I was amazed to hear a car recently crashed into a medical marijuana dispensary on 19th Street ("Driver held after SUV crashes into dispensary," July 4). The amazing part of this story is that in October 2011 the City Council of Costa Mesa called in the U.S. Department of Justice, resulting in the closing of all collectives in the city by Jan. 31, 2012, even though their actions may have been in violation of state opening meetings laws known as the Brown Act.
All were closed except for Newport Mesa Health Center on West 19th Street.
Reports about this location have been reported to city officials, as well as law enforcement. Many are wondering why this collective remains open even after all of the closures in the city, Orange County and throughout the state.
Our collective, Nutritional Concepts, was operating in compliance with all state laws, and was run by myself, a retired registered nurse. We received referrals from Palliative care physicians at Hoag Hospital, UC Irvine Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital, as well as other patient care facilities. It was run with the best interests of our patients in mind, yet was ordered to close or be subject to federal prosecution.