Patients Urge City Officials Not to Bar Marijuana Outlet

Supporters of pot crusader Andrea Nagy packed the Civic Arts Plaza on Tuesday, asking the City Council to let her medicinal marijuana outlet stay in business.

The City Council was debating whether to adopt an ordinance temporarily banning “medical marijuana dispensaries” for 45 days so that city officials can do research and devise new regulations for establishments following last year’s Proposition 215.

“We don’t intend to debate the medical benefits or evils of marijuana with this ordinance,” said City Atty. Mark Sellers. “The idea is to call a timeout.”

But Nagy, a 27-year-old legal secretary who began quietly distributing marijuana out of a Thousand Oaks strip mall last month, said she has no choice but to continue serving customers she says need the drug because of illness.

“Fifty-three percent of Thousand Oaks voters passed Prop. 215,” Nagy said. “Speaking from personal experience, I can attest to marijuana’s powerful medical benefits in the treatment of my chronic migraine headaches.”

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Cancer patient Vicki Batik of Newbury Park was one of about two dozen patients and sympathizers to defend the legitimacy of Nagy’s establishment.

“Pain and nausea don’t take timeout,” she said, referring to Sellers’ remark. “If I had to do so, I would have taken the risk and gone to the streets” to buy the drug, she said.

Among those attending were several lawyers active on the issue, some of whom vowed to take Thousand Oaks to court if the city closes Nagy’s operation.

Robert A. Raich of Oakland, who has represented many of the 30 or so medical marijuana clubs in California, said the city could discuss the question of regulation without imposing a moratorium.

“City after city has answered these very questions, and they have done so without a moratorium,” he said. “The last thing you want to do is close down an establishment providing [an] important medical service to members of your community.”

Councilwoman Elois Zeanah suggested a compromise, asking the city attorney if the council could exempt Nagy from a moratorium. Such a step is possible, Sellers said.

But Sheriff’s Cmdr. Kathy Kemp, who serves as the city’s police chief, said Nagy’s pot club could grow as large as any in Northern California.

“We have the same concerns that were expressed” by city officials, she said. “It seems to us that this cannabis club, though it only serves 28 right now, could easily grow to serve a thousand.”

A state appeals court decision Friday ordering the closure of the Cannabis Cultivator’s Club in San Francisco could affect establishments such as Nagy’s statewide. But the club’s owner, Proposition 215 co-author Dennis Peron, has said he will appeal the ruling to the California Supreme Court, and it could be some time before the issue is settled.

In the meantime, Deputy City Atty. Jim Friedl said Thousand Oaks must prepare as if medicinal marijuana businesses will be allowed to operate in their city--and that means they must analyze the many questions a legal pot distribution site would pose for their community.

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“In what zone should this use be located?” Friedl wrote in a report to the council.

“Could it be near a school, a church, a day care facility? What personal or professional qualifications should be required of an operator and/or staff of such a facility? How and under what conditions would the marijuana be grown, processed, transported, stored and distributed? What security measures are necessary to protect against attempted theft?”