[420 Girl]

Tammy Murray says she's prepared to close her doors today to comply with the county's medical marijuana ordinance.

Murray owns Goshen's Compassionate Cannibas, and hers is one of six dispensaries within the county that have been ordered to shut down by Sunday or face criminal charges.

"I never thought this was going to happen," Murray said. "Especially, since they have been allowed for the last few years."

She's been clearing out her storefront space in a strip mall off Highway 99. Her one employee has been laid off.

"I definitely want to comply with whatever the sheriff is telling me to do," she said.

Murray is now looking at baking Mexican pastries as a way to earn a living.

Last month, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors voted to halt distribution of marijuana in unincorporated areas. The ordinance officially took effect Dec. 10, though the businesses were given until Sunday to shut down. It does not affect medical-marijuana organizations within incorporated cities.

The dispensaries — near Ivanhoe, Goshen, Earlimart, Tipton, Exeter and Porterville — have been serving thousands of customers throughout the county. An estimated 10,000 people in Tulare County use medicinal marijuana.

Sheriff's Department officials said the county's six dispensaries are out of compliance with both state and federal laws.

One of the reasons is the number of their clients. Dispensaries, by the state's definition, have hundreds of patients and operate for profit.

On Dec. 10, deputies served the owners of each of the dispensaries with an order to shut down within 10 days, said Cpt. Mike Boudreaux of the Sheriff's Department's investigations unit.

Under the new county ordinance, no organization that operates as a dispensary will be allowed in the unincorporated areas until the distribution of medical marijuana is recognized by federal law, Boudreaux said.

State law allows collectives to grow marijuana or process products for patients with prescriptions, but federal law prohibits the sale of marijuana in any form.

If state and federal laws come into agreement, the county will limit the number of facilities to three, and none of the dispensaries will be allowed to operate near schools or allow customers to test the drug on-site.

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...wn-sunday.html