Monterey, CA-- A medical marijuana dispensary opened along Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey. It's called My Caregiver, a cooperative that's been on the hush since it opened in late November. Jhonrico Carrnshimba is the director there and says the cooperative is a charitable organization and because of that, permission from the city isn't needed.
"There's a lot of need for patients in Monterey County. We needed to just establish a healthcare cooperative, which is what we did and yes we did ask permission to do a healthcare cooperative, and that is what we're doing here," says Carrnshimba.
However, the city was quite surprised to find out that this 'health care cooperative' turned out to be a pot club. The collective registered with the city and didn't say medical marijuana would be distributed.
"I was shocked number one, number two, did they get a permit? Yes, they did but I guess marijuana wasn't mentioned, so the city wasn't privy to that," says Councilwoman Libby Downey.
Carrnshimba says the cannabis collective is off to a great start with 70 registered members. The medical pot club was opened by the same man who tried to open clinics in Seaside and Marina. Carrnshimba adds getting this operation up and running prior to talking to the city is the only way to make it successful.
Two doors down, the manager of International Market and Deli says My Caregiver will not hurt business. Mayor Chuck Della Sala said he learned about the dispensary this afternoon and immediately asked that staff looked into the matter. "As responsible city council members we would like to hear from the public before making any decisions so we keep an open mind," says Mayor Chuck Della Sala.
Mayor Della Sala says they hope take this matter up at the next meeting or at the first meeting in February. However the question is how far will they take this fight. If the city decides to take the route Gilroy did and take legal matters into its hands, Carrnshimba says the My Caregiver Cooperative will fight back.
