California, Desert Hot Springs

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New dispensary opens in Desert Hot Springs

K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
February 5, 2007

A new medical marijuana dispensary has opened in Desert Hot Springs, even as the City Council is set to vote on a moratorium on the licensing of dispensaries at its Tuesday meeting.

Organic Solutions of the Desert, located at 11924 Palm Drive, is currently open only three days a week, Friday to Sunday, according to the voice message on the dispensary’s phone.

If the council votes for a moratorium, patients and advocates will ask that Organic Solutions be grand-fathered in and allowed to remain in business, said Lanny Swerdlow, president of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, speaking at a meeting of the patient advocacy group on Sunday.

The dispensary has applied to for a business license, city officials said.

The council meets at 6:45 p.m. at the Carl May Community Center, 11711 West Drive.

Information: 329-6411

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Desert Hot Springs council mulls ban on pot dispensaries

<span class=postbigbold>City would be fifth in Coachella Valley to enact moratorium</span>

K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
February 6, 2007


A new medical marijuana dispensary in Desert Hot Springs is facing pressure to close as the City Council considers a moratorium tonight on allowing dispensaries in the city.

Organic Solutions of the Desert opened recently at 11-924 Palm Drive and has applied for a business license from the city.

The City Council will vote on an emergency ordinance putting a 45-day moratorium on the licensing of medical marijuana dispensaries.

The council meets at 6:45 p.m. at the Carl May Community Center, 11-711 West Drive.

The dispensary is now open three days a week, Friday through Sunday, said owner Jim Camper.

He'd like to be open five days a week, Camper said, but "I can't do it unless the city gets off my back."

Camper first applied to the city for a business license in November, said his attorney, James Anthony of Oakland.

"I'm not personally opposed to (medical marijuana). I think there has to be a proper venue for it, and I'm not sure Desert Hot Springs would be the most appropriate one," said Mayor Alex Bias. "Our community is already viewed as being a drug area anyways with methamphetamine. It's something I'm going to have to do some soul searching on."

Desert Hot Springs would be the fifth city in the Coachella Valley to pass a moratorium on dispensaries, following Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Indian Wells and Coachella.

If the council votes for a moratorium, patients and advocates will ask that Organic Solutions be grandfathered in and allowed to remain in business, said Lanny Swerdlow, president of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project.

"If you don't like dispensaries, what are the alternatives?" Swerdlow said. "What are you going to do to see patients get their medicine?"

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DHS city leaders say yes to moratorium, no to marijuana dispensary


K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
February 6, 2007

In a unanimous decision, tonight, Desert Hot Springs city leaders voted in favor of a moratorium on medical marijuana.

The decision means city leaders will not grandfather in Organic Solutions, an existing medical marijuana dispensary within the city.

Organic Solutions owner Jim Camper, however, said before the vote that no matter the outcome, he planned to keep the business open.

Read more about this developing story in tomorrow's Desert Sun.

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Desert Hot Springs council: Moratorium necessary

<span class=postbold>Dispensary issue to get closer study </span>

K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
February 7, 2007


Following an emotional and at times raucous debate, the Desert Hot Springs City Council voted unanimously Tuesday for a 45-day moratorium on the licensing of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

"I voted for the Compassionate Use Act," said Mayor Alex Bias, referring to the 1996 ballot measure that legalized the medical use of marijuana in California. "(But) when you're in a legislative system, you have to step beyond. The city of Desert Hot Springs has not had time to digest (this issue)."

The vote left the fate of Organic Solutions of the Desert, a dispensary that recently opened in the city, up in the air. Owner Jim Camper said the dispensary is open three days a week.

"I can't do anything but stay open," said Camper, a medical marijuana user, before Tuesday's vote.

Patients pleaded with council members to allow Camper to stay open while they researched the issue.

"Without medical marijuana, I have no quality of life," said Lisa Blakely, who uses the drug to relieve pain from a work-related injury.

While acknowledging users' needs, the council's 5-0 vote was driven by concerns for the city's already strained police force, Camper's decision to open without a business license and the conflict between state and federal law.

In a meeting punctuated by audience outbursts, Mayor Pro Tem Mary Stephens answered advocates by saying her father, who died of pancreatic cancer, used medical marijuana.

"We're elected officials," she said. "Our city needs to study this."

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KESQ Channel 3 Palm Sprkings
February 7, 2007


DHS council votes "no" on medical marijuana dispensaries

<img src=/bin/icon_video.gif> <a href=http://www.kesq.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=1223827&h1=DHS%20council%20votes%20%22no%22%20on%20medical%20marijuana%20dispensaries&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=73133&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&playerVersion=1&hostPageUrl=http%3A//www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp%3FS%3D6051180%26nav%3D9qrx&rnd=78627007 target=_blank>Video</a>

A heated debate in Desert Hot Springs Tuesday night and it ended with the city council voting no to any new medical marijuana dispensaries.

The council voted unanimously for a moratorium against the businesses. That will likely mean the eventual shutdown of a new dispensary that just opened this week on Palm Drive near Pierson.

The owner of Organic Solutions of the Desert says that he opened the business without a license because the city council was too slow to act.

Tuesday night, more than a dozen medical marijuana users shared their emotional stories of chronic pain and how the drug has improved their lives.

But council members weren't swayed, saying the drug remains illegal, according to the federal government.

The council's no vote means the medical marijuana dispensary in Desert Hot Springs may be forced to shut down within a few weeks.

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EXCLUSIVE: Inside disputed DHS marijuana dispensary

<table class=posttable align=right width=250><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg src=bin/organic-solutions.jpg></td></tr></table>By Nathan Baca
KESQ NewsChannel 3
February 9, 2007

Medical marijuana is creating controversy all over the Valley. This week, it was front and center in Desert Hot Springs, all because of a new business called "Organic Solutions of the Desert." NewsChannel 3 has an exclusive look inside.

The Desert Hot Springs City Council found out this week about "Organic Solutions of the Desert" on Palm Drive and Pierson. They placed a halt on dispensaries, which could mean the end for the new and controversial business.

Inside, it looks like any other new age style meditation center. There is incense; there are dietary supplements for sale. But the signs asking patients for their ID cards are a clue that in certain cabinets, there is medicinal marijuana here.

Organic Solutions of the Desert owner Jim Camper prefers to not have his face shown on television.

"This is not a pot parlor. It's not people sitting here smoking joints all day long. These people come and got their medicine just like Walgreens or any other facility. They don't start swallowing their pills on the counter. They come and take their meds and they go home. They're not sitting here rolling joints."

Organic Solutions of the Desert says they only sell one ounce of marijuana per customer a day. They say the limit helps "weed" out the customers just in for a quick fix.

They've capped their enrollment at 200. Both Palm Springs Caregivers and CannaHelp in Palm Desert had lots of marijuana paraphernalia on the walls and lots of marijuana on display.

But not at Organic Solutions of the Desert.

Towards the back of the store, there's even a game room and a lounge but no smoking is allowed. It's not your typical dispensary.

"As a businessman, it's bad business. It's really is bad business what I'm doing. It's dumb. I'm probably going to go to jail. I'm probably going to lose whatever I have invested in here."

Federal agents and county sheriffs have shut down the other three dispensaries in the desert. Only Organic Solutions remains. This could be the last stand of the local medicinal marijuana community.

"I just want to get a chance. I'd love to sit down with the city council, the chief of police. Give me guidelines, give me an ordinance, give me something to follow. Tell me what you want me to do. How can I do it so they're OK with me?"

Jim Camper has filed his appeal with the city to allow his business to stay open. He may sue, claiming the city knowingly stalled his business license application.