether or not cannabis clubs that distribute the drug to patients are allowed under the city code.

The situation has come to a head after Tracys own cannabis club, The Valley Wellness Center at 130 W. 11th St., continued to operate after the city owners ordered to close it.

Although nothing in the city code specifically bans medical marijuana dispensaries, theres also nothing that allows them. In November, city code enforcement officers ordered the club to discontinue the nonlisted use of distributing medical marijuana.

The city also contends the group misrepresented itself on its business license, saying its activity would be retail sales conducted by a nonprofit corporation.

An attorney for the dispensary said it provides a benefit to the community on a nonprofit basis and called the citys legal position — anything not explicitly permitted is therefore prohibited — dubious and infringes on constitutionally protected property rights.

A hearing is now set for Thursday, and according to city officials a local attorney has volunteered to serve as the hearing officer.

In 1996 California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, providing theseriously ill with the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.

The San Joaquin County District Attorneys Office interprets
the retail sale of marijuana, even to those who have a doctors recommendation, as illegal.

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Pot club awaits ruling

John Upton/Tracy Press
Friday, 05 January 2007

<table class=posttable align=right width=300><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg width=300 src=bin/denner_anthony.jpg></td></tr><tr><td class=postcap>Valley Wellness Center Anthony Denner (center) and his attorney, James Anthony, listen to deputy city attorney Daniel Sodergren during a Thursday appeal hearing at City Hall.</td></tr></table>The owner of a Tracy medical marijuana store will have to wait more than a week to find out whether the city will let him stay in business.

Tracy ordered the Valley Wellness Center stop selling marijuana in November after it discovered pot was sold there, but the store has fought the order and remained in business. A two-hour hearing Thursday could decide the fate of the center, though center attorney James Anthony said he would appeal to the Superior Court if his appeal with the city fails.

Hearing officer Jeanne Schechter, Merced’s city attorney who sat as a quasi-judge in the case, said she would base her ruling in part on written briefs that will be submitted by the end of next week by Anthony and by Tracy’s assistant city attorney Daniel Sodergren.

But even if the center’s arguments fail to sway Schechter, they did convince one person involved in the wrangle.

Bernadette Zacharia, the owner of the building that leases space to the center, said she had no idea marijuana would be sold out of her 11th Street shop front when she leased it late last year.

But after hearing testimony from Valley Wellness Center patients Thursday, she said she would not object to the nonprofit using her store.

“At no time were we aware they were going to use the premises for the purposes of medical marijuana, and we wouldn’t have rented it to them if that were the case,” Zacharia said. “They weren’t truthful when we wrote up the lease.”

Zacharia said she thought the center would sell herbal products.

Tracy resident Carl Hassell spoke at the hearing.

“I used to travel to Hayward in excruciating pain, and I had to take morphine and Percodan once a month to go drive and get some medicine,” Hassell said. “When I found out Tracy had a dispensary, it was the day they were ordered to close, and I cried.”

Hassell, wearing a marijuana leaf pin and walking with the aid of a cane, said he suffers from arthritis, a hernia, migraines, chronic pelvic pain and two herniated discs. He lifted his shirt to reveal a catheter bag and a 13-inch scar from three abdominal surgeries.

“All I ask is, please, let’s work together and keep this dispensary in town so people can have safe and easy access to medicine,” he said. “I don’t wish anyone in the world the pain that I have to live with at 49 years old.”

After hearing testimony from Hassell, another center patient and a marijuana activist, Zacharia said she was unopposed to leasing to the center as long as the city doesn’t mind.

Anthony argued during the hearing that medical marijuana could be legally sold in Tracy because it is permitted by state law and does not violate any city codes.

Sodergren argued that marijuana sale in Tracy is illegal because it is not listed as an approved retail activity.

After the meeting, Anthony said that while medicinal marijuana has been legal for 10 years in California, it is not allowed under federal law.

“The DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) is simply incapable of shutting down every single collective, so they take an approach that is selective, and it’s targeted and strategic,” Anthony said. “They’ll strike in a sort of frightening way. They always come in with overwhelming firepower — 20 or 30 heavily armed SWAT agents.”

Center proprietor Anthony Denner said he was unafraid of a DEA raid.

“If I had to sit in a fed pen for 10 years for helping sick people, that’s my nature,” said Denner, who said he became a supporter of medical marijuana as a 9-year-old after it prolonged the life of his mother, who suffered from cancer.

“They can’t shut them all down,” he said. “If I’m the guy sitting there for 10 years so another one can open to keep this thing moving along, so be it.”

Denner said he felt he had been honest with Zacharia when he signed the lease, since marijuana is an herbal medicine and because the center also sells a range of other natural remedies, including oils and aromatherapy products. The 27-year-old said he chose to open the dispensary in Tracy because there are no others nearby.

He said the “couple of hundred” members of the center buy marijuana bud as well as marijuana-laced food and balms, and that they trade homegrown marijuana back to the center.



To reach reporter John Upton, call 830-4274.

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Medical pot shop debate still burning

<span class=postbold>Hearing officer listens to arguments of Valley Wellness Center</span>

By Aaron Swarts, STAFF WRITER
The Tri-Valley Herald
Article Last Updated: 01/05/2007 03:07:44 AM PST


TRACY — From start to finish, the hearing to decide whether or not a cannabis club is allowed under the city code was an emotional, combative and insightful reflection of the debate surrounding the use of medical marijuana in California.

The Thursday afternoon hearing, held in a small conference room in city hall, pitted Assistant City Attorney Daniel Sodergren against Oakland Lawyer James Anthony, with a backdrop of local medical marijuana users.

Jeanne Schechter, chief deputy city attorney for Merced, acted as the hearing officer who will be rendering a decision on the matter in the coming weeks.

Sodergrens argument — that the Valley Wellness Center, 130 W. 11th St., immediately cease dispensing medical cannabis to the public — was twofold.

Sodergren explained that because the property owner and the tenant were found in violation of the city code, and only the tenant appealed the findings, the lease was void because the property owner was still in violation.

If there isnt a legitimate lease, the Wellness Centers position is irrelevant, Sodergren said.

Sodergren also stated that although the Wellness Center has similar functions as other businesses in town, there is nothing in the city code that allows for its operation.

This hearing might be a bit premature, because this issue should probably be decided by the Planning Commission and City Council, Sodergren said. It would be up to them to expand the code to allow cannabis clubs.

Anthony said the city officials needed to take another look at their own code.

The zoning code allows for pharmacies to dispense medicine in accordance to the law. I dont see how this is any different than Walgreens or Longs. They are providing a medication in accordance with the law, he said, noting that local pharmacies already sell drugs that contain the active ingredient in marijuana.

I dont think Longs has to go to the zoning department every time a new drug comes on the market.

Anthony also pointed out that according to the code, the only retail businesses that need permission to specifically operate in downtown Tracy are limited to those that sell, fuel, ice, hay, grain, feed, tombstones and auto accessories.

The city is clearly in error and they are abusing their discretion, Anthony said. There is nothing in the city code that states the Valley Wellness Center cannot continue to operate.

Bernadette Zachariah, one of the property owners, said she did not want the building used in any illegal way.

We would not have rented the building to them if we had been aware they are going to be providing medical marijuana, she said. We dont want to be involved with breaking the law in any way. We were under the impression that they were going to be providing herbal products and vitamins.

At the close of the hearing, Zachariah added that the outcome of the process would factor into her decision about the building and her controversial tenants.

I wouldnt be opposed to maintaining them as tenants, as long as no laws are being broken, she said.

Before the hearing was adjourned, a number of local medical marijuana patients with maladies ranging from cancer to severe back pain, asked to be heard.

Some broke down in tears as they explained that medical cannabis provides a variety of pain relief and other benefits that cannot be found in more mainstream drugs.

Among those speaking was Manteca resident Scott Smith.

There has got to be a way for patients to be able to access their medication locally, Smith said, adding that it prolonged his fathers life when he was dying of cancer. It makes you want to eat when you are going through chemotherapy. There are no other drugs that do that.

Both Anthony and Sodergren will submit arguments on the lease issue, and the hearing officer will make her decision.

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Arbiter could decide fate of Tracy pot club


By Jake Armstrong
January 05, 2007
Record Staff Writer

TRACY - The fate of Tracy's medical marijuana dispensary remains up in the air after more than two hours of arguments and testimony Thursday.

However, the issue of whether the Valley Wellness Center Collective is in violation of city zoning laws could come to an abrupt end if an independent arbiter finds that only the property owner who leases to the club - and not the club itself - has the right to lodge an appeal of the city's order to close the business. The property owner has not objected to the city's order.

The arbiter, Jeanne Schechter, Merced's chief deputy city attorney, took the appeal under submission and will make a decision after next Friday.

Even then, the issue is likely far from settled. James Anthony, the club's attorney, has said he is prepared to seek a decision in San Joaquin County Superior Court if the club loses its appeal with the city.

The club, which since October has operated at 130 W. 11th St., appealed the city's Nov. 22 order to discontinue selling medical marijuana, since dispensaries are not addressed in the city's zoning code. Any-thing not specifically allowed in the zoning code is an illegal use unless it receives the blessing of the Planning Commission, city officials said.

The city has no laws banning medical marijuana dispensaries. The San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office considers them illegal, however.

But Anthony argued that state law - Proposition 215, passed in 1996, and a subsequent measure passed by the Legislature - considers marijuana a medicine, which makes the club no different from pharmacies or drugstores.

The club is simply dispensing a new drug, and pharmacies and drugstores are not required to seek the city's permission when they begin selling a new drug, Anthony argued.

He also said the club is legal under a portion of the zoning code that only bans merchants selling ice, fuel, animal feed or monuments and tombstones from the downtown zoning district the club falls under.

"It may be hybrid and unique. ... Nevertheless, it fits into those use categories," Anthony said.

Assistant City Attorney Dan Sodergren argued that a dispensary is a more unusual use than a pharmacy and must be addressed individually.

"One thing that is clear is that a medical marijuana collective is a unique use" and one the City Council and Planning Commission have yet to consider, Sodergren said.

The club could face a fine each day it remains in operation past the order to close Dec. 5. However, city officials have not decided if they will levy fines against the dispensary.

The Valley Wellness Center Collective serves about 200 patients in San Joaquin County, and a handful of them came to Thursday's hearing at City Hall to support the club.

"We really need this in Tracy," said Carl Hassell, a Tracy resident with degenerative arthritis and other painful ailments. "I don't wish anyone the pain I have to live with at 49" years old.

Contact reporter Jake Armstrong at (209) 833-1141 or jarmstrong@recordnet.com.

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Editorial: Narrow medical pot-user list

Tracy Press/
Thursday, 25 January 2007

Eleven years after Californian voters passed Proposition 215 and four years after state lawmakers clarified it, some people are going to great lengths to prevent medical marijuana from getting to qualified patients.

It’s reefer madness not to allow adults with a progressive or debilitating condition that produces pain, nausea or seizure from using marijuana.

However, Proposition 215’s definition of a legal user is too broad. Besides cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis and migraine, it includes “any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.” Infected toenail Severe case of acne

In a world of “beyond partisanship,” we urge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to clarify state law so it remains compassionate but not open to abuse.

Comments (3)

<hr class=postrule>
...
<span class=postbold>written by William Dolphin, Americans for Safe Access , January 26, 2007 </span>

While the impulse to protect against abuse of any system is a noble one, in the case of medical marijuana, California voters made the choice to leave the decision to doctors. Behind every recommendation for medical marijuana is the considered, educated opinion of a board-certified physician. And as far as changing the law, neither the legislature nor the governor can modify the will of the people as expressed in direct initiatives. The voters would be the ones to do it, and a Field Poll of a year ago showed that more Californians support the law now then voted for it a decade ago.

<hr class=postrule>
...
<span class=postbold>written by Dale Gieringer , January 27, 2007 </span>

In a country where adults are free to smoke cigarettes and drinnk alcohol: marijuana should surely be avaialable for ANY condition for which it provides relief. Contrary to your editorial, it does not relieve hangnails or acne, and no one is recommending it for those purposes. However, physicians report that marijuana is useful for over 200 different diseases, many of which have been validated by scientific studies thanks to anecdotal reports from Prop 215 physicians and patients. No good purpose can be served by trying to furhter criminalize use of marijuana. - D. Gieringer, Co-author, Prop. 215

<hr class=postrule>
...
<span class=postbold>written by William G. Panzer , January 27, 2007 </span>

I am writing in response to your January 26th editorial about medical cannabis. If a person has a condition for which "marijuana provides relief", what is the rationale for the government to spend money in an effort to prevent the patient from getting relief? The argument presented in this editorial is spurious. I am unaware of any reputable research establishing the efficacy of cannabis to treat acne or infection. If cannabis did, in fact, treat acne or infection, why not allow it? If cannabis doesn't treat a condition such as acne or infection, and a person falsely claims to be using it for this purpose, it should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, not a blanket prohibition that would overlap legitimate uses. Furthermore, your call to the Governor and the Legislature is misplaced. The Compassionate Use Act of 1996, commonly referred to as "Prop 215", was an Initiative statute. As such, the California Constitution, Article 2, Sec. 10(c), provides that the Legislature has no authority to amend Prop 215 without placing a referendum before the voters. Being as the Act requires a physician's recommendation or approval, it would seem logical that investigation and oversight of any physician who recommends or approves an invalid use is the appropriate remedy, not once again expanding a failed prohibitionary system.

WIlliam G. Panzer
Attorney and Co-Author of The Compassionate Use Act of 1996

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Arbiter rules Tracy pot club closed


By The Record
January 30, 2007

TRACY - A medical-marijuana dispensary doing business in a downtown storefront is in violation of the city's zoning laws, an independent arbiter has ruled.

The Valley Wellness Center Collective, which has sold medical marijuana since October to about 200 patients at 130 W. 11th St., is in violation of the city's municipal code and has until Feb. 9 to move out, ruled arbiter Jeanne Schechter, who heard the club's Jan. 4 appeal of a city-issued closure order. Schechter, Merced's chief deputy city attorney, is in a pool of city attorneys on which Tracy draws to conduct administrative hearings.

James Anthony, the dispensary's attorney, called the ruling "poorly reasoned" and said he is waiting to hear if the club's operators want to appeal Schechter's ruling in San Joaquin County Superior Court.

"I don't think they've decided yet whether they want to appeal or not," Anthony said.

If the club does appeal, Anthony said, he will ask for a court order to keep the city from taking any enforcement action until the appeal is heard.

The city's legal team will defend a lawsuit if the club appeals in court, city spokesman Matt Robinson said.

"We're just going to have to wait and see what they do," Robinson said.

The city has no laws specifically prohibiting dispensaries but considers them an illegal use since they are not addressed in the city's zoning code. The San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office considers medical-marijuana dispensaries illegal.

The club might face fines for each day it remains in operation past the city's Nov. 22 order to discontinue selling marijuana, though the city would need to schedule another hearing to determine the amount of the fine, Robinson said.

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The Tri-Valley Herald


Arbitrator rules Tracy pot club ``a public nuisance''

By Mike Martinez, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 01/30/2007 02:16:10 PM PST


TRACY - An arbitrator has ruled a medical marijuana dispensary that opened more than two months ago isn't allowed in downtown Tracy, and ordered it to be closed by Feb. 9.

After being open for about two weeks, the Valley Wellness Cannabis Collective was ordered in November by city officials to ``discontinue the non-listed use of distributing medical marijuana'' in Tracy by Dec. 5.

Jeanne Schechter, Merced's assistant city attorney and the arbitrator in the case, ruled the dispensary could appeal the order, which allowed for the Jan. 4 hearing she presided over. But she also ruled that the dispensary isn't a pharmacy and doesn't fall under allowed uses in city code.

In her seven-page ruling, Shechter said the collective ``is considered a public nuisance'' under city codes.

_ ``(The) Tracy Municipal Code ... provides that unauthorized uses are prohibited,'' Schechter wrote. ``The (collective) does not fall within any unconditionally permitted uses within the (Central Business District) Zone and as such, is an unauthorized use in violation of the Tracy Municipal Code.''

Although there is nothing in the city code specifically banning medical marijuana dispensaries, there's also nothing that allows for it.

Matt Robinson, a spokesman for the city of Tracy, said the ruling was good news for the city, which has seen two marijuana dispensaries open in the past two years, the first two ever to open in San Joaquin County.

``The city is pleased with the arbitrator's ruling,'' Robinson said.``If the cannabis club wishes to appeal, the city will defend its position. We feel we are right in doing so.''

Attorneys for the collective were unavailable for comment Tuesday morning. _

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215 -- the Compassionate Use Act -- providing the seriously ill with the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.

The San Joaquin County District Attorney's office interprets the retail sale of marijuana, even those who have a doctor's recommendation, as illegal.

Mike Martinez can be reached at (209) 832-3947 or at mmartinez@trivalleyherald.com.

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Marijuana store gets the boot

John Upton/Tracy Press
Wednesday, 31 January 2007

<span class=postbold>An arbiter ruled against a marijuana dispensary in Tracy, which has until Feb. 9 to close down.</span>


<table class=posttable align=right width=300><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg width=300 src=bin/denner_anthony.jpg></td></tr><tr><td class=postcap>Press file photo - THE PLAYERS:Anthony Denner (center), owner of the Valley Wellness Center Collective, and his attorney James Anthony (right), could appeal a Tuesday legal decision that the Tracy medical marijuana dispensary must close up shop.</td></tr></table>
San Joaquin County’s only medicinal marijuana store has been given until Feb. 9 to clear out of Tracy’s downtown.

An arbiter has ruled the sale of pot there is illegal because it is not listed in the city’s zoning rules. The club is mulling an appeal.

Arbiter Jeanne Schechter, Merced’s chief deputy city attorney, wrote in a decision signed Friday that the Valley Wellness Center Collective’s sale of marijuana in Tracy is a public nuisance because it “does not fall within any unconditionally permitted uses within the CBD Zone.”

Valley Wellness attorney James Anthony, who described the verdict as “not legally well-reasoned,” said Tuesday he expected his client to decide this week whether he would appeal the decision to Stockton Superior Court.

During a Jan. 4 appeal hearing against a Nov. 22 abatement order issued by the city, Anthony warned that he might appeal against a city attorney acting as an arbiter in the dispute.

“It strikes me as a little bit curious, and I just wonder if the courts might find that it gives just a little too much of an impression of bias,” Anthony said.

City spokesman Matt Robinson said Tuesday, “We feel like we have a solid leg to stand on” if Valley Wellness appeals.

Robinson said Valley Wellness faces fines for every day it has stayed open since late November.

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Last call

John Upton/Tracy Press
Friday, 09 February 2007


Today is expected to be the last day that medicinal marijuana patients can buy pot from the 11th Street dispensary in downtown Tracy.

Attorney James Anthony said he doubted the Valley Wellness Center would appeal in court an arbiter’s decision that backed a Tracy code enforcer’s judgment that sale of pot is banned in the downtown area.

“It’s still our position that the city is legally wrong, but due to the political hostility in Tracy, we’re considering not fighting the decision,” Anthony said Thursday.

The city argued in an appeal hearing that the sale of marijuana is not permitted under city zoning ordinances because it is not specifically listed.

Merced assistant city attorney Jeanne Schechter’s ruling as an arbiter in the dispute gave San Joaquin County’s only marijuana store until today to close down. Valley Wellness has roughly 10 weeks left to appeal the decision.

Code enforcer Pat Zona said during an appeal hearing that she had conferred with planning manager Bill Dean and city attorney Bill Sartor before issuing a Nov. 22 abatement order to Valley Wellness.

Mayor Brent Ives said Thursday he supported Zona’s decision and said he would prefer the marijuana store was not in his town.

“I just don’t think that’s the appropriate thing for our community,” Ives said.

Anthony said the decision would force sick, law-abiding citizens to buy marijuana from criminals.

“The city’s position is that the criminal gangs need more business, as opposed to legitimate dispensaries,” Anthony said.

Federal law bans marijuana but allows pharmaceutical companies to manufacture and sell synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol — the active compound in marijuana — under such brand names as Marinol. State law allows marijuana to be sold to patients with doctors’ referral.

To reach reporter John Upton, call 830-4274 or e-mail jupton@tracypress.com.This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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Another pot club bites the dust

<span class=postbold>Although closed, Valley Wellness Center in Tracy may continue legal fight </span>

By Mike Martinez, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:02/13/2007 02:38:34 AM PST

TRACY — The tale of the second medical marijuana dispensary to open in Tracy — and San Joaquin County for that matter — came to a quiet close over the weekend, with the same amount of fanfare as when it opened.

Even though the store no longer will be there, the legal battle over the Valley Wellness Center may continue after an order to close was upheld by an arbiter two weeks ago.

The collective has 90 days from the date of the ruling to file an appeal with the San Joaquin County Superior Court, a right they haven't waived by closing up shop, according to Oakland-based attorney James Anthony.

"Here's the problem: The city is politically hostile, and the collective doesn't have unlimited resources to fight legal battles," Anthony said.

After being open for about two weeks, the Valley Wellness Cannabis Collective was ordered in November by city code enforcement officers to "discontinue the non-listed use of distributing medical marijuana" in Tracy by Dec. 5.

City officials contend the group misrepresented themselves on their business license, saying their activity would be "retail sales conducted by a nonprofit corporation."

The collective appealed at a hearing held late last month at which an arbiter ruled the medical marijuana dispensary did not fall within the permitted uses allowed in downtown Tracy and ordered it to close by Feb. 9.

In her seven-page ruling, Jeanne Shechter, Merced's assistant city attorney, said the collective "is considered a public nuisance" and operating under "an unauthorized use in violation" of city codes.

"It was wrong both factually and legally," Anthony said. "I was disappointed. Seemed like a nice person, but in the end, surprise, surprise, she found in favor of the city."

The first dispensary in San Joaquin County had been snuffed out after it opened in the summer of 2005 on the third floor of the Opera House building in downtown Tracy.

After being open for only three days, building

manager Jim Ward said he asked the owners of the West Valley Resource Co-Op to move out, and they were gone the next day. He said they didn't have a problem with it.

He said the odor of their products spilled out of the club.

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215 — the Compassionate Use Act — providing the seriously ill with the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.

The San Joaquin County district attorney's office interprets the retail sale of marijuana, even those who have a doctor's recommendation, as illegal.

According to the Tracy city clerk's office, nothing relating to cannabis clubs has come before the City Council in the last 13years.

Matt Robinson, a spokesman for the city of Tracy, said the ruling was good news for the city, and if the cannabis club wishes to appeal, the city will defend its position.

"We feel right in doing so," he said.

Anthony said the Valley Wellness Center paid its taxes, was in compliance with building codes and did everything they could to be a good neighbor but "got chased out of town."

They even donated to a few local charities, including the San Joaquin County Chapter of the American Red Cross, Anthony said.

"It just seems unfortunate to me that the city is so politically hostile towards the needs of medical cannabis patients," he said. "They would rather see them travel long distances or take their money to an underground provider than a patient collective."


<center><small>Mike Martinez can be reached at (209) 832-3947 or at mmartinez@trivalleyherald.com.</small></center>

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The Stockton Record

Pot club quietly packs up, leaves


By Jake Armstrong
February 14, 2007
Record Staff Writer

TRACY - A vacant storefront is all that is left of the medical marijuana dispensary that quietly opened in town about three months ago.

Under a city-issued order to close, the Valley Wellness Center Collective packed up its belongings at 130 W. 11th St. and moved out over the weekend. The blinds over the windows and the security guard at the front door are gone, but a chance remains that the dispensary will ask a judge to hear its case and reverse the city's decision.

An independent arbiter, who oversaw the dispensary's appeal of the city's closure order, ruled Jan. 26 that the dispensary was not a permitted business use in the zoning area in which it operated. The collective's owners have 90 days from that ruling to file an appeal in San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Prevailing political winds and legal costs, however, ultimately might dissuade the owners from seeking a court decision in their case, according to James Anthony, the Oakland-based attorney who represented the dispensary.

Mayor Brent Ives has said he does not want medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the city. Anthony said the dispensary's owners are struggling with the financial resources to pursue the case further.

"Within that context, at the moment, they've chosen just to go ahead and close down," Anthony said.

The city's legal team will defend a lawsuit if the dispensary pursues one, city spokesman Matt Robinson said.

"We're just going to have to wait and see what they do," he said.

The city had threatened to fine the business for each day it remained open, but it was unclear Tuesday whether the city had fined the owners.

Anthony considers the ruling that shuttered the dispensary factually and legally wrong, and he said he is confident the dispensary's owners would prevail. Anthony Denner, the dispensary's president and CEO, could not be reached for comment.

While Tracy has no ordinance outlawing medical marijuana dispensaries, Valley Wellness Center Collective is the second in Tracy to close this year. Another dispensary, the West Valley Resource Co-Op, likely the first in the county, opened in May at Ninth Street and Central Avenue in downtown Tracy. It closed three days later after neighbors complained about pervasive marijuana odors.

The city's zoning code does not list medical marijuana dispensaries as an approved use, which effectively prohibits them from operating, according to city officials.

Valley Wellness Center Collective served about 200 San Joaquin County patients, who will have to resort to dispensaries near Oakland or street dealers to get the marijuana they use to treat their illnesses, Anthony said. He said the dispensary attempted to operate as a legitimate business.

"It looks like the city would rather see that money go to criminal street gangs," he said.

Contact reporter Jake Armstrong at (209) 833-1141 or jarmstrong@recordnet.com.