Rancho Mirage marijuana dispensary ordered closed

A Riverside Superior Court judge today ordered the only functioning medical marijuana dispensary in Rancho Mirage to close.

City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said he asked that the Spot Collective Medical Marijuana Dispensary be closed, pending the outcome of a trial, and Judge Harold Hopp ruled in his favor at a hearing at Indio’s Larson Justice
Center.

The city sued to close the shop at Frank Sinatra Drive and Highway 111 in August.

Quintanilla said the Spot Collective had no business license or certificate of occupancy and was operating in violation of the city’s ban on storefront pot dispensaries. Hopp ruled that, under a Court of Appeal case involving the city of Claremont, Rancho Mirage had the authority to close the place, Quintanilla said.

Hopp ruled that the Spot Collective violated the California Building Code and Rancho Mirage Municipal Code.

Quintanilla said he expected Spot Collective to close next week. At that point, no know pot dispensaries will be operating in Rancho Mirage.

In December, an appeals court ordered Safe Access Wellness Center on Highway 111 to close. In October 2011, another judge ruled that the city’s storefront ban was illegal in a suit involving another dispensary that was
closed, Desert Heart Collective, and the city has appealed that ruling.

In May 2012, the city was sued by a fourth dispensary, Remedy Inc., after the city denied its application to occupy a space on Highway 111, basing its denial on the city’s dispensary ban. Quintanilla said that case could be resolved in the next few months.

The city allows personal deliveries and home cultivation of medical marijuana.

In December, a man stole pot and cash from Spot Collective and was arrested the same day. Everything taken was returned, Quintanilla said.