NEWS: Medical marijuana in Southwest Riverside County appears ‘up in smoke’ with recent decisions.

On Monday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Johnson ordered the Wildomar Patients Compassionate Group to close.

Stoking embers of controversy, SouthwestRivCo cities and Riverside County continue to fight against marijuana dispensaries.

Wildomar became the latest city to ban dispensaries, after a Riverside County judge ruled in its favor.

On Monday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Johnson ordered the Wildomar Patients Compassionate Group to close. A week earlier, Lake Elsinore City Council members voted to continue a moratorium on the businesses. Riverside County also reversed plans to allow dispensaries in certain areas and kept in place a county ordinance banning the dispensaries.

Wildomar Decision

Wildomar Patients Compassionate Group opened a dispensary in early December after filing a suit against the city. The group contends that the city’s ban on dispensaries contradicts state law granted safe accessing to medical marijuana.

The two sides were in court on Monday. Judge Johnson upheld the city’s ban and immediately ordered the existing Wildomar dispensary to close. The group’s attorney has stated he will file an appeal with the appellate court.

The city voted in 2008 to ban the dispensaries.


Lake Elsinore Decision

On December 14, Lake Elsinore council members continued a moratorium on dispensaries. The temporary ban dates back to Dec. 2009.

The city postponed a decision to wait and see the outcomes of legal proceedings and court ruling from other cities. At the time, the city wanted to see what leeway cities could have in limiting dispensaries.

The staff report for Tuesday’s meeting states the issue is still too undefined to take action on from a legal standpoint.

Riverside County

On the same day, that Lake Elsinore continued its ban, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors reversed plans to create zones where medical marijuana dispensaries could operate. Instead, supervisors decided to stick with an existing ban on marijuana shops.

The county had been working on zoning ordinances that would have allowed dispensaries in certain areas. The supervisors decided to stick with the current ban after watching neighboring counties enact bans.

Source: Southwest Riverside News Network

NEWS: Two-month probe into marijuana sales in Winchester nets five arrests

The illegal business was operating in the 28000 block of Winchester Road and investigators began looking into the matter after receiving reports from nearby residents.

Five people whom authorities contend operated an illegal marijuana selling business in Winchester have been arrested following a two-month investigation, said Sgt. Joe Borja.

The illegal business was operating in the 28000 block of Winchester Road and investigators began looking into the matter after receiving reports from nearby residents who were concerned because the business was located close to an elementary school and a church, Borja said in a news release.

Members of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and Riverside County Code Enforcement conducted a two-month investigation due to the complaints.

The investigation revealed that the operators of the business were selling marijuana and operating outside of the medical marijuana laws due to the business operating for profit, Borja said. Over ten pounds of marijuana and 96 marijuana plants were confiscated during the operation as evidence.

The operators of the business were identified as Ryan Jacobson, 26, Scott Buffington, 25, both of Lake Elsinore; Gary Riddle, 28, of Temecula, Isaac Morton, 25, of Winchester and David Juliano, 25, of Menifee.

All five of the suspects were booked on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale. Investigators are will also request an additional charge of cultivation of marijuana be filed against Juliano and Jacobson.

Anyone having information regarding the investigation can contact Investigator K. Thurm at 951-955-1700.

Source: Southwest Riverside News Network

NEWS: Marijuana debate back before supervisors

Riverside County supervisors John Benoit and Jeff Stone will ask their colleagues today to rescind the board's order to draft a law regulating medical-marijuana dispensaries.

The two supervisors first asked for the medical-marijuana law in September. Two weeks ago, Benoit changed his position and called for a renewed ban.

An ordinance regulating how and where dispensaries could locate in unincorporated areas would have ended the county's four-year prohibition on the businesses.

Benoit and Stone in their proposal wrote that they are concerned that the "number of these dispensaries will increase exponentially" after county supervisors in Los Angeles and Orange counties banned them last month.

"As bans are created and maintained in surrounding jurisdictions, dispensary operators will flock to the county and the county will disproportionately bear the cost and burden of regulation," the two supervisors said.

They said the cash-strapped county would be better off enforcing the existing ban rather than "drafting, implementing and enforcing a new ordinance."

The county is likely to face vocal opposition to a continued ban from medical-marijuana users and activists. Many turned out at last week's board meeting to protest comments Benoit made Nov. 30 about keeping the ban.

But only two people spoke, since the public comment portion of the board's 9:30 a.m. meeting did not take place until after 3 p.m. Some activists yelled at supervisors when they decided to break for lunch and a closed session before taking public comment.

Terry Lynn Mortensen, of Riverside, told supervisors they should not ban dispensaries.

"Regulate us. License us. Send the health department in," she said.

Prohibiting dispensaries will force medical-marijuana patients to the streets to buy the drug, she said.

"We are not people that run around the streets getting high. We are people that are using the medical marijuana as directed by our doctors," she said. "I ask for some understanding and sympathy and ask that you represent the people who voted for Proposition 215."

Source: The Press-Enterprise