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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Long-distance running comes with heart risks Dubs' auction preview draws bidders and gawkers Get Up & Go: Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014 Emergency Services Expect delays on I-5 near exit 43 Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency Services Big illegal marijuana garden busted in forest outside Ashland A pair of recent arsons in northeast Medford have the attention of police Emergency Services Fire chars auto repair shop, vehicles Politics and Elections Talent to consider taxing recreational, but not medicinal marijuana Candidate files false statements Just one seat will be contested for Central Point council Gold Hill mayor faces challenger; other races have one candidate each Medford proposes new rules for pawn shops to help nab thieves Education UPDATED: Medford school bus in crash; no students hurt, officials say Free TED talk simulcast in Ashland Bear spotted near Central Point school Eagle Point helps students with first-day jitters Back-to-school shopping can add up Environment Dubs' auction preview draws bidders and gawkers OR-7's pups are true wolves ODFW director Elicker will step down Medford hunter's exotic collection goes on sale Elusive owls get new home in Cascades State news Nation - World Obituaries Death Notices David Allen Riant Dr. Stephen Edward Drabik Martha M. 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NW Raw Kelly's Crepes Basil & Berries Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW Expect delays on I-5 near exit 43 ... Big illegal marijuana garden busted in forest outside Ashland ... OR-7's pups are true wolves ... Expect delays on I-5 near exit 43 ... Big illegal marijuana garden busted in forest outside Ashland ... OR-7's pups are true wolves ... MEDICAL MARIJUANA The Greenery awaits its day in court Meanwhile, staffers of the shuttered dipensary struggle to make ends meet Supporters of The Greenery, a medical marijuana dispensary shut down by the city of Phoenix, are preparing for their day in court later this month. By Buffy Pollock Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Buffy Pollock Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 29, 2014 @ 7:56 pm By Buffy Pollock Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 29, 2014 @ 7:56 pm » Social News Supporters of The Greenery, a medical marijuana dispensary shut down by the city of Phoenix, are preparing for their day in court later this month. City attorney Ryan Kirchoff said Friday that a hearing to determine whether the downtown dispensary can reopen is scheduled for Sept. 22. A temporary injunction was issued by Jackson County Circuit Judge Ron Grensky in June, blocking the nonprofit dispensary from providing medicinal marijuana on the grounds that it violated federal law, went against a yearlong city moratorium and did not possess a license to operate under the state medical marijuana program guidelines. Previously located in Ashland, The Greenery opened in downtown Phoenix in January without a business license after Executive Director Andrea Adams said a city planner told her that a nonprofit dispensary would be a permitted use in the downtown. After a year of heated debate between supporters of the dispensary and city officials, the facility was shuttered just weeks after appointment of Kirchoff as the city's legal counsel. While the facility initially offered consulting services following its June closure, Adams said this week she had posted a sign on the door earlier this summer and had been referring patients to a pair of dispensaries in nearby Talent. "We had done a lot of patient outreach at first, after the closure, to make sure patients still had safe access to their medication," Adams said Thursday. "But with dispensaries now being opened up successfully in surrounding areas, the most responsible option is to give them those two legal options. On our answering machine, if you call, the two addresses are on there. So we're literally sending our business to the competition. But what else can we do? Screw everyone over because we're getting screwed?" Adams produced a copy of the letter, from a former city planner, for the Mail Tribune this week, voicing frustration at the previous year's efforts to operate a functional business while receiving opposition — and even citations — by city officials. Kirchoff, who has worked on similar cases in other areas of the state, said that the upcoming court case likely would not be much different from the June hearing because of very little change in the city's standpoint. The Greenery has since obtained its state license, he noted, but the city still has an active moratorium on dispensaries and marijuana distribution still violates federal law. "The bottom line is that their right to do what they're doing under state law is preempted by federal law," Kirchoff said. The city charter, he noted, holds City Council members to the task of upholding city, state and federal law. A ballot measure in November will seek voter approval of a charter amendment that would remove the oath to uphold federal law, in order to spare council members from violating federal law after the city's moratorium is lifted in May. "The issue has been debated thoroughly and politically and otherwise," Kirchoff said. "In cities around the state, some have made the decision politically that it's illegal to do that and some have take position that if state law allows it, then the feds can enforce it if they want to." Mayor Jeff Bellah said, in his opinion, little had changed since the temporary injunction. "There's really nothing changed from our standpoint. We're still standing on the point it was against federal law. So that's pretty much that." Adams said she selected the city of Phoenix for the building she purchased, the ability to get owner-financing and the city's initial approval of her business model. "I think we will ultimately win this battle, but what's incredibly difficult right now is trying to maintain any kind of a life when you have no income and there's this ongoing battle," Adams said. "The only reason we're OK here is because the previous owner who financed the building has been very generous and supportive and flexible. And because we have attorneys who aren't focused, for now, on being paid in full." Adams said supporters of medical cannabis and The Greenery "aren't going to give up on fighting for patients." "We're still fighting, because how could we give up now? But five of our staff, since the closure, have moved in with other of us staff and had to give up their homes. Four of us are living in a two-bedroom and some people are even camping in staff members' yards. ... We've come too far to give up, but I don't know how much more some of us can take." Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] . By Buffy Pollock Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Buffy Pollock Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 29, 2014 @ 7:56 pm » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. 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