CORONA: City shuts down medical marijuana collective
10:54 PM PDT on Saturday, October 1, 2011
Corona is attempting to shut down at least three medical marijuana collectives -- Natural Health Plus, Kind Collective and Harmonic Health Alternatives -- saying they violate city codes prohibiting dispensaries from functioning.
In September, Natural Health Plus was ordered to close its doors after aRiverside County Superior Court judge imposed a preliminary injunction.
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In July, Kind Collective was ordered to stop operating, but it remains open while appealing the decision to the Fourth District Court of Appeals, said Redlands attorney James DeAguilera, who is representing the collective.
Natural Health Plus seems to have shut its doors and ceased operations after the court order against it, Corona City Attorney John Higginbotham said. A telephone number for the dispensary has been disconnected.
Attorney Christopher Glew, who represents Natural Health Plus and Harmonic Health Alternatives, said he could not confirm that the collective had closed.
Dispensaries in California are caught between conflicts of federal, state and city laws when it comes to operating legally. Federal law bans the use of marijuana for any reason, while state law allows dispensaries to function for medical reasons and permits local agencies to regulate them. Local laws often prohibit medical marijuana sales, prompting back-and-forth legal battles.
DeAguilera said some dispensaries obey lower court orders and shut down immediately, and others appeal the injunctions.
It's standard for lower court judges to issue orders to close collectives in violation of city ordinances because they're not responsible for deciding conflicts in the law, DeAguilera said.
"The judge to decide conflicts is a court of appeal," DeAguilera said.
The higher courts are then left to hash out the dispute.
And cities are taking a cautious approach, careful to limit liability by securing court orders before shutting down dispensaries, he said.
Glew said the operators of Harmonic Health Alternatives, a collective open since Sept. 9 on Green River Road, would like to work with the city.
He suggested that Corona regulate the collective's operation, restrict its location to business or industrial areas and tax or charge fees for the estimated 400-member collective.
"We'd like to work with the city to reach some kind of solution," said Glew. "It is the people's right to have access to this medicine."
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