City Seeks Legal Action Against Marijuana Dispensary

Legal action will be taken by the City of Murrieta against a.

In a closed session, City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to file a complaint and issue a restraining order against Cooperative Medical Group, known as CMG Outreach, because it is in violation of a city ordinance banning medical marijuana dispensaries, said City Attorney Leslie Devaney.

Then following a public hearing held after midnight, Council also voted to declare the dispensary a public nuisance. Votes in both instances were 4-0, with Councilman Alan Long absent.

The public nuisance resolution will strengthen the city's case against the cooperative, Devaney said.

Police Chief Mike Baray cited a 2009 statement signed by more than 30 law enforcement and public agencies, which calls out medical marijuana dispensaries as detrimental to public safety.

According to the group's findings, such operations were proven to bring an increase in burglaries and robberies, loitering, an increase in traffic accidents due to driving under the influence of marijuana, a decrease of business to surrounding merchants and street dealers lurking nearby to offer lower prices, among other problems.

Baray also pointed out that the dispensary, located at 26690 Madison Ave., Suite 103, is within 60 feet of Sky High Party Zone, an indoor play area for children.

"More importantly, its close proximity to children attending the Sky High Party Zone creates an unacceptable risk to the public health and welfare to children," said Murrieta police Lt. Bob Davenport in a staff report.

The staff report also states that the dispensary owners were deceptive in applying for business licenses from the city, answering no when asked whether drugs or paraphernalia would be sold.

Mayor Pro Tem Doug McAllister said if the city ever did allow a dispensary to operate it "would not be with people who lied to us from the get go."

"The applicant was deceptive in their application, they lied about what this was going to be on two separate applications," McAllister said. "I don’t know who these people are and what they say they are going to be..."

According to the staff report, owner Beth Burns applied for a license as a property management company and again as a social assistance agency. The property management license was on display at the business.

Burns and fellow dispensary owner Charles Thompson planned to speak at the hearing, but left after waiting hours for another hearing regarding the City's General Plan to end.

"I wanted to explain what we are all about, but we'll wait for the injunction and we'll take it to our lawyer," Thompson said.

Several other supporters of the dispensary planned to speak but also left before the hearing got started.

By the end of the evening, two citizens spoke in favor of the dispensary and one against.

"Unlike former President Bill Clinton, I don't inhale," said Murrieta resident Francis Burns. "For me this is one of those issues I believe is a natural right and this country was founded on those natural rights. I believe people have a right to find relief from their pain."

Resident Donald Lambert said the city should re-examine its ordinance against dispensaries.

"You processed this in 2005 and a lot of things have changed since then," Lambert said. "There are now more than 40 cities and 10 counties (in California) that have practicing medical dispensaries...
I think the ordinance should be considered again and changed."

McAllister said a different meeting would have to be called to discuss the ordinance.

"This hearing is not about our ordinance, this hearing is about whether or not we see this as a public nuisance. I have heard over and over again about marijuana as a beneficial drug for pain and therapy. I am not a doctor and I do not know. The fact is that the federal government has outlawed it and the statistics show that everywhere you have dispensaries, there is an uptick in crime."