MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLOSED TEMPORARILY BY RESTRAINING ORDER REOPENS

by Andrea Swayne, (Source:Dana Point Times)

California
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Last Thursday the 4th District Court of Appeals overturned a November 19 restraining order that temporarily halted operation of the Holistic Health medical marijuana collective in Dana Point.  

Although a previous injunction against Holistic Health based on zoning violations was also temporarily stayed, the city had hoped that the court would not intervene this time since this recent injunction was granted on the basis of the city's assertion that the dispensary is not in compliance with California law, including engaging in for-profit sales, said City Attorney Patrick Munoz following the November 19 closure order.  

"We had patients/members that suffered unnecessarily during the 13-day closure and we are pleased that the appeals court has once again overruled the lower court," said Holistic Health Collective President Garrison Williams.  "We intend to continue our fight because we have a right to be here and accusations that we are operating illegally are false.  Our attorney and CPA carefully oversee our day-to-day operations to ensure that we are following all pertinent rules." 

Williams went on to say that he has offered to sit down and show the city their books numerous times in order to demonstrate their legal operation but that they will continue to resist the release of private patient information due to their patients' fear of negative recourse form the city.  

"Not only do patients object to city officials knowing that they use medical marijuana, many don't want it to be common knowledge what their illness is-AIDS, Parkinson's, cancer, mental health disorders and other diseases they feel they should be allowed to keep private.  The city just flat out wants us out of town," said Garrison.  

The city began seeking the records of this and other collectives more than a year ago in order to determine whether they were operating legally.  When all of the shops refused to comply with the records request earlier this year, the city filed lawsuits seeking to shut down all of the dispensaries in Dana Point.  

Both sides remain steadfast in their respective efforts.  Expect the legal volley to continue for some time