California, Palm Desert

[palmspringsbum]

Temporary pot-clinic ban up for renewal

PALM DESERT: The city had wanted to prepare for the distribution of medical marijuana.



01:04 AM PST on Thursday, February 2, 2006

By JOAN OSTERWALDER / The Press-Enterprise

The Palm Desert City Council will meet Friday to consider renewing a temporary ban on medical-marijuana dispensaries, which expires Tuesday.

The meeting will be at 10 a.m. in council chambers at 73-510 Fred Waring Drive. The council is expected to extend the 45-day moratorium to Dec. 22 to give the city more time to craft an ordinance.

The temporary ban was passed on Christmas Eve in a council meeting that was called based on reports of a Christmas Day sign-up drive for a new dispensary with a free medical-cannabis giveaway for people with disabilities.

When word of the meeting came out, Pierre Werner abandoned his plans. Werner, who operates a medical-marijuana-referral Web site, said he will wait until the city has its regulations in place.

"It's really unfair because in the meantime Hempie's is allowed to stay open," the Las Vegas resident said in an interview this week.

Hempie's, now called CannaHelp, is the lone dispensary in the city. It is not affected by the moratorium because it was licensed in November.

Medical marijuana is legal in California since voters passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996. The law allows patients with a physician's recommendation to transport and use marijuana to treat the symptoms of illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma, chronic pain and AIDS.

State law also requires counties to issue optional identification cards to medical-marijuana users. But San Diego and San Bernardino counties are seeking to overturn the law, which they say conflicts with federal drug laws. The U.S. Supreme Court last year ruled that people who smoke marijuana with a doctor's permission could still be prosecuted.

Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone last week said he intended to encourage his colleagues to join the counties in their challenge, but the board has taken no action.

Reach Joan Osterwalder at (760) 837-4406 or josterwalder@PE.com

[palmspringsbum]

City extends ban on pot dispensaries

PALM DESERT: Officials want time to draft an ordinance controlling medical use of the drug.



01:21 AM PST on Saturday, February 4, 2006

By JOAN OSTERWALDER / The Press-Enterprise

The Palm Desert City Council on Friday voted to extend a temporary ban on medical-marijuana dispensaries until Dec. 22 to give the city time to craft an ordinance.

The moratorium does not affect the city's lone dispensary, CannaHelp, which was licensed before the temporary ban took effect in December.

Lanny Swerdlow, director of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project in Palm Springs, told the council he supported the ban because it still allows patients access to medical marijuana.

But Palm Desert police Lt. Steve Thetford said police officers were having a hard time verifying whether people possess marijuana for medical purposes.

Riverside County has begun issuing optional identification cards to patients, but Thetford said he has not yet seen anyone carry such a card.

Police have had two cases in which a person tried to sell marijuana from CannaHelp to juveniles and another patient shared it with someone else, Thetford said.

Councilman Buford Crites suggested looking into whether the city can mandate locally that medical-marijuana patients carry a card.

In drafting the ordinance, officials will consider security measures for patients and the dispensary, the county ID system, and background checks for operators, among other things.

Medical marijuana is legal in California since voters passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996.

The law allows patients with a physician's recommendation to transport and use marijuana to treat the symptoms of illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma, chronic pain and AIDS.

But the U.S. Supreme Court last year ruled that people who smoke marijuana with a doctor's permission could still be prosecuted under federal laws, which make the drug illegal.

[palmspringsbum]

Medical-pot dispensary allowed to operate

11:30 PM PST on Thursday, February 23, 2006

By JOAN OSTERWALDER / The Press-Enterprise

Palm Desert's lone medical-marijuana dispensary can stay open under an agreement reached Thursday after it was threatened with losing its business license.

The city notified CannaHelp owner Stacy Hochanadel on Feb. 9 that it would consider revoking his license because the operation has been linked to criminal activity and possession of marijuana is illegal under federal law, among other reasons.

CannaHelp opened before the city enacted a temporary ban on dispensaries in December. But police said they were having a hard time verifying whether people possess marijuana for medical purposes. In one instance, a CannaHelp customer tried to sell marijuana to teenagers, police said.

The council was scheduled to hold a revocation hearing Thursday, but at the beginning of the meeting Mayor Jim Ferguson announced an agreement had been reached.

Hochanadel's attorney, James Warner, said CannaHelp can continue to operate as long as its roughly 480 patients obtain optional county-issued ID cards. So far, about 10 percent of patients have the cards, he said. A tentative 30-day deadline was set for CannaHelp to comply with the new requirement, he said.

Several medical-marijuana patients held a rally at the council chambers Thursday. Alan Layton, 53, of La Quinta said he is a CannaHelp patient and prefers going to a dispensary than getting marijuana on the street.

"It definitely provides an air of legitimacy," he said.

Medical marijuana is legal in California since voters passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996.

The law allows patients with a doctor's recommendation to transport and use marijuana to treat symptoms of illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma or chronic pain.

Reach Joan Osterwalder at (760) 837-4406 or josterwalder@pe.com

[palmspringsbum]

Dispensary must turn over names


K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
April 22, 2006


A Palm Desert medical marijuana dispensary is being required to turn clients' names over to authorities, and client advocates say that violates their privacy rights.

Palm Desert city attorney David Erwin said the deal between the city and the CannaHelp dispensary on El Paseo, is merely meant to ensure that the dispensary is obeying state law.

<table class=posttable align=right width=200 border=1 padding=6 cellspacing=6>
<tr><td class=postcap>
<center><b>HOW WE GOT HERE</b></center>

<u>October 2005</u>: Stacy Hochanadel opens CannaHelp, then called Hempie's, at 73-350 El Paseo. He applies for and gets a business license from the city.

<u>December 2005</u>: The City Council passes a 45-day moratorium on licensing any more dispensaries; in February, it extends the moratorium for another 10 months to give city staffers time to come up with a dispensary ordinance.

<u>January 2006</u>: Tensions arise between Hochanadel and city officials over several incidents in which police either arrested or cited CannaHelp clients. Mayor Jim Ferguson calls a meeting between advocates and police that appears to defuse the situation.

<u>February 2006</u>: In a closed session, the City Council votes to hold a public hearing on revoking CannaHelp's business license. Hochanadel and the city reach a tentative agreement allowing the dispensary to keep its license while requiring all CannaHelp clients to get a state-issued ID card.

<u>April 19</u>: The agreement is finalized, including requirements that CannaHelp provide the Riverside County Sheriff's Department with weekly sales reports that include clients' names and ID numbers.

</td></tr></table>
The agreement, negotiated by Erwin and James Warner of San Diego, a lawyer for the CannaHelp dispensary, requires the dispensary to turn over clients' names and state ID card numbers to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Calls to Warner on Friday from The Desert Sun were not immediately returned.

Under the agreement, finalized and made public this week, CannaHelp is allowed to sell medical marijuana only to users with a state medical-marijuana ID card.

The Desert Sun obtained a copy of the March 31 agreement signed on April 10 through the city clerk's office.

The dispensary must also provide the sheriff's department with weekly sales records, including clients' names and ID numbers, and allow officers to review sales records at the dispensary every other week.

And that, said Lanny Swerdlow of Palm Springs, head of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, a patient support group, is a violation of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - HIPAA - which ensures the confidentiality of patients' medical records. Under the law, patient records can be released if the patient signs a waiver.

"The dispensary should be viewed as a health care provider; all health care providers are bound by HIPAA," Swerdlow said. "I can't imagine any patient in their right mind wanting their name to be released to the sheriff's office."

But Erwin said the state and federal laws do not apply to the dispensary because it is not a medical facility and its customers are not patients.
"We're getting nothing about the individual or anything else," he said. "We are getting information to see if they are complying with the Compassionate Use Act of California."

Passed by ballot initiative in 1996, that act, better known as Proposition 215, legalized medical marijuana for individuals with a doctor's letter of recommendation. Senate Bill 420, passed in 2003, provided guidelines for implementing the law and required counties to set up offices to help issue the state IDs, which are supposed to be voluntary.

Mike Lerner of La Quinta, a CannaHelp client, said he had not applied for an ID yet, but if he had, he would not mind the sheriff's office getting his name and ID number.

"You're putting your name on the county register when you sign up. It's a matter of public record," he said.

Room for compromise?

At the dispensary, owner Stacy Hochanadel said he would comply with the agreement but was still uncomfortable about turning over clients' names.

"I'm trying to figure out if giving them just the ID numbers would be good enough to see if they're verified," he said. "I don't want to be sued for divulging confidential client information."

Palm Desert Mayor Jim Ferguson indicated Friday there might be room for compromise.

"(The agreement) should probably (be limited to) the ID number," he said. "I am not of the mind to collect information on individuals and turn it over to law enforcement. We honestly are trying to do the right thing."

But Erwin said that without clients' names, "the agreement is not very effective. All you get is a number. What are we going to do with a number?"

Conflicts of law

The question of exactly which laws do and don't apply to the dispensary is further complicated by the conflict between California and federal law.

Using, growing or selling marijuana is illegal under federal law, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June in Raich v. Gonzales that federal law takes precedence over state medical marijuana laws like California's.

Alan Zamansky of the California Office for HIPAA Implementation said that means medical marijuana users are not covered by federal privacy protections.

And he said SB420 allows the city "to adopt and enforce regulations and laws relative to (the dispensary). The conditions that they made would appear to be helping to enforce that by ensuring only appropriate people would be able (to buy medical marijuana)."

On the other side of the argument, Peter Warren, spokesman for the California Medical Association, notes that the California Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that doctors' records relating to a patient's use of medical marijuana are confidential.

And, he said, that protection could extend to dispensary records, like ID card numbers or the doctors' letters of recommendation required to get them.

"One can presume under Proposition 215, something that authorizes (medical marijuana use) in a legal circumstance for a medically approved use is a medical record," he said.

Another state Supreme Court decision, People v. Mower, in 2002, ruled that state officials have to treat medical marijuana the same as any other doctor-recommended drug, said Kenneth Michael White, a legal adviser for the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, Swerdlow's group.

"We're talking about people's medicine," White said. "You don't usually have to waive medical privacy to get your medicine at a pharmacy."

Patients come first

Hochanadel said he will be posting notices at the dispensary advising clients that their names may be given to the sheriff's department.

He is also concerned that sheriff's officials could turn the biweekly reviews of his sales record into fishing expeditions.

"Am I going to have to justify every person? I have no idea who's coming into my store, what their educational background is in medicine; it's up in the air," he said.

Representatives from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department did not return calls seeking comment Friday.

Ryan Michaels, a former client at CannaHelp, said he had decided to find other sources for the medical marijuana he uses for his arthritis.

"My decision is to go to a different collective. I can't be associated with that situation," he said. "When I look at medical marijuana, (dispensaries) come second, patients come first. You protect the patient."

[palmspringsbum]

CannaHelp won't turn over client list


K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
April 27, 2006

The address for the Riverside County Medical Marijuana ID office was incorrect in the original story reported on April 27, 2006. The correct address is 6370 Magnolia Ave., Suite 220, Riverside.



<table align=right width=220 cellspacing=6 cellpadding=6 border=1><tr><td>
<img src=bin/cannahelp_map.jpg width=200 align=center>
</tr></td><tr><td>
<font size=1>
<b>MEDICAL MARIJUANA ID CARD</b>

<u>WHAT YOU NEED TO APPLY</u>: Valid government-issued identification, proof of Riverside County residency, a letter of recommendation from a doctor and a county application form.

Locally, application forms are available at CannaHelp, 73-350 El Paseo, Suite 204.

<u>WHERE TO APPLY</u>: The Riverside County Medical Marijuana ID office is at 6370 Magnolia Ave., Suite 220, Riverside.

Applications are accepted from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday,

Cost: $100; $50 for Medi-Cal patients.

INFO: (888) 358-7932

<b>State Laws</b>

<u>Proposition 215</u>: The ballot initiative passed in 1996 legalized medical marijuana use for patients with a doctor's letter of recommendation.

<u>Senate Bill 420</u>: The state law passed in 2003 set regulations for implementation of Proposition 215. It requires counties to issue the medical marijuana ID cards to those who want them and allows cities and counties to establish medical marijuana guidelines.

At present, 23 cities and three counties have passed laws allowing and regulating dispensaries; 56 cities and seven counties have passed moratoriums.

Riverside County has a moratorium, in force, as do Palm Desert, Indian Wells and Palm Springs.
</font>
</td></tr></table>Customers of Palm Desert's medical marijuana dispensary won't have their names turned over to police after all.

CannaHelp clients will still be required to have a state-issued ID card, starting Monday, but city officials have backed off a requirement that the dispensary on El Paseo provide police with a weekly list of customer names.

Nevertheless, an agreement signed April 10 between the city and CannaHelp owner Stacy Hochanadel makes Palm Desert only the second city in California to require customers at a dispensary to have a state ID card, according to Kris Hermes, legal campaign director for Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group based in Oakland.

San Francisco is the other city with the card requirement, he said, and no city requires dispensaries to turn over client information.

CannaHelp is one of three dispensaries in the Coachella Valley. Palm Springs has two - the Collective Apothecary of Palm Springs, called CAPS, and Palm Springs Caregivers.

Palm Springs recently passed a temporary moratorium on any new dispensaries while it writes an ordinance to regulate them. Hochanadel is a member of the community task force the city is forming to provide input on the issue.

The newest development for CannaHelp was the result of a meeting Wednesday between Hochanadel and Lt. Steve Thetford, assistant chief for the Riverside County Sheriff's Deparment's Palm Desert station.

Thetford set up the meeting to discuss Hochanadel's concerns that the agreement would require him to violate customers' medical confidentiality.

But Hochanadel said after the meeting that there will be "no release of records."

"We're going to a visual inspection and open-door policy," he said. "Basically, they can come in and look at records."

"We don't really want to be responsible for the names and all that information," Thetford said, referring to dispensary concerns about local authorities turning over customer information to federal agents if requested to.

California voters approved a ballot initiative, Proposition 215, legalizing medical marijuana in 1996. But using, selling, and distributing the drug is still illegal under federal law.

And last week, the federal Food and Drug Administration released a statement reiterating its position that marijuana has no medical benefit. But the FDA has approved a drug called Marinol, a synthetic form of THC, which is the active ingredient in marijuana.

Wednesday's meeting in Palm Desert effectively nullified the most controversial requirements of the agreement while keeping its main condition that Hochanadel sell only to customers with state-issued medical marijuana identification cards.

Hochanadel said the dispensary will accept all state-issued cards, whether or not the cardholder is a current Riverside County resident.

The county began issuing cards in December, but only to county residents. Victoria Jauregui Burns, program chief at the Riverside County Department of Public Health, said 207 cards have been issued to date.

Only 30 of the dispensary's more than 700 clients have cards, Hochanadel said.

Part of the problem is that area clients have to go to the county public health department in Riverside to get a card, he said.

Burns said the department is working on a plan to have staffers come to the Coachella Valley to process card applications on a weekly or monthly basis, but has yet to set a definite date or location.

Some of CannaHelp's clients live in San Bernardino County, which does not issue the ID cards, but Hochanadel said customers without cards will be turned away beginning Monday.

"We might take a hit in the beginning," he said, "but that's what we need to be legitimate."

Thetford said if the dispensary is found selling to anyone without an ID, the city attorney will be notified.

City Attorney David Erwin, who negotiated the original agreement, said, "I think there's pretty good communication between Steve and Stacy. Whatever Steve thinks is appropriate from an enforcement standpoint is fine with me."

Under state law, having an ID card is optional for medical marijuana users, but they are required to have a doctor's letter of recommendation.

Thetford said verifying the letters is difficult for police officers, especially outside regular business hours. In several incidents between November and January, Palm Desert police stopped CannaHelp clients and cited them for possession of marijuana because they were unable to verify their letters of recommendation.

The state card can be verified 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a state-sponsored toll-free phone number.

[palmspringsbum]

Customers turned away, marijuana dispensary imperiled


K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
May 2, 2006

<img src=bin/cannahelp_vials.jpg align=right width=250 title="Anthony Apodaca, employee at CannaHelp, shows vials of different types of marijuana at the dispensary.">Forced to turn away about 25 customers who didn't have state-issued ID cards Monday, the owner of Palm Desert's medical marijuana dispensary said his business may have to fight for survival.

"It's a travesty," said Stacy Hochanadel, who reported a dramatic fall-off in business at CannaHelp on El Paseo. "I'm losing seven months of work."

By early evening Monday, 12 customers with ID cards had shown up, compared to nearly 60 shoppers served a week earlier, before the card was required, he said.

Hochanadel signed an agreement with the city April 10 that allows him to sell only to those who have the card, which is optional under state law. The restriction went into effect Monday.

The city last week backed off a stipulation that Hochanadel turn over the names of customers to local police.

Medical marijuana users turned away Monday all used the same words to describe the new requirement.

"It sucks, to be perfectly frank," said Darian Chambers of Palm Springs, who signed up at the dispensary last week.

Chambers, who uses marijuana to ease swelling in his knees, said he was willing to get a card but said he would check out two Palm Springs dispensaries in the meantime.

"Whatever it takes," he said. "But it shouldn't be as huge an issue as it is."

Palm Desert officials chose to require the card to address police concerns about verifying doctors' letters of recommendation, which are needed to buy medical marijuana. San Francisco is the only other city in the state with that requirement.

State voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes in 1996.

Douglas Johnston, manager at Palm Springs Caregivers, which has been open for a week, said 200 new clients had signed up there, but he couldn't say how many might have switched from CannaHelp.

"I think the city's just manhandling him," Johnston said about the agreement between CannaHelp and Palm Desert. "If you look into the law, it doesn't give the city the right to dictate who can and can't shop at a certain place."

But Palm Desert Mayor Jim Ferguson said the city doesn't intend to close CannaHelp.

"I'm sympathetic to the problem," he said. "But I'm also disappointed because I thought we had come up with a great resolution. Yes, getting a card is kind of a hassle, but so's getting arrested."

[palmspringsbum]

Mayor, CannaHelp broker deal on marijuana IDs


K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
May 4, 2006

<table align=right width=300 cellspacing=6 cellpadding=6 border=1>
<tr><td><font size=1>
<b><u>GET CARDED</u></b>

Coachella Valley medical marijuana users will not have to go to Riverside to apply for a state ID card.

Beginning May 11, the county Department of Public Health will be accepting applications by appointment every other Thursday at the Palm Springs Family Care Center, 3111 Tahquitz Canyon Way.You will still need to fill out an application and bring a doctor's letter of recommendation, a government-issued ID and proof that you live in the county. Cost is $100 or $50 for Medi-Cal patients.

To make an appointment, call (888) 358-7932
</font></td></tr></table>
CannaHelp, the medical marijuana dispensary on El Paseo in Palm Desert, is once again open to all customers, not just those with state-issued medical marijuana ID cards.

A phone conference Wednesday between Mayor Jim Ferguson and dispensary owner Stacy Hochanadel resulted in a stay until June 1 on an agreement limiting sales at CannaHelp to customers with the state ID.

"I don't understand the purpose of the card," said Joe Riordan of Cathedral City, who was one of the more the 36 customers the dispensary turned away Monday.

Riordan, who is HIV positive, said he plans to go back to Canna-Help for the medical marijuana he uses to ease weight loss and nausea related to the disease.

And beginning May 11, Riordan and other Coachella Valley medical marijuana users will be able to apply for the state ID in Palm Springs.

[palmspringsbum]

Federal search angers owner


Marie McCain
The Desert Sun
June 2, 2006

Federal agents, armed with a warrant, searched a safe deposit box belonging to a Palm Desert medical marijuana dispensary earlier this week, prompting accusations of harassment from the dispensary's owner.

"I don't have anything to hide," said Stacy Hochanadel, owner and operator of CannaHelp in Palm Desert, on Thursday.

"I understand the nature of investigating, but rather than doing this behind my back, why don't they just ask me what they want to know," he said.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Los Angeles office declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

As reported on thedesertsun.com, Hochanadel said the box, at a Coachella Valley Canyon National Bank branch, contained nothing, which investigators soon discovered.

According to the warrant, the search took place at 2:40 p.m. Monday, as part of an investigation into suspected violations of federal drug trafficking laws.

An inventory list with the warrant confirmed the box was empty.

"This is harassment. I guess they thought I had money stashed away," Hochanadel said. "I guess they thought to hurt us so we couldn't provide for our clients."

This is the second time federal agents conducted a police action related to CannaHelp.

In March, agents with a warrant searched a Sky Valley home, confiscating marijuana plants and other items.

The homeowner, Garry Silva, was a grower for CannaHelp.

No arrests were made.

Hochanadel said the dispensary remains open and his clients are complying with an agreement made with the city requiring them to obtain state-issued ID cards in order to get marijuana.

California law, established in 1996, allows approved patients to legally use medical marijuana.

However, last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that such a practice was illegal under federal law.

[palmspringsbum]

Officials serve search warrant on El Paseo medical marijuana shop


<img src=/bin/icon_video.gif> Video: Owner of CannaHelp speaks about raid

Kakie Urch
The Desert Sun
December 1, 2006

<hr class=postrule>
Officials who served a search warrant on CannaHelp, the medical marijuana dispensary on El Paseo, removed computers and boxes of marijuana but the owner of the facility says it will be back and operating in a few hours, selling the drug to those with appropriate doctor referrals.

The raid of the business in the second rear story of a medical building at El Paseo and Lupine took place about 1:00 p.m. today.

Owner Stacy Hochanadel said he was detained at his parents' Palm Springs home and questioned for serveral hours by Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. Robert Garcia about how he runs his business.

There were no arrests made in the service of the warrant.

For more information on the search warrant service and for a photo gallery, check thedesertsun.com.

[palmspringsbum]

Owner of marijuana dispensary in court today

Marie McCain
The Desert Sun
December 4, 2006

Stacy Hochanadel, 30, is scheduled to appear today in an Indio courtoom for a preliminary hearing on a February arrest.

The owner of CannaHelp, a medical marijuna dispensary in Palm Desert, Hochanadel was arrested at the time on a felony charge of possession of concentrated cannabis and a misdemeanor weapons charge, according to court records.

His hearing is scheduled to begin in the Larson Justice Center in Indio at 8:30 a.m.

Last week, investigators with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department's Special Investigation Unit raided CannaHelp, 73-350 El Paseo, as part of an investigation into whether the dispensary was selling pot for profit.

No arrests were made and Hochanadel was questioned by investigators. He has denied any wrongdoing.

At the time of the raid, Hochanadel described his talk with police as "professional." He said investigators wanted to know how his business worked.

Allegations of for profit sales at medical marijuana dispensaries in the Coachella Valley culminated with the multiple raids of a dispensary in Palm Springs, Palm Springs Caregivers, on Palm Canyon Drive.

There were allegations that an employee left items from the dispensary as a tip for a worker at the Spa Resort & Casino.

Caregivers was raided at least twice. The dispensary closed following the second raid, on Nov. 2, and has yet to reopen.

Hochanadel has said that CannaHelp remains open.

[palmspringsbum]

No action taken against owner of raided marijuana dispensary in morning hearing



K Kaufmann and Marie McCain
The Desert Sun
December 4, 2006


No action was taken in a preliminary hearing against Stacy Hochanadel, 30, at the Larson Justice Center this morning.

As previously reported on thedesertsun.com, the owner of CannaHelp, a medical marijuana dispensary in Palm Desert, Hochanadel was arrested last Februrary on a felony charge of possession of concentrated cannabis and a misdemeanor weapons charge, according to court records.

But the case was continued till Jan. 16, Hochanadel said in a phone interview following the hearing.

Today's hearing was unrelated to last Friday's raid at CannaHelp, located at 73-350 El Paseo. At that time, investigators with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department's Special Investigation Unit seized computers and medical marijuana as part of an investigation into whether the dispensary was selling pot for profit.

No arrests were made and Hochanadel was questioned by investigators. He has denied any wrongdoing.

At the time of the raid, Hochanadel described his talk with police as "professional." He said investigators wanted to know how his business worked.

Allegations of for profit sales at medical marijuana dispensaries in the Coachella Valley culminated with the multiple raids of a dispensary in Palm Springs, Palm Springs Caregivers, on Palm Canyon Drive.

There were allegations that an employee left items from the dispensary as a tip for a worker at the Spa Resort & Casino.

Caregivers was raided at least twice. The dispensary closed following the second raid, on Nov. 2, and has yet to reopen.

Hochanadel has said that CannaHelp remains open

[palmspringsbum]

Marijuana dispensary owner admits selling pot for profit

KESQ Channel 3
December 5, 2006

The owner of a local medicinal marijuana dispensary admits to selling pot for a profit. And that's illegal, at least on the federal level. Local police and federal agents raided CannaHelp in Palm Desert on Friday.

The owner of CannaHelp tells NewsChannel 3 he does sell marijuana for profit, but, he says, he only makes enough money to keep his business going and support his family. Meanwhile, some medicinal marijuana advocates say the feds raided CannaHelp for the right reason.

CannaHelp is back in business after local police and federal agents swooped down on the medicinal marijuana dispensary last week.

Californians voted to approve medicinal marijuana in the 90's; the federal government has always considered it illegal. That's the reason federal agents also recently raided Palm Springs Caregivers.

So far, Capp's Management is the only dispensary in the valley that hasn't been raided. We tried to talk to them several times about medicinal marijuana, but they refused again.

Meanwhile, medicinal marijuana supporters are speaking out.

"I agree with law enforcement that they can't make a profit."

"That's a big step from where they use to be because law enforcement said no you can't sell it. It's illegal to sell it. Now they're saying you can sell it. Just don't make any money on it."

CannaHelp's owner, Stacy Hochanadel, denies the business itself is a big personal moneymaker and says he'll cooperate with the ongoing federal investigation.

"I'm making money. I have to pay for my own bills. So, that's a profit. But what's excessive? I don't know," he said.

"I think he's just paying himself basically a living wage that a lot of people wouldn't even want to work for."

CannaHelp's owner also tells me, because of Friday's raid, a court date is possible, depending on the outcome of the investigation.

[palmspringsbum]

Palm Desert tells marijuana dispensary to cease and desist

KESQ NewsChannel 3
December 19, 2006


CannaHelp, the medical marijuana dispensary in Palm Desert is being told to close up shop. The city has sent the business a cease and desist letter.

Palm Desert City Attorney David Irwin told NewsChannel 3 CannaHelp violated its agreement with the city and its business license is now revoked.

CannaHelp was raided a little more than two weeks ago when authorities believed the dispensary was selling pot for profit.

The owner of CannaHelp then admitted to NewsChannel 3 that he did sell pot for a profit, saying he's paid a salary.

Since that interview aired, we have heard from the district attorney, who told us our story could be used in court.

Also, the owner called us back, threatening to file a lawsuit for showing the interview.

Stay tuned to NewsChannel 3 for more on this developing story.

[palmspringsbum]

<span class=postbold>See Also:</span> <a href=http://www.palmspringsbum.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?p=1516#1516 target=_blank>Pot dispensary defies city order to close</a> - 20 Dec 06

<span class=postbold>See Also:</span> <a href=http://www.palmspringsbum.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?p=1523#1523 target=_blank>CannaHelp still open in defiance of city order </a> - 20 Dec 06

<span class=postbold>See Also:</span> <a href=http://www.palmspringsbum.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?p=1522#1522 target=_blank>Palm Desert marijuana dispensary continues operations</a> - 21 Dec 06

<span class=postbold>See Also:</span> <a href=http://www.palmspringsbum.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?p=1526#1526 target=_blank>City back-pedals on order telling medical pot dispensary to close<a> - 21 Dec 06

CannaHelp owner to defy city cease-and-desist letter


K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
December 19, 2006

<hr class=postrule>
CannaHelp, the medical marijuana in Palm Desert, is staying open in defiance of a cease-and-desist letter from the city.

“I'm going to stay open by myself,” said owner Stacy Hochanadel, after sending his other employees home. “I don't think it's right what they're doing.”

The city issued the letter, which Hochanadel received today, following a City Council vote in closed session last Thursday, said City Attorney David Erwin.

The vote was not reported during the council's open session on Erwin's advice.

"I felt this was an action we needed to take, and we needed to take the action before we reported it publicly," Erwin said in a phone interview today. "That was my decision."

Councilman Robert A. Spiegel said the reason for the closed session vote was an investigation "not by our police department but by another police department in California.

"When they were investigated, they sold marijuana to an undercover police person who did not have correct credentials to buy marijuana," he said.

The city is not releasing the staff report presented in the closed session due to the potential for litigation on the closure order, said City Clerk Rachelle Klassen.

Hochanadel signed an agreement with the city earlier this year that the dispensary would only sell medical marijuana to patients with a medical marijuana identification card issued by Riverside County.

But, he said, that part of the agreement had been put on hold following discussions with then-Mayor Jim Ferguson, due to the financial impact on the business which would have had to turn away significant numbers of customers.

California's medical marijuana law requires counties to issue the ID cards, but they are voluntary for patients. The law does require that patients have a letter of recommendation from their doctors.

Federal law bans all use, cultivation or distribution of marijuana.

CannaHelp has had a business license issued by the city since it opened in October 2005. The dispensary was closed briefly earlier this month when the Special Investigation Unit of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department served a search and seizure warrant on the business

But, said Capt. Steve Thetford, chief of the Palm Desert Police Department, "The Palm Desert (department) hasn’t made any significant arrests out of CannaHelp" in recent months, the county investigation notwithstanding.

Spiegel, who said he voted to close the dispensary, would like to see medical marijuana regulated by the federal government.

"It should be dispensed thourgh a pharmacy," he said in phone interview today. "That’s what I would prefer to see happen and hopefully someday that’s the way it will be."

Hochanadel would have liked the city to talk with him before issuing the letter, he said.

"I was hoping my city would stand behind me and support me. At this point they’re trying to pull the carpet out from under my feet," he said.

[palmspringsbum]

3 from pot store facing charges

<span class=postbold>MEDICAL MARIJUANA: The dispensary workers are accused of felonies, a first in Riverside County. </span>

10:00 PM PST on Friday, January 5, 2007

By STEVE FETBRANDT
The Press-Enterprise

INDIO - The Riverside County district attorney's office has filed felony drug charges against the owner and two employees of an embattled Palm Desert medical marijuana dispensary.

Ingrid Wyatt, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said the case against Cannahelp shop owner Stacy Hochanadel and his employees, James Campbell and John Reynolds, could be precedent-setting because it is the first time in Riverside County that anyone associated with a storefront marijuana dispensary has been prosecuted.

Hochanadel, Campbell and Reynolds are charged with the same three felony drug counts: one of unlawful possession; one of sales, furnishing and transporting; and one of maintaining a place for the purpose of selling a controlled substance. If convicted, they face up to three years in state prison.

Wyatt said arrest warrants have been issued for all three and that Hochanadel has indicated that he plans to surrender to authorities Monday.

None of the defendants was available for comment Friday, and Hochanadel's San Diego-based attorney did not return a telephone call.

California's 10-year-old medical marijuana law allows patients with prescriptions from a doctor to grow and use marijuana, but not to sell it for profit. Federal law prohibits any cultivation, sale or use of marijuana.

"We're not targeting individuals who have a prescription and are in need of marijuana for medicinal purposes," Wyatt said. "We're targeting people who are using the guise of medicinal marijuana to actually sell marijuana. We believe there are people out there selling marijuana (illegally) for profitable purposes."

Wyatt said individuals with medical prescriptions may possess 8 ounces of dry marijuana or six mature plants or 12 small plants.

"If you have more than that, we believe it's a prosecutable case," she said.

Wyatt said authorized caregivers may dispense legally prescribed medicinal marijuana.

"It's not just anybody who can do this," she said. "You have to be a designated caregiver for the person who has the prescription. There is a process to this whole medicinal-marijuana thing."

The Palm Desert business stayed open even after the city revoked its license Dec. 18. In a letter to Cannahelp, City Attorney David Erwin said the business failed to comply with conditions of an agreement that came out of a hearing before the City Council on Feb. 23.

"Because of your failure to comply with the agreement of April 10, 2006, your license is hereby revoked and your operation must cease immediately," Erwin wrote.

City officials have said undercover authorities were able to purchase marijuana from Cannahelp without proper credentials.

Riverside County supervisors on Oct. 3 banned marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas and joined other counties that are challenging state medical-marijuana laws.

The board stopped short of an outright prohibition on marijuana-growing cooperatives but banned the distribution of marijuana to caregivers, qualified patients or patients with a state identification card even at marijuana-growing co-ops, which are legal under state law.

Then-District Attorney Grover Trask said he would not prosecute patients who use marijuana in accordance with state laws. His successor, Rod Pacheco, agreed that the district attorney's office has no authority to prosecute patients who are following state laws.

[palmspringsbum]

CannaHelp operator: I'll stay open


Keith Matheny
The Desert Sun
January 6, 2007

The operator of the CannaHelp medical marijuana dispensary vowed to continue operations after drug-related arrest warrants were issued for him and two dispensary managers Friday.

"They're hoping we'll just give up," said owner Stacy Hochanadel. "All they've done is made me more angry."

Hochanadel and CannaHelp managers James Campbell II and John Bednar face three felony counts each related to marijuana possession, sale and transport, as well as for "keeping a place to sell controlled substances," as reported on thedesertsun.com Friday.

City officials ordered the dispensary closed last Dec. 19 after an undercover police officer "who did not have correct credentials to buy medical marijuana" bought some there, city officials said at the time.

Hochanadel defied the order, remaining open with the help of volunteers. He said the officer had a doctor's recommendation for the marijuana - all that is required under state law - but no county-issued ID card.

But city officials maintain Hochanadel signed an agreement with the city last year that the dispensary would sell only to patients with a Riverside County-issued medical marijuana identification card.

Lanny Swerdlow of Palm Springs, a medical marijuana patient and advocate, blasted the arrest warrants.

"It's more of the mean-spiritedness of the Riverside County sheriff's and D.A.'s offices, trying to attack medical marijuana because they ideologically oppose it," he said. "They don't care what the voters in California have said."

County district attorney spokeswoman Ingrid Wyatt said her office is interested in ensuring the law is correctly followed.

"We're not targeting people who have a legitimate need, who have a prescription, for marijuana," she said. "We're concerned about businesses that have more than the legal amount. We're concerned about those that are selling marijuana under the guise of a dispensary for profit-making reasons."

Hochanadel said he has regularly attended county supervisor and city council meetings, urging the passage of regulations that would clarify how his dispensary should operate.

"We need the regulations and rules because people will take advantage of it if there's no guidelines," he said.

But the city, county and city of Palm Springs, which also has wrestled with medical marijuana dispensary issues, "sat on their hands to see what the others were going to do, and nobody's done anything," Hochanadel said.

Palm Desert council member Jim Ferguson said Hochanadel has been a "model operator" with "a flawless record for over a year."

Ferguson likened the alleged undercover officer's purchase of medical marijuana without a county-issued card to a convenience store selling alcohol to a minor with a false ID.

"If the state were coming down on that (alcohol-seller) they would probably give them a warning; they may fine them," he said. "They certainly wouldn't issue arrest warrants."

Palm Desert Mayor Richard Kelly declined to comment.

California was the first in the U.S. to pass a statewide initiative legalizing medical marijuana, with voters' approval of Proposition 215 in 1996. In 2003, state legislation was approved allowing counties to issue identification cards to medical users to protect them from prosecution by local law enforcement.

State law prohibits dispensing or selling medicinal marijuana for profit. Federal law bans all marijuana use.

"Whatever your feelings on medical marijuana, I believe Stacy is a believer in its medicinal value; is a user for medicinal reasons; and has done everything the city has asked him to do to run a legitimate operation," Ferguson said.

[palmspringsbum]

Charges brought against three from CannaHelp

K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
January 9, 2007

A medical marijuana dispensary in Palm Desert may be grossing more than $1.6 million a year, earning large profits for its owner and two managers, according to charges made public Monday by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

As reported on thedesertsun.com, Stacy Hochanadel, owner of the CannaHelp dispensary in Palm Desert, and James Campbell and John Bednar, managers at the dispensary, have been charged with three felony counts each on suspicion of possession, sale and transportation of marijuana and "keeping a place to sell controlled substances."

The three turned themselves in Monday at the Riverside County Jail in Indio, where their bails were set at $50,000 each.

They are scheduled to appear in court this morning.

Under California state law, medical use of marijuana is allowed for patients with a doctor's letter of recommendation but the drug cannot be sold for profit.

Federal law bans all use, cultivation or sale of the drug.

Hochanadel's wife, Shana, said in a phone interview the family's income is "nothing near" the amounts claimed. She and Hochanadel have three daughters.

"It's not true because I am the one who he gives the money to so I can pay our bills," Shana Hochanadel said in a phone interview Monday. "We're living in a rundown home and if we had all this money our bills would be paid and our house would be fixed."

The dispensary at 73-350 El Paseo remains open, staffed by employees and volunteers.

The warrant for Hochanadel's arrest details the findings of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation of CannaHelp's business operations and profits following a search and seizure raid on Dec. 1.

The warrant signed by sheriff's Investigator Robert Garcia claims:

Hochanadel said the business, which operates with a city-issued business license, grossed about $1.6 million in its first year of operation, from October 2005 to October 2006. Expected profits for 2006 are $1.7 million.

The business grosses about $40,000 a week, half of which goes toward expenses, including buying medical marijuana, paying employees and paying taxes. The remaining $20,000 is split between Hochanadel, Campbell and Bednar, with Hochanadel getting half and the two mangers getting 25 percent a piece.

Records for the week of Nov. 3-9 show Hochanadel received more than $10,000 in pay, while Campbell and Bednar received more than $5,000 each. All staff members are paid in cash.

Hochanadel said he puts $8,000 a week back into the business to keep prices low for patients, but the available records do not show this.

Employees at the dispensary said they are paid $350 to $400 a week.

The dispensary purchases marijuana from patients and vendors, and sells it at a markup of 20 to 90 percent.

[palmspringsbum]

CannaHelp holds open house, rally today


K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
January 19, 2007

<hr class=postrule>
The doors at CannaHelp will be wide open today, but the medical marijuana dispenary at 73-350 El Paseo will not be selling any of its usual products.

The dispensary is holding an open house beginning around 10 a.m. today, to give patients and the public an inside look. Medical marijuana advocates are also holding rally between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. at the dispensary, where area patients are expected to talk about their current problems obtaining medical marijuana.

"We’re hoping that the local officials will recognize the need (for dispensaries)," said Ryan Michaels, one of the volunteers keeping CannaHelp open. "I want them to take a stand."

CannaHelp is one of two Coachella Valley dispensaries that have closed or stopped selling medical marijuana in the past week.

The Collective Apothecary of Palm Springs closed last week. CannaHelp stopped selling the drug Monday, due to staff and inventory problems following felony charges the Riverside County District Attorney filed against owner Stacy Hochanadel and managers John Bednar and James Campbell.

Information: 1-877-760-4367.

[palmspringsbum]

Have you heard about the "weaseling" of the California State Medicinal Marajuana laws?

Progressive U
January 27, 2007

California passed laws in the last few years allowing for what is called medicinal marijuana for people with terminal illnesses and or conditions that bring constant pain like Multiple Sclerosis, Crohns disease, Fibromyalgia, and leukemia. These people have gotten the medical prescription from a licensed medical facility and have complete medical documentation of their need of this medication. They are not subsidised by Medicare or HMO coverage in the purchase of this medication.

Things were seemingly going fine with the medicinal marijuana laws when suddenly this month the federal govenrnment has sworn out affadavits and warrants not for the legal prescription holders but for the owners of the medicinal marijuana distribution centers. Also for the managers and employees saying that they are violating federal laws pertaining to the transport and posession of marijuana for sale. They are revoking their business licenses and shutting down their businesses. Jailing the owners because they are not prescription holders and because they are selling marijuana.

The following is an article taken from the local newspaper in the Coachella Valley
<blockquote>
As reported on thedesertsun.com, Stacy Hochanadel, owner of the CannaHelp dispensary in Palm Desert, and James Campbell and John Bednar, managers at the dispensary, have been charged with three felony counts each on suspicion of possession, sale and transportation of marijuana and "keeping a place to sell controlled substances."
</blockquote>
The three turned themselves in Monday at the Riverside County Jail in Indio, where their bails were set at $50,000 each.

They are scheduled to appear in court this morning.

Under California state law, medical use of marijuana is allowed for patients with a doctor's letter of recommendation but the drug cannot be sold for profit.

Federal law bans all use, cultivation or sale of the drug.

Hochanadel's wife, Shana, said in a phone interview the family's income is "nothing near" the amounts claimed. She and Hochanadel have three daughters.

"It's not true because I am the one who he gives the money to so I can pay our bills," Shana Hochanadel said in a phone interview Monday. "We're living in a rundown home and if we had all this money our bills would be paid and our house would be fixed."

The dispensary at 73-350 El Paseo remains open, staffed by employees and volunteers.

The warrant for Hochanadel's arrest details the findings of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation of CannaHelp's business operations and profits following a search and seizure raid on Dec. 1.
The warrant signed by sheriff's Investigator Robert Garcia claims:
<blockquote>
Hochanadel said the business, which operates with a city-issued business license, grossed about $1.6 million in its first year of operation, from October 2005 to October 2006. Expected profits for 2006 are $1.7 million.

The business grosses about $40,000 a week, half of which goes toward expenses, including buying medical marijuana, paying employees and paying taxes. The remaining $20,000 is split between Hochanadel, Campbell and Bednar, with Hochanadel getting half and the two mangers getting 25 percent a piece.

Records for the week of Nov. 3-9 show Hochanadel received more than $10,000 in pay, while Campbell and Bednar received more than $5,000 each. All staff members are paid in cash.

Hochanadel said he puts $8,000 a week back into the business to keep prices low for patients, but the available records do not show this.

Employees at the dispensary said they are paid $350 to $400 a week.

The dispensary purchases marijuana from patients and vendors, and sells it at a markup of 20 to 90 percent.
</blockquote>
I fail to believe that the federal government has an interest in seeing sick people suffering with out their medicine. Because the prescribed users are now protected by the laws that have been put in place they are weaseling their way around the law by federally prosecuting dispensaries that are acting in the capacity as pharmacists to these ill and terminal patients who rely on them for this medication. Why if it is legal for the prescribed recipients to possess and use is it not legal to provide an avenue for them to continue receiving their prescribed medicine instead of forcing them out into the streets to purchase their medication illegally and put them in danger of being arrested themselves. I don't think this is what California voters intended.

[palmspringsbum]

Cannahelp Owner Due in Court Wednesday

Updated: Sep 26, 2007 08:36 AM PDT


KESQ.com news services

The owner of a former El Paseo medical marijuana dispensary that recently reopened on Highway 111 and then closed again -- is due in court Wednesday morning along with his two managers for their preliminary hearing on drug charges.

CannaHelp owner Stacy Hochanadel, James Campbell, and John Bednar all face three felony counts each of marijuana possession, sales and transport.

The hearing scheduled for today will help a judge determine if there is enough evidence to order the trio to stand trial.

However, Bednar's attorney, Philip La Rocca said the hearing would likely be continued because Hochanadel's new attorney still had not received some discovery in the case.

Hochanadel shut down his El Paseo location in mid-September after his lease expired following a May vote by the Palm Desert City Council banning medical marijuana dispensaries -- but then he moved to Highway 111 -- in violation of the ban because he said he did not want to let down his 1,500 patients.

However, Hochanadel bowed to what he called "pressure" from the city and shut down his latest location at 73625 Highway 111 Monday.

"Palm Desert threatened to serve me with another cease-and-desist order," Hochanadel said.

Some businesses inside the Highway 111 business complex, including Kumon Learning Center, a math and reading tutoring center for children -- complained about the dispensary, according to Hochanadel.

The center's manager did not want to comment on the complaint.

Hochanadel said he hoped to open a store within the next 60 to 90 days in Palm Springs, where city officials are working on an ordinance that would allow collectives and cooperatives.

"It's just too hard to do business in Palm Desert," Hochanadel said -- noting he would still "deliver" to his patients in the meantime.

On Dec. 19, CannaHelp's El Paseo location was served with a cease-and-desist order by Palm Desert stemming from the alleged sale of marijuana to an undercover officer who did not have a prescription for the drug.

Hochanadel signed an agreement with the city before the order was issued in which he agreed to sell only to patients with proper identification cards issued by the state, according to prosecutors.

Under California law, marijuana can be sold only on a not-for-profit basis and on the recommendation of a physician. The sale and use of the drug for any purpose remains illegal under federal law.

Marijuana and financial records were seized at CannaHelp in December during a raid by Riverside County sheriff's personnel, who alleged the dispensary was a for-profit business, according to sheriff's investigator Manny Garcia.

After a warrant was issued for their arrests, Hochanadel, Campbell and Bednar all surrendered at the Indio Jail last January.

At Hochanadel's Jan. 9 arraignment, his attorney at the time, James Warner, said the dispensary was nonprofit and prosecutors had "no proof" against his client.

However, last month, Judge Thomas N. Douglass granted a request by Hochanadel to remove Warner from the case and replace him with Palm Springs attorney Ulrich McNulty.

Attorneys for Hochanadel's co-defendants expressed concerns that Warner could be called as a witness in the case because he allegedly helped Hochanadel set up his business by providing legal advice.

McNulty said last month it was still too early to tell whom would be called in the case and that he needed a chance to review the discovery.