Marijuana dispensary back open, facing scrutiny

The first and only medical marijuana dispensary in Murrieta has re-opened after winning a temporary court victory, a move that has been met by the city with thousands in fines and heavy police surveillance.
A Riverside County Superior Court justice ruled on Friday that Cooperative Medical Group, on Madison Avenue, could re-open until its case is decided. Murrieta, which has had an ordinance banning storefront marijuana collectives since 2005, is seeking a court order to shut down the dispensary.
Since re-opening on Saturday, the owners of the dispensary say they’ve been “harassed” by the police and the city’s code enforcement department. They have been fined $2,500 every day for operating without a business license.
Murrieta police cruisers have been parked outside the business for hours at a time, pulled over patients seen leaving the collective and have repeatedly asked to inspect the property, co-owners Beth Burns and Charles Thompson said.
Medical marijuana patient Calvin Tucker, 20, of Temecula, said he was pulled over on consecutive days immediately after leaving the collective. Both times the stop was made ostensibly for an expired registration, but the officers were more interested in asking questions about the collective’s business practices and searching the car for marijuana, Tucker said.
Tucker, who was seeking at job at the collective, said he was cited for drug possession after police found two marijuana stems and a pipe in his backpack. He said he was not given a ticket for the expired registration.
Murrieta police Lt. Tony Conrad acknowledged the police were conducting “high-visibility enforcement” at the collective because they believe medical marijuana businesses attract crimes. Police are concerned the dispensary will attract burglaries, drivers operating under the influence and illegal drug sales, he said.
The collective was broken into during its first stint in the summer.
“High-visibility enforcement is a patrol tactic law enforcement uses on any location, business, neighborhood, etc. that is considered to be a target for crime … this is not uncommon,” Conrad wrote in an e-mail.
Police and code enforcement officers have been to the property every day since it opened, Thompson said. On Wednesday, an investigator stopped by to inquire about the business’ workers compensation policy, he said.