Douglas Lanphere said Cooperative Patients' Services will provide a secure venue for legitimate medical marijuana patients to exchange the drug with each other. The establishment, in a leased storefront on the southern end of Old Town Front Street past First Street, will allow members to bring marijuana in for processing, he said.
California voters legalized marijuana use for medicinal purposes in 1996. While several Temecula businesses offer medical marijuana referrals, the city has banned dispensaries since 2004.
Lanphere maintains the ban doesn't apply to the co-op. No marijuana sales will take place since the co-op members collectively own the marijuana, according to Lanphere.
"We facilitate the transactions between members," he said. "We're not the (entity) that makes the transaction directly with the patient."
City officials disagree with Lanphere's reasoning and say the code makes no exception for co-ops.
"We'll just have to wait and see exactly what he does or does not do there," City Attorney Peter Thorson said Friday.
Only co-op members will have access to the marijuana, and the co-op will have guards and other security measures in place, Lanphere said.
"We're not going to have pot plants in the lobby," he said, adding that most patients consume marijuana through liquid or forms other than smoking.
Lanphere and others have met with city officials and spoken at City Council meetings about the need for a safe facility for medical marijuana patients to get their medicine. Earlier this year, the group received a business license to operate as Qualified Patients Resource Center.
It got another business license in September under the name Cooperative Patients' Services, which is classified by the city as a "resource center." The new license, however, includes wording that mentions the city's dispensary ban and forbids "any other use or action that violates any provision" of the city code.
Lanphere believes a state court ruling issued in August on Anaheim's dispensary ban gives the co-op the legal right to operate. He said the decision makes it clear that federal law, which outlaws marijuana, does not pre-empt California's medical marijuana laws.
Thorson said the city zoning law is "very clear" about medical marijuana and that the Anaheim decision does not legitimize the co-op.
The city will need to figure out what's going on at the co-op before taking action, Thorson said.
Lanphere said the city has tried to stall the co-op's opening, an accusation Thorson denied. The co-op is prepared to challenge any citations, Lanphere said.
"We're of the belief that we've done everything transparently," Lanphere said.
Source: The Press-Enterprise
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