Over the past year, a city far north of the Santa Barbara County line has been kicking around the idea of allowing up to two medical marijuana dispensaries to operate within city limits. But that discussion—which has sent both accolades and finger-wagging in the city council’s direction—seems to be dead in the water, at least for now.
On April 26, a visibly worn-out Morro Bay City Council failed to agree on terms to move forward with the proposal, but instead voted to simply end the discussion in the short-term while leaving the door open for the issue to return in the future.
A number of residents had voiced strong opposition to the city’s proposal—some fundamentally against medicinal marijuana, some citing the outcome of the last time the city allowed a dispensary—while others, including patients from neighboring communities, praised the council for at least toying with the idea, noting that the nearest legal establishments are in Santa Barbara and San Francisco.
Though the council majority was not for the idea, one consensus did seem to be reached: that by all accounts, the last dispensary to operate in the city was a “model” business, despite being shut down amid a joint federal Drug Enforcement Agency and San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department investigation.
That “model” business, as some may remember, was owned and operated by Charles C. Lynch, who has since become the biggest San Luis Obispo County celebrity since Chuck Liddell.
What does Lynch have to say about the dispensary issue in Morro Bay? Actually, not much, as the Sun learned. Turns out Lynch has been preoccupied these days trying to reclaim a somewhat normal life that he hasn’t even had time to follow it.
“No, I’ve been so busy working lately, I’ve been kind of out of it,” Lynch told the Sun in a phone interview following the council meeting.
In 2007, Lynch’s non-profit Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers dispensary was raided after an investigation by local deputies failed to establish any violations of state law. He was subsequently convicted in federal court of selling marijuana, and sentenced by a sympathetic judge to a year and a day in prison—the lowest possible sentence under federal law.
Lynch’s attorneys appealed that conviction at about the same time federal prosecutors also appealed the judge’s sentence. Both appeals are still inching their way through the courts. Despite being out on appeal, Lynch said his family had to raise $400,000 for his bond.
Meanwhile, the man is “worn thin,” despite sitting down for a number of interviews on national news outlets—including Larry King Live—and a documentary featured prominently at 2011’s SLO International Film Festival. He filed bankruptcy in 2010, and said he lost his Arroyo Grande home of 10 years to foreclosure in January.
Lynch now rents a modest home in San Luis Obispo, and after three years of unemployment, recently found work at a SLO-based software firm.
“It’s been rough,” he said. “I’ve kind of been blacklisted. Now when I look for a job I have to click that ‘Felon’ button. I had a few interviews that went well, but when people realized who I am, the main question becomes: Am I going to jail?”
Lynch said he still reports in by phone to federal officials every week, and once a month makes the drive to Santa Barbara to report in person.
“They’ve lightened up a little on me, though,” he said. “I used to have to drive to L.A. twice a month just to go in for a five-minute meeting. It came to a point where I kind of got upset because I don’t have the money to do that.”
Nowadays, Lynch said he tries to keep up on local medicinal marijuana issues. The recent well-publicized joint SLO County Narcotics Task Force and Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department investigation, which nabbed 12 local individuals for operating medical marijuana collectives, is one story he’s followed.
“Watching that play out—and I knew some of the people arrested—it just seemed like Hedges’ last stand,” he said, referring to former SLO County Sheriff Pat Hedges, who targeted Lynch’s nonprofit in the last years of his tenure. “And it sounds like [new sheriff Ian] Parkinson knew all about it even though he said differently.”
Lynch referred back to the discrepancy between state and federal laws, and lamented on the money he called “wasted” in prosecuting medical marijuana providers who follow the Attorney General’s guidelines for operation and still get arrested. He said that the federal government has spent millions of dollars prosecuting him—and because he was appointed federal public defenders, defending him, as well.
“[Prop. 215 has] been law for over 15 years now and everyone’s still fighting about it,” he said.
Despite his own financial situation and the stain on his character, Lynch added that the people he’s met throughout the process has been the one positive in an otherwise agonizing experience.
“I’m not going to give up yet,” Lynch said. “I’m going to keep up the fight until they put me in cuffs or I can walk away.”
Staff Writer Matt Fountain can be reached at mfountain@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 5-12, 2011.