Local pot dispensary still delivers; city has no plans to
re-file lawsuit or reconsider ban against Purple Cross Rx
A state appellate court ruling did not provide the clarity that
medical marijuana advocates and detractors alike were hoping for,
but it has bolstered the confidence of city council candidate Scott
McPhail, who continues to dispense pot to local patients through
his Purple Cross Rx delivery service.
Local pot dispensary still delivers; city has no plans to re-file lawsuit or reconsider ban against Purple Cross Rx
A state appellate court ruling did not provide the clarity that medical marijuana advocates and detractors alike were hoping for, but it has bolstered the confidence of city council candidate Scott McPhail, who continues to dispense pot to local patients through his Purple Cross Rx delivery service.
The court ruling, based on a case in Anaheim, did not clarify whether California cities have the right to ban all such dispensaries, but the three-judge panel did rule that a lower court “erred” in declaring that federal law, which prohibits any use of marijuana, pre-empted state law that allows specific medical marijuana activities.
“It wasn’t the big bombshell that we were expecting as far as making a ruling on whether bans are legal or not, but they did send it back to the court and made the ruling on the federal issue,” McPhail said. “I just know it’s a positive move.”
McPhail, at odds with city officials for months after opening a dispensary near the heart of downtown Hollister, vacated the property just before the matter was going to trial. The city subsequently dropped its case, but McPhail is now renting a building at 1785 San Felipe Road and has advertised on the Purple Cross website that patients could “visit our new location in Hollister.”
McPhail said that one of his web designers “set that up and I totally forgot to bring (the reference to visiting the location) down. There’s nothing even in there as far as Purple Cross goes.” His landlord, former county Supervisor Richard Scagliotti, previously said that his lease with McPhail specifically forbids distribution of medical marijuana from the building unless the city reversed course and allowed dispensaries to operate.
City Attorney Stephanie Atigh said that while three people addressed the issue at the Aug. 16 council meeting, “the council did not direct staff to do anything; it’s status quo.”
Despite not operating a bricks-and-mortar dispensary in Hollister, McPhail said he still services his more than 400 clients through a delivery service.
“I feel we are able to service the area without having to have a storefront at the moment,” he said. “I’m just trying to get the city’s approval again before I make another move.”
Atigh said that the information the city has gathered by driving by McPhail’s San Felipe Road building and talking with his landlord has not led it to believe that he is operating in violation of city ordinances.
“As far as I know he’s not operating in the city,” she said. “Therefore, we don’t have a problem … at the moment.”
McPhail is also sparring with another city, Los Banos, where he recently opened a medical marijuana dispensary in another building owned by Scagliotti. He said he plans to appeal the administrative citations he has been given each day and is warning officials there that they are “opening themselves up to a lawsuit” by “harassing us.”
Having previously indicated an interest in going before the Hollister City Council to ask it to reconsider the dispensary issue, McPhail this week said that while he is “not going to go to a meeting and beg for anything, I’m going to reach out to them by phone and try to hash it out.”
“I’m hoping these (recent court) rulings can make sense to them and they want to talk about it because it did address their issues of federal law preempting local laws,” he said. “They ruled on it, it’s black and white, so what’s the next excuse for Hollister?”
Atigh said this week that “I don’t intend to go back to council about this,” referring to whether the city would reconsider its prohibition on dispensaries.
McPhail’s repeated legal sparring with the city prompted him to throw his hat into the ring as a candidate for city council. His election plan, he admits, “is not your conventional plan.”
“You’re not going to see me walking house to house and you won’t see all that propaganda about me,” he said. “I’m not putting too much effort into it. I think I can win without spending a dime. I grew up in that district and I’m going to do it way low-cost, all volunteers.”
McPhail hopes to gather grassroots support for his candidacy through social media such as MySpace and Facebook, as well as by word of mouth. He also plans a voter registration drive that will reach out to a variety of potential voters, including “rehabilitated felons” like himself – people that he said made and learned from their mistakes.
“I’m not putting a dime into this and I believe I’ll win,” he said. “I’m not going to show my face until I win, I’m too busy.”
Pinnacle wire services contributed to this report.
