Dispensaries

Potential litigation against three Newport Beach marijuana dispensaries will be discussed in Tuesday's closed-session meeting of the Newport Beach City Council. Three dispensaries considered out of compliance with city regulations were set to be reviewed. Zoning and municipal codes prohibit the sale of marijuana in the city, said Tara Finnigan, Newport Beach city spokeswoman. The three dispensaries are West Coast Cure Inc. on Newport Boulevard, Natures Alternative Solutions on Irvine Avenue, and The Healing Tree on Birch Street.

COSTA MESA — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to amend its 2005 ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, agreeing not to arrest and seek prosecution against those running such businesses in the city as long as three or more people are not involved in growing and distributing the drug. The amendment prohibits those who are not authorized under state law to grow and distribute marijuana from operating dispensaries and also declares off-site growing unlawful. The change in the city's stance came as a result of a recent court ruling involving Anaheim that cast doubt on whether municipalities can use the federal government's stance against marijuana to ban dispensaries.

Following an earlier decision to tentatively dismiss a federal lawsuit challenging Costa Mesa and Lake Forest’s bans on medical marijuana dispensaries, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew J. Guilford announced Monday that he will rule in the case. Matthew Pappas, the attorney representing the plaintiffs — four disabled Orange County residents who use marijuana to treat various illnesses — said he expects to learn of the decision today. The lawsuit was filed by Marla James, Wayne Washington, James Armantrout and Charles Daniel DeJong under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The plaintiffs assert that by banning dispensaries Costa Mesa and Lake Forest are blocking patients from getting access to what they consider medication — an alleged violation of the ADA. Pappas argued that both cities should allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate based on a 2009 congressional decision to lift restrictions on medical marijuana in Washington, D.C. Congress lifted a 1998 rule that banned marijuana dispensaries from operating, Pappas said.

COSTA MESA - When federal and local authorities raided Chadd McKeen's marijuana dispensary Tuesday morning, he was shocked. He said his store, Otherside Farms, is cleaner, more transparent and in line with state medicinal laws compared to others in Costa Mesa. Police and federal authorities executing a search warrant at the business Tuesday seemed to agree. "This place is [expletive] awesome," one man was heard saying over security video, while others tried to open the door to where the marijuana plants are hung out to dry. "I would definitely buy my weed here," another joked.

Costa Mesa government officials on Thursday ordered three medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the city to stop selling pot, according to the Costa Mesa Police Department. Costa Mesa police and code enforcement officials delivered cease-and-desist orders to three dispensaries believed to be violating the city’s ban on medical marijuana sales, a police press release said. The press release identified the dispensaries as Nutritional Concepts PRC on Bristol Avenue; Med Mar Patient Care Collective on Fair Drive; and Live Well O.C., also on Fair Drive.

Costa Mesa residents called on the City Council Tuesday to legalize and regulate marijuana dispensaries. When her name was called, Marla James slowly moved toward the podium in her wheelchair to address the council. She urged them to find a solution to accommodate residents who need medical marijuana. “I’m not immoral. I’m a medical marijuana user and I need my medicine, and I’m asking you to repeal the ban and put ordinances that would give your city more control of the dispensaries in your area.

COSTA MESA — Four City Council candidates who squared off in a debate Wednesday night expressed concerns about the city's ailing budget but differed on ways to improve Costa Mesa's financial picture. For Planning Commission Chairman Jim Righeimer, a conservative, the proposed higher hotel bed taxes and business license fees would hurt the city's reputation and eventually lead businesses and tourists to seek friendlier cities. To solve the budget crisis, Righeimer said the city will have to renegotiate the Police and Fire departments' salaries and benefits.

NEWPORT BEACH — Mayor Keith Curry stepped away from City Hall this week to have a beer and answer whatever questions pub-goers could toss at him as the first guest speaker of soon-to-be monthly "pub hall" meetings. Muldoon's Irish Pub hosted Beer, Shots and Politics, an event that aimed to use the relaxed setting of a pub to draw in crowds that otherwise wouldn't participate in a standard political forum, said Muldoon's special events director, Richard Kaplan. "I think that we've really broken ground here with a new format," Kaplan said of the Wednesday night meeting.

Four medical marijuana users who argue that bans on pot clinics in Costa Mesa and Lake Forest violate the Americans with Disabilities Act took their case Friday to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Matthew Pappas, the Mission Viejo attorney representing the users, said he believes the case could succeed this time because of a 2009 congressional decision to lift a longtime ban on medical marijuana in Washington, D.C. Based on Congress’ decision, Pappas argues, patients in California should enjoy the same right under the equal protection clause in the 5th Amendment.

A message scribbled in red Magic Marker on a paper bag wedged into the battered white door at Orange County Collective Service instructs visitors to “say hello” for service. Tucked in a pothole-riddled alleyway in a rundown Westside shopping center, the collective is one of a growing number of medical marijuana dispensaries and clubs that have opened recently in Costa Mesa. The door opens onto a small foyer adorned with a multicolored Bob Marley tapestry. Inside, a pungent smell of marijuana wafts from behind a second, heavier door.

Three people were arrested in a Costa Mesa marijuana dispensary raid Thursday, according to medical pot advocates. Local police and federal Department of Justice officials would confirm only that a federal search warrant was executed at about 11:30 a.m. at Bayside Patients Assn., 1799 Newport Blvd. Some details of the advocates' accounts could not be independently verified with police. Seized in the raid were about 10 pounds of marijuana and less than $1,000 in cash from a safe that was sawed open on the sidewalk, said Chico resident Weston Mickey, a campaign manager for collectives seeking to craft an initiative that would protect dispensaries from federal intervention.

Costa Mesa City Attorney Tom Duarte asked federal authorities months ahead of a January raid to help shutter the marijuana dispensaries operating illegally in the city, according to a letter he wrote to the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles. "In light of your office's recent announcement relating to increased enforcement against illegal marijuana cultivation and distribution, we therefore seek your office's assistance," Duarte wrote to U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. on Oct. 26. "We believe that by working together with the U.S. Department of Justice, we can eradicate these illegal businesses from our city.

Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer's campaign committee raised more than $35,000 in 2011, with about $11,000 coming in a single fundraiser in December, financial disclosure forms show. The disclosures, which were released last week, show Righeimer far ahead of anyone else seeking city office. Righeimer for City Council 2010 remains $42,000 in debt from loans Righeimer's company, LMC Management Group, used to fund his campaign two years ago, a time when he faced strong pushback from the police union.

COSTA MESA - When federal and local authorities raided Chadd McKeen's marijuana dispensary Tuesday morning, he was shocked. He said his store, Otherside Farms, is cleaner, more transparent and in line with state medicinal laws compared to others in Costa Mesa. Police and federal authorities executing a search warrant at the business Tuesday seemed to agree. "This place is [expletive] awesome," one man was heard saying over security video, while others tried to open the door to where the marijuana plants are hung out to dry. "I would definitely buy my weed here," another joked.

COSTA MESA - Mayor Gary Monahan wants to legalize marijuana dispensaries in the city. Speaking with retired U.S. Army veteran Robert Martinez on KOCI radio's "Cannabis Community" show Sunday morning, which was broadcast from his bar, Skosh Monahan's, Monahan said the city has to look at legalizing and registering the city's collectives to bring in regulation. "We're looking at real closely registration and regulation, and hopefully weeding out some of the bad ones," Monahan said.

COSTA MESA - Police and local marijuana dispensary owners said they will take their cues from federal authorities on how to proceed in light of last week's announcement that the U.S. Attorney's office is ramping up enforcement against pot collectives in California. "We're in wait-and-see mode," said Jeff Byrne, director of American Collective, a cannabis club on Cabrillo Street. "It looks to me to be a play to take property. Too early to tell. " Last week, California's four U.S. attorneys gathered in Sacramento and announced that they were going after the state's marijuana dispensary businesses, which are federally prohibited.

Three medicinal marijuana dispensaries in Newport Beach have decided to close, rather than face a civil order from the city, officials said Thursday. The West Coast Cure, 2814 Newport Blvd., Nature's Alternative Solutions, No. 117, 3400 Irvine Ave., and The Healing Tree, 4120 Birch St., shuttered last month after the Newport Beach City Council authorized nuisance-abatement proceedings in late May. Two of the dispensaries were in Santa Ana Heights, while the third was on the Balboa Peninsula.

SANTA ANA — An Orange County Superior Court judge next week is expected to rule on whether Costa Mesa can ban marijuana dispensaries. Judge David R. Chaffee will rule on whether to permit the city to shut down five marijuana dispensaries on Fair Drive as nuisances, but his decision could have broader implications, said Elena Gerli of Jones & Mayer, the law firm Costa Mesa city contracts with. If Chaffee dismisses the city's argument that the dispensaries are nuisances because Costa Mesa has no zoning that allows them, he essentially will be ruling that California cities cannot ban dispensaries permitted under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, Gerli said.

Potential litigation against three Newport Beach marijuana dispensaries will be discussed in Tuesday's closed-session meeting of the Newport Beach City Council. Three dispensaries considered out of compliance with city regulations were set to be reviewed. Zoning and municipal codes prohibit the sale of marijuana in the city, said Tara Finnigan, Newport Beach city spokeswoman. The three dispensaries are West Coast Cure Inc. on Newport Boulevard, Natures Alternative Solutions on Irvine Avenue, and The Healing Tree on Birch Street.

COSTA MESA — A group of shuttered marijuana dispensaries previously deemed public nuisances were allowed to reopen in the city this weekend thanks to a court order, confirmed one of the business owners Saturday. Sue Lester, a former City Council candidate and owner of Herban Elements at 440 Fair Drive, said an Orange County Superior Court judge's order Friday allowing her business to reopen was the "right thing to do" pending a court hearing next month. Costa Mesa city officials took aim at the Fair Drive property and several marijuana dispensary and massage parlor businesses in April, declaring them all a public nuisance.