California, Corona

[Midnight toker]

City seeks answer to law

ORDINANCE: A 45-day ban on dispensaries could give Corona time to create regulations.

10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, June 20, 2006
By MELANIE C. JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise



CORONA - If Corona issues an urgency ordinance establishing a 45-day moratorium on medical-marijuana dispensaries, it will join other Inland cities halting these types of retailers.

The Corona City Council tonight will vote on the ordinance, which would recognize the dispensaries for the first time and set up regulations for their establishment.

Other Inland cities have scrambled to come up with ways to regulate the dispensaries in recent years, after California voters approved Prop. 215 in 1996. The state law allows people in need of marijuana for medical purposes to obtain it and use it for specified reasons.

In recent months, the cities of Moreno Valley, Palm Springs and Riverside County have issued temporary moratoriums on these types of operations. Lake Elsinore and Temecula have banned them.

Corona City Manager Beth Groves said a moratorium would give her staff time to research the laws and draft regulations.

Corona had not had to tackle the issue, until now, because there haven't been any requests to open a dispensary. However, the planning department has had some recent inquiries, she said.

One retailer renting space had established one though it is not a permitted use and the city is working with the tenant's landlord on the issue, she said.

Teresa Schilling, a spokeswoman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office, said that although federal law prohibits medical marijuana use, federal law does not necessarily trump state law.

Schilling said the issue got even murkier when Prop. 215 passed because though voters favored the law, it didn't specify how it should be instituted.

In 2004, a new bill that established guidelines for Prop. 215 took effect. The law set up limits on the amount of marijuana a patient could grow and possess without being at risk for arrest. It also created a voluntary patient identification card system among other provisions.

In June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that medical-marijuana users in states that permitted it could still be subject to federal prosecution.

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Corona City Council actions - 06/22

10:38 AM PDT on Thursday, June 22, 2006
The Press-Enterprise



Budget OK'd with more park, police, fire funds

The Corona City Council voted 5-0 Wednesday night to approve the $325 million budget for 2006-07, which includes a $115 million general fund for operational costs. The new fiscal year starts July 1.

The city has budgeted $59 million for public safety, $8.9 million for public works projects and $7.9 million for parks and community services. The reserve is back up to 15 per- cent -- around $15 million -- after several years at 10 per- cent.

Priorities for the coming year include park development and maintenance and a 10 percent increase in staffing for both the police and fire departments. An additional 26 employees will be added, bringing the total number to 882. The city expects a 10 percent increase in sales tax and a 6 percent more in property tax.

Nov. 7 election being planned

The council voted 5-0 to approve resolutions giving notice of the Nov. 7 general election and adopting regulations for submitting materials and establishing costs.

Costs of the election is expected to total around $120,660.

North Main project funds authorized

The panel also voted 5-0 to authorize a $1.1 million Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee agreement with the Western Riverside Council of Governments for a project on North Main Street.

The proposed project includes widening and making improvements to a 0.118-mile section of North Main from Highway 91 to North Grand Boulevard.

Medical marijuana moratorium adopted

The council voted 5-0 to adopt a 45-day moratorium on the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries in light of conflicting state and federal laws, officials said. State law permits use, sale and possession of certain amounts of medical marijuana for specified purposes. Federal law prohibits its use for any reason.

The moratorium will allow the city to research the laws and set up regulations for the establishment of these types of retailers in the city, staff said.

The use and sale of medical marijuana became legal in California in 1996 when voters passed Prop. 215.

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Medical marijuana advocates make push

CORONA: A number of residents urge the City Council to find a way to permit dispensaries.


12:16 AM PDT on Thursday, July 20, 2006
By MELANIE C. JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise



CORONA - Residents relying on medical marijuana as treatment for an illness are asking the city to move forward with establishing regulations for dispensaries of the drug.

Several people spoke before the Corona City Council on Wednesday night in support of dispensaries in general and Healing Nations in particular, a medical marijuana collective that the city wants shuttered.

The discussion followed the passage of an urgency ordinance last month that put a 45-day moratorium on these types of businesses. The issue is expected to come back to council for review in early August.

Supporters of access to medical marijuana called for the city to work with them to set up regulations for these types of retailers and urged the council members to get educated about the use of the drug in treating various illnesses.

"Illness strikes anyone," resident Jody Thompson said. "There's no bias. There's no color. There's no shape or size. It bites and it bites hard."

At one point, a sigh from Councilman Steve Nolan prompted an exchange between him and Thompson in which Nolan wanted to make clear that the city didn't have anything to do with opening Healing Nations and inquired if patients might get the drug in pill form instead of smoking it.

Thompson called that response to her comments "disappointing and disheartening."

Nolan said after the meeting that his reaction was about the city needing to look into the issue more and make an informed decision that benefits the community as a whole.

"There are too many ways that it can be used improperly," he said. "I don't disagree that some people need it medically. We don't know enough."

He said with the city recently banning the sale of marijuana paraphernalia at smoke shops, it would be "hypocritical" to say a person can't buy those items but that they could buy the drug.

City officials have cited the disparity between state and federal laws related to the use of the drug as the chief reason for the moratorium.

Medical marijuana became legal in the state in 1996 when voters approved Prop. 215. A subsequent bill in 2004 established guidelines for its use.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2005 that medical marijuana users in states that permitted its use still could be subject to federal prosecution.

City Attorney Dean Derleth said Healing Nations Collective has been notified in writing that they are currently an illegal use under Corona's municipal code and that during closed session, the city did authorize him to pursue legal action if necessary to shut it down.

Reach Melanie C. Johnson at 951-893-2113 or mjohnson@PE.com

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Medical pot ban back on agenda

10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 31, 2006

By MELANIE C. JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise


CORONA - The Corona City Council on Wednesday night may put a stop to the establishment of medical-marijuana dispensaries for the next 10 months.

The council's consideration of extending the city's ban will come just days before the 45-day urgency moratorium, approved June 21, is set to expire.

It also follows the city's push to close Healing Nations Collective, which opened its doors in May. The collective links medical-marijuana patients so they can obtain the drug.

City staff has said it needs the extension to research the laws related to medical marijuana and look at what other cities and counties are doing about the issue.

Mayor Karen Spiegel can't say whether she supports regulation or an outright ban.

However, Spiegel said she has concerns about conflicting state and federal laws. California voters passed Prop. 215 in 1996, approving the use of marijuana for medical purposes. A subsequent bill that took effect in 2004 set up guidelines for the state law.

While the state law made way for medical-marijuana use, a June 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling said that users in states that permitted it could still be subject to federal prosecution.

"Cities are put in the middle of federal law and state law," Spiegel said. "We need time to get confirmation of what is the right thing to do."

Proponents of medical marijuana said the city should follow state law and work with patients to set up regulations.

Ryan Michaels, with Inland Empire Patient Advocates, said with Riverside County issuing state identification cards to medical-marijuana patients, it doesn't make sense for cities to balk at collectives opening.

"It's like recognizing a disability but not allowing wheelchair access anywhere," he said. "If cities are waiting for the county's lead, they have it."

A key bone of contention between the city and medical-marijuana proponents is Healing Nations.

At a council study session last week, Councilman Steve Nolan charged that owner Ronald Naulls "blindsided" the city with the dispensary by listing it under a vague category. Nolan said Monday that his opinion hasn't changed.

"We've only had about a month to react," Nolan said.

Naulls said he asked the Planning Department about opening his collective.

Naulls, a patient himself, said city staff told him he would be arrested if he opened the business but after he consulted with his attorney, he opted to move forward.

Healing Nations occupies one of the corner offices of a shopping center at West Grand Boulevard and Railroad Street. It has no sign.

[Midnight toker]

Marijuana ban extended

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 2, 2006

By MELANIE C. JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise


CORONA - Hoping to keep medical-marijuana dispensaries from cropping up around town, the Corona City Council on Wednesday night voted 4-0 to extend its ban on them until June 2007.

Councilman Jeff Miller was absent.

The council and city staff have cited conflicting state and federal laws regarding medical marijuana and called for more time to research what to do.

Supporters of medical marijuana and the lone dispensary in the city, Healing Nations Collective, feel the council is using the conflicting laws as a smoke screen and called for the city to move forward on enacting regulations.

Mayor Karen Spiegel told the crowd that the vote was not on whether to ban or regulate at this time.

"We're not voting on anything except for extending the ordinance," she said.

However, about a dozen proponents and medical-marijuana patients pushed the council to draft an ordinance regulating dispensaries, create a task force to involve patients, advocates and residents, and keep Healing Nations open.

Corona resident Cody Donnelly, a medical-marijuana patient, wheeled her way to the front of the council chambers in her motorized wheelchair and placed several pill bottles on the podium.

Donnelly, who suffered a broken neck and back, said the pills she takes cause debilitating side effects, while marijuana eases her pain and allows her to function better.

"Please leave us alone," she said. "You'll never see a bunch of acid-dropping hippies running through your town. It's not that kind of program."

The city passed a 45-day ban in response to the opening of Healing Nations in May. Corona's staff and city attorney have said the dispensary is not an approved use under city code and is therefore operating illegally.

However, the collective's founder, Ronald Naulls, said he has gone through legal channels, filing for a business license with the state and paying taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. He has said he would sue if the city tries to shut the collective down.

Prop. 215, which voters approved in 1996, legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes only. However, it is not allowed for any use under federal law.

Naulls said cities are bound to follow state law and regulating dispensaries or collectives keeps the federal government from stepping in.

Reach Melanie C. Johnson at 951-893-2113 or mjohnson@PE.com

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Pot-ban order sparks protest

MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Corona last week filed a temporary restraining order to close the facility.

10:00 PM PDT on Monday, August 14, 2006

By MELANIE C. JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise

CORONA - Protesters fueled by the city of Corona's push to shut down a medical-marijuana dispensary that opened in May took their message to the streets Monday.

About a dozen supporters of Healing Nations Collective, including owner Ronald Naulls, waved signs of support for access to medical marijuana for patients at the corner of Main Street and Grand Boulevard.

Some motorists honked their horns and waved at the demonstrators.

Ryan Michaels, of Inland Empire Patient Advocates, said he organized the protest in response to the city's filing last week of a temporary restraining order to shutter the collective.

Michaels said more than 200 patients of the 645 Healing Nations serves are Corona residents.

The case went before a Riverside Superior Court judge Monday with a ruling expected to be issued today. The city has a temporary ban on medical-marijuana dispensaries until June 2007.

Corona's attorney, Jeffrey Dunn, of Best, Best and Krieger, could not be reached to comment Monday.

In court documents, the city alleges that Naulls deceived Corona by listing the collective as "miscellaneous retail" on the license application and "representing to staff that he and his business, Healing Nations, would be selling medical supplies."

The city also alleges that the collective is a "nuisance" under the law and operating illegally because medical marijuana dispensaries are not an allowed use according to Corona's zoning regulations.

Naulls said that with state law permitting the doctor-approved use of medical marijuana for patients, he is operating legally.

He said he is insulted by claims that he lied to the city on his business-license application, saying he told staff he intended to open a dispensary, checked the only category applicable and consulted his attorney.

James Anthony, Naulls' attorney, said if the judge grants the order he will appeal, adding that there is no evidence in the form of police reports, complaints or proof of nuisance.

"Is somebody going to die? Is the sky falling," he said. "There is absolutely no call for a temporary restraining order."

[Midnight toker]

Judge tosses out order against Corona dispensary

COURT: City's attempt to close medical marijuana facility is delayed until a Sept. 28 hearing.

10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, August 15, 2006

By MELANIE C. JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise

CORONA - Healing Nations Collective, a medical marijuana dispensary, will remain open for now despite the city's efforts to shut its doors.

Riverside Superior Court Commissioner Joan F. Burgess ruled Tuesday against Corona, which had filed a temporary restraining order last week against the collective.

The commissioner set a hearing for Sept. 28 on a preliminary injunction, the next step the city could take in its efforts to close Healing Nations.

Attorney James Anthony, representing Healing Nations owner Ronald Naulls, said the ruling was validation for his client and a costly misuse of public funds.

"Healing Nations won and the city lost because Healing Nations was right and the city was wrong," Anthony said. "Stop harassing a lawful business and work with us to regulate."

Anthony said if the city does move forward with the preliminary injunction and he loses, he will appeal. Either way, the collective won't be closing down anytime soon, he said.

Corona's attorney Jeffrey Dunn, with Best, Best & Krieger, said temporary restraining orders are hard to get and that the preliminary hearing will be "the real defining moment."

Dunn said the city brought the court action because officials say that the collective is in violation of the city's municipal code and zoning requirements. The city also alleges that Naulls told staff that his business was related to medical supplies and equipment, Dunn said.

Naulls also listed his business as "miscellaneous retail" instead of writing that it was a medical marijuana dispensary on his license application, Dunn said.

"There is not a category for every kind out there," he said. "We just need people to tell us what kind of business it is."

Naulls, a medical marijuana patient, said he told city staff he wanted to open up a dispensary and consulted an attorney before moving forward. No category for medical marijuana dispensary existed on the application, so he listed the only business type applicable, he said.

Healing Nations, located in a Grand Boulevard shopping center near Main Street, opened in May. In June, the Corona City Council approved a 45-day moratorium on the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries and on Aug. 2 extended that ban until June 2007.

The city also has mailed two cease and desist letters to Naulls and his attorney, calling for the collective to close.

City officials have said they issued the ban because of conflicting state and federal laws, something supporters of medical marijuana say local governments are hiding behind.

California voters approved marijuana use for medical purposes in 1996 but it is still illegal at the federal level.

Naulls said he felt "humbled" by the Superior Court judge's ruling in his favor and vowed to keep fighting.

"This is a very personal issue in my life and the lives of my patients," he said. "This is about life and death."

Reach Melanie C. Johnson at 951-893-2113 or mjohnson@PE.com

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Ruling mixed for medical marijuana store

CORONA: The dispensary could keep operating for months while appealing an order to close.

10:00 PM PST on Wednesday, December 13, 2006

By MELANIE C. JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise

A Riverside Superior Court ruling Wednesday granted Corona a preliminary injunction needed to close a medical marijuana dispensary in the city, but the collective will remain open pending an appeal.

Riverside Superior Court Commissioner Joan F. Burgess ruled in favor of the city and granted a court order mandating the closure of Healing Nations Collective.

She then issued a stay to allow attorneys for the dispensary's owner, Ronald Naulls, a chance to appeal her ruling, citing the need for an appellate court review.

Both sides said they see the ruling as "a victory."

"We are very pleased with the judge's ruling," said Jeffrey V. Dunn, an attorney with Best Best & Krieger, the city's law firm.

Dunn said the ruling supported Corona's view that a business license alone doesn't mean the applicant "can do business anywhere you want."

Attorney James Anthony, representing Naulls, said the ruling will allow Healing Nations to remain open not only for the 70 days granted to file the appeal, but also through the trial, which could take as long as 18 months.

"I feel that the judge bent over backwards to stay her own injunction," Anthony said. "She gave the city a token victory but really, she gave us a substantial victory."

Corona is one of several Inland cities that have banned medical marijuana dispensaries; others are Temecula, Norco and Lake Elsinore.

A state judge recently upheld California law allowing the use of cannabis for medical purposes by throwing out a lawsuit challenging the statute that voters passed in 1996. San Diego County filed the lawsuit, and San Bernardino and Merced counties joined the case.

Marijuana's use remains illegal under federal law.

City Fights Dispensary

Naulls opened his Grand Boulevard dispensary in May.

The city called for the closure of the collective and issued a 45-day moratorium in June that was extended until June 2007.

In August, Burgess denied a temporary restraining order that the city sought to stop the dispensary from operating, and she called for a hearing on a preliminary injunction.

A cluster of supporters for the collective, some in wheelchairs, attended the hearing in Department 6.

The court order followed about 45 minutes of discussion among the attorneys and Burgess.

In the city's case, Dunn argued that Naulls did not disclose on his license application that his intended business was a medical marijuana dispensary and that the collective should be shut down because it is not a permitted use under Corona's zoning and land-use codes.

Anthony and fellow attorney Richard D. Ackerman countered that Naulls had contacted a city planner regarding his plan to open a dispensary and, after consulting an attorney and learning the city did not yet have a ban or any regulations related to the businesses, exercised his right under state law to open one.

Permitted Use Is Issue

Burgess said Wednesday that she agreed with Corona that Naulls concealed from the city that his business was a medical marijuana dispensary, but the judge called the business license issue a "red herring."

The real issue in this case is use, she said.

The city argued that if a business is not a listed permitted use in the code, then it is not allowed and a Planning Commission hearing is required to make any exceptions.

Naulls' representatives argued the opposite: that because the city didn't have anything about medical marijuana dispensaries in its codes, it was allowed.

Burgess said because the issue of permitted use is unclear, she based her ruling on the declaration of former Corona planning director Peggy Temple, that the collective was a nonconforming use that was not permitted.

Reach Melanie C. Johnson at 951-893-2113 or mjohnson@PE.com