City Officials Vow to Shut Down Shop That Sells Cannabis

Just down the street from Marie Callender’s in the Village Oaks office complex, Andrea Nagy is quietly dispensing marijuana to customers she says are sick and dying.

But that quiet will probably end, because city officials pledged Thursday to shut down the county’s first cannabis buyers club.

Nagy, 27, a legal secretary who smokes marijuana to ease the pain of chronic migraines, said that voters’ approval of Proposition 215 last year allowed her to dispense marijuana for treating medical conditions.

“I’m not doing anything illegal,” she said.

City officials see it differently.

“She’s operating without a permit and we will take steps to close her down--period,” City Councilman Andy Fox said. “There is no provision in the initiative for a zoning law that provides for the sale of marijuana.”

After getting a business license in September for her “pharmaceutical-related” storefront and then sitting through meetings with city officials, sheriff’s deputies and Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, Nagy opened the Ventura County Medical Cannabis Center on Sept. 23.

She acknowledged that Bradbury suggested she wait and proceed cautiously, and city officials simply warned her not to do anything. But she opened for business anyway.

Nagy said she wasn’t asking for permission when she talked to authorities, simply informing them of what she was doing. She did pledge, however, that for the time being she would distribute the drug to only a handful--now seven--of seriously ill patients, she said.

But after learning that she had opened the business, city officials said Thursday that they would take steps to shut it down.

“Frankly she isn’t in compliance with code,” Deputy City Atty. Jim Friedl said.

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A sheriff’s deputy arrived at the Thousand Oaks Boulevard storefront Thursday afternoon, saying that he had come “not to arrest her, just to see if she is selling marijuana.” But Nagy had gone for the day.

Friedl said that either city code enforcement officers or sheriff’s deputies will probably inform Nagy that she must close shop.

The issue is now set for discussion by the City Council on Nov. 25, he said.

“It may be that they decide to establish a special use zoning to allow for this kind of operation,” Friedl said. “I don’t know.”

But most council members have already expressed their opposition to the club.

“I sympathize with those people with glaucoma or terminal cancer that get relief from marijuana,” Fox said. “But I think a doctor, or a pharmacy or a hospital should distribute drugs.”

Fox said he does not like the idea of a cannabis buyers club doling out marijuana to people in Thousand Oaks.

But Nagy said her business was consistent with other uses in the office complex where doctors have offices.

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Nagy said she is distributing the drug to a handful of dying or seriously ill patients in Thousand Oaks and eventually wants to grow about 180 plants in the 360-square-foot storefront.

She recently went to the city to get a building permit to put in a wall in the back of the storefront to create separate rooms for different stages in the growing process.

But authorities say Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, is vague on the details of setting up a medicinal marijuana distribution business.

“The law is in a state of flux right now,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Mitch Disney, who with Bradbury met with Nagy about the issue.

Although Proposition 215 allows sick people to smoke pot, it is silent on how sick people are supposed to obtain the drug, Disney said. And the initiative does not define what is a “serious illness.” The law also conflicts with federal drug laws that still outlaw the cultivation, use and sale of marijuana, he said.

There are several cases pending, including the much-publicized case against Dennis Peron, who operated a cannabis buyers club in San Francisco, Disney said. That case could decide who qualifies as a caregiver who can legitimately distribute marijuana, Disney said.

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In many ways, Nagy is wading into a potential legal quagmire. But she said she was not worried.

“Fifty-two percent of the people in Ventura County voted in favor of this,” she said. “Are these politicians going to prevent sick people from getting medicine that will relieve their pain?”

Several pot activists have recently come to Nagy’s aid and pledged their support if she is faced with legal trouble. On Thursday, Jack Herer, a prominent pot advocate and author, showed up to offer his support, as did Ventura County activist Lynn Osburn.

“There are 17 other organizations in this state that will come to her aid if she needs it,” said Osburn, referring to 17 affiliated cannabis buyers clubs in California.