Palm Springs To Consider Third Medical Marijuana Dispensary
The City Council approved the new dispensary 3-2 during Wednesdays meeting. They hoped the other two clinics would be up and running by now. The red-tags are gone but Canna-help’s opening is still weeks away, thanks to the City Council, which gave owner Stacy Hochanadel a second chance.
“I made a big mistake, and I feel bad about what I did. I appreciate what the council did for us this evening,” Hochanadel told the council. The city forced Hochanadel to close his clinic citing several building code violations.
Other medical marijuana clinics can now start the application process. About a dozen dispensaries applied for city approval last year. And any new applicants will have to meet the same requirements.
“Who they are, how they’re constituted, how they’re controlled, what their experience is in providing the sort of medicine to patients, what their relationship is to the Palm Springs community,” Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem Rick Hutcheson said of the requirements.
Several marijuana co-op’s remain open after the city said they needed to close. C.A.P.S. is one of a handful of medical marijuana dispensary operating without city approval. Huctheson says the city has filed lawsuits against those clinics, and they may not be eligible for city approval.
“The applicants we approval we were able to determine that they did indeed shut down and obeyed city law so, yes, being a law abiding entity is a very very important factor,” said Hutcheson.
The City Council says the third clinic will help people get their medicine quicker, if they can get through the red tape fast enough. Patrick Peckham is a patient at C.A.P.S. He drives from Hemet to get medical marijuana to treat his cancer. Legally or illegally, he hopes he’ll have a place to get his medicine while the council decides.
“I hope they get to stay open and I don’t know how many dispensaries they’re ultimately settling with … but if they’re gonna fight over it they at least need to have some open while they’re fighting,” said Peckham.
