The latest buzz in pot-related news on the Central Coast is that a local business owner is trying to open a medical marijuana dispensary.
Tammy Murray moved to the area about a year ago from Goshen in the Central Valley, where she owned and operated a club called Compassionate Cannabis Information Center, Inc.
Murray said she refers to her business as a club to avoid any legal uncertainty. She submitted her paperwork for a minor use permit in May, and is still waiting for approval.
In a recent interview with the Sun, Murray said she decided to open a similar club in San Luis Obispo County after reading about the Narcotics Task Force raiding local mobile collectives and arresting 12 people.
“That prompted me to think, ‘People really need a safe access point for the distribution of medical marijuana,’” she said.
So Murray started looking at real estate.
“It was hard to find a place,” she said, explaining that county code compliance mandates that dispensaries be located at least 1,000 feet away from schools and other areas where youth congregate. They also can’t be located in central business districts.
But after a lot of searching, she finally found a place in the 1400 block of South Fourth Street in Oceano. Escrow closed on the property on April 20 of this year.
“It’s a good central location,” Murray said, adding that she’s already reached out to residents and business owners in the immediate area. “We’re doing things the right way and for the right reasons.”
Of course, some people in the community—including law enforcement and county government officials—still have concerns, specifically that the dispensary would attract criminals to the area.
But Murray said she’s confident her business will “attract the right kind of people.”
“We’re going to be catering primarily to disabled veterans and people with [medical marijuana] cards,” she said. “The people who need medical marijuana are really underrepresented. When you’re in pain or having anxiety, the last thing you want to do is speak in front of people. … I want to speak for those people.”
Murray has first-hand knowledge of what she says are the benefits of marijuana. A retired U.S. Air Force veteran, Murray said she suffers from tinnitus and residual pain from a service-related ankle injury.
“I’ve been a homeopathic practitioner for over 20 years,” she said, adding that she believes in taking medication that’s organic rather than “something that’s made out of synthetic chemicals that your body can’t process.”
Employees at the San Luis Obispo County Department of Planning and Building didn’t return phone calls as of press time.
When asked about the proposed club, SLO Sheriff’s Department spokesman Rob Bryn said, “It would be premature to discuss the legality of the business model that the applicant is putting forward … until it’s been reviewed by the planning department.”
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 4, 2011.