[420 Girl]

SANTA CRUZ -- The city's first medical marijuana dispensary is hoping to build a new kitchen for its two pastry chefs so they can bake pot brownies, cookies and truffles in a controlled space at its shop.

Lisa Molyneux, owner of Greenway Compassionate Relief Inc. in Harvey West, is slated to ask the city Planning Commission on Thursday to approve plans for a new, 430-square foot commercial kitchen. Now, the two chefs rent a commercial kitchen, which Molyneux said she can't watch as closely as if she had her own.

"We're just doing our best to keep ahead of the curve and make sure everything is above board, made in a clean facility and controlled," Molyneux said.

The medical edibles sell for anywhere between $5 and $20, Molyneux said, depending on the strength of the drug inside. Treats include simple snacks like peanut butter to creations from one pastry chef who "just does chocolate," Molyneux said.

The baked goods are important because they "work the longest and with the least euphoria if used correctly," the Planning Commission staff report said.

Molyneux's shop opened in 2005 and was the first medical marijuana dispensary in the county. Molyneux, who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1997, said she opened the shop after growing tired of the 150-mile round-trip drive to Oakland for her own medication.

That cancer is now in remission, but Molyneux said she wanted to help other county medical marijuana patients buy their drugs closer to home.

While Molyneux's application to open Greenway Compassionate Relief was opposed by police in 2005, a look at law enforcement records show that officers have responded to few calls in the neighborhood since the shop opened, said Zach Friend, spokesman for the Santa Cruz Police Department.

Police did not oppose the kitchen application, and it could be approved with little fanfare at Thursday's meeting, said Eric Marlatt, principal planner with the city's Planning Department. Planning department staff is recommending approval of the kitchen and included the matter on the commission's consent agenda, which is made up of items passed as a group with one vote, according to meeting documents.

Councilman Mike Rotkin said he backed the recommendation, noting that Molyneux and her staff have helped clean up and police the neighborhood around her shop.

"I can't imagine why we wouldn't be open and generous to them doing whatever they want because they're doing a great job of carrying out their operation," Rotkin said.

Conditions for kitchen approval include keeping food scraps out of the public garbage collection and driving them directly to the dump, and attaching warning labels to all baked goods stating that the snack contains medical cannabis, according to the staff report.

The meeting will be 7 p.m. Thursday in the City Council chambers, 809 Center St., Santa Cruz.
Contact G. Bookwalter at 706-3286 or gbookwalter@santacruzsentinel.com.

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