[420 Girl]

COSTA MESA – Advocates for safer access to medical marijuana rallied outside Costa Mesa City Hall on Saturday to protest the city's recent crackdown on dispensaries.

"They have to listen to what people want," said Jordan Wallick, general manager of MedMar Patient Care, which received a cease-and-desist notice to shut down Thursday. "The people and patients want us here."

Up to 40 people – from patients to collective representatives – lined Fair Drive holding signs and encouraging drivers to honk their horns in favor of their cause.

Advocates argue that shutting down dispensaries will force them to seek medical marijuana on the black market and that they have been vilified for using what they say is a better alternative to prescription drugs.

However, city officials said such businesses are banned by a 2005 city ordinance. The dispensaries, which were operating without proper business licenses, have drawn complaints from citizens and other business owners, city officials said.

On Thursday, code enforcement and police officers issued cease-and-desist notices to Nutritional Concepts PRC, 2787 Bristol Ave.; MedMar Patient Care Collective, 440 Fair Drive; and Live Well O.C., 440 Fair Drive. Some of the businesses have hired an attorney and intend to fight, Wallick said.

Last month, police raided West Coast Wellness on Logan Avenue near Baker Street and arrested three men on suspicion of illegally selling marijuana and drug possession. A woman was arrested on suspicion of marijuana possession.

Local cities have policed dispensaries because of conflicting federal and state policies and laws toward medical marijuana. Fountain Valley officials imposed a 45-day moratorium on marijuana dispensaries Tuesday to figure out how to tackle a growing number of such businesses in their city.

In 1996, state voters passed Prop. 215, which decriminalized the cultivation and use of marijuana by seriously-ill patients who had a doctor's approval. Lawmakers in 2003 approved expanding access to patients, including a voluntary identification card system for patients and primary caregivers.

Rita Gonzales, 32, who recently moved to Costa Mesa, said she has used medical marijuana since she was 14 years old to deal with depression and arthritis. Gonzales, who previously had five drunken driving charges, said she has had no desire to drink alcohol since smoking medical marijuana.

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