NEWS: Mobile marijuana operation sidelined

CLAREMONT - Until recently, Ronald Chavez would drive his vehicle to homes and apartments in the Inland Valley and drop off orders of marijuana.

The owner of Claremont- based Tasty Licks would make deliveries to anyone with a valid medical marijuana identification card.

But the operations of the mobile medical marijuana company were curtailed earlier this month when the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced it would prosecute anyone who performed such a delivery service.

"I stopped delivering because I heard things about that, actually," said Chavez, a Pomona resident.

District Attorney Steve Cooley said delivery of medical marijuana and selling the drug online are illegal. Cooley said those who do so could face felony charges.

The statement released June7 by Cooley, who is running for state attorney general, was in response to claims that medical marijuana providers in Los Angeles had found a loophole by making house calls to those seeking pot.

Chavez said he was advised by his attorneys to revamp the business.

"So I'll be on hold for a little while," he said. "I have to make sure everything's good to go."

Tasty Licks could be back as soon as early July, Chavez said.

The company was about to make a profit prior to its shutdown thanks in part to a solid reputation among customers who praised its delivery speed and quality of marijuana, Chavez claims.

The customers would call Tasty Licks and either put in an order for medical marijuana or ask to view samples at their homes.

Deliveries were typically made for free after 10 p.m. in Los Angeles and Orange counties, as long as the customer was a member of the nonprofit and had a reservation.

"We provide the highest quality indica, sativa and hybrid medical strains," boasted the company's Web site, www.tasty licks.org.

Chavez said he printed business cards and paid for advertisements in magazines.

Tasty Licks had fewer than 100 customers, and they ran the gamut from young adults to seniors, Chavez said.

Chavez said business really started to take off in October when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers should not be targeted for federal prosecution in states that allow medical marijuana. The Justice Department statement said federal prosecutors are being told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state law.

Chavez now directs his customers to magazines that advertise mobile medical marijuana companies.

There have been numerous mobile medical marijuana clinics in the Inland Empire, and they "help people get their medicine they can't get through collectives and storefronts," said Lanny Swerdlow, president of the Inland Empire chapter of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project.

The clinics are illegal in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

"Steve Cooley says everything is illegal. Here (in Riverside and San Bernardino counties) it's illegal not because that's illegal, but because it violates zoning ordinances," Swerdlow said.

Chavez received a business license in Pomona for a Tasty Licks shaved ice company in 1996. It was not renewed in 2009. He declined to comment on the status of his business license.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Source: San Gabriel Valley Tribune