Proposed 'One Love' dispensary gets none in City of Folsom

http://blogs.sacbee.com/weed-wars/2010/07/planned-one-love-dispensary-gets-none-in-city-of-folsom.html


The City of Folsom has no love for a proposed One Love Wellness Center.

The suburban Sacramento city is aggressively pursuing a lawsuit (http://blogs.sacbee.com/weed-wars/cofonelovepa.pdf) to keep the marijuana dispensary out of town, even after backers of the cannabis club announced they have given up.

But Folsom City Attorney Bruce Cline said the city had cause for suspicion after three men applied for a city license to open up a "medical supplies" business.

In court papers (http://blogs.sacbee.com/weed-wars/cofonelovedeclroblesinopp.pdf), Fernando Robles of Sacramento said he and partners Salvador Molina and Tej Baath later directly approached Folsom officials and said they wanted to open a dispensary in town.

Informed that the city had an outright ban against pot shops, Robles said: "I did argue that the city was not following California law regarding medical marijuana, and I felt that under California law we could open our dispensary and challenge the city ordinance."

That was enough to send the city to court. A recent lawsuit, seeking a restraining order banning One Love from opening, said operation of a marijuana outlet in Folsom would be a public nuisance - "for which harm to the city and community is presumed."

"By defendant One Love's own admissions and action, the likelihood of a nuisance ... occurring is real and substantial," the city suit charged. "Representatives (for the proposed dispensary) have told the city attorney that they have obtained a location for the operations ... within the city, though refusing to disclose the location, and that they intend to open."

In court papers last week, Robles said: "After considering or options, we chose not to open a dispensary in the City of Folsom and took no further steps to do so or challenge the city."

But Folsom is pushing on with its suit to keep One Love out of town. A Sacramento Superior Court judge set a hearing on the matter for July 26.

Meanwhile, there is another One Love Wellness Center that is not at all happy with the Folsom controversy.

Lino Catabran, a board member for the dispensary on El Camino Avenue in Sacramento, said it has no tie to the attempted Folsom venture.

"I'm not trying to open a dispensary there. We've had a problem...with someone trying to infringe on our name."