Proposed Taraval St. Pot Dispensary Draws Fire

By Thomas K. Pendergast

A proposed medical cannabis dispensary (MCD) on Taraval Street is meeting stiff resistance from some in the surrounding community, yet the non-profit's proprietors argue they are just trying to bring relief to citizens suffering from chronic pain.

"This is about getting people safe access to their medicine," said Paul Hansbury, one of three people who would run the dispensary. "It's not about getting people high. It's about getting people their medicine."

George Schoepp's family has owned Crown Lock in the Richmond District for generations and he is the current owner of the Bay Area Compassion Health Center (BACHC). He said that a lot of the resistance is based on misinformation.

"The people who are opposed to it think it's a pot club," said Schoepp. "It's not a pot club. It's not a bar where people smoke pot. People will be picking up their medicinal marijuana and then they'll leave."

But many Sunset residents are concerned about the effects of a marijuana distributor in their neighborhood.

A spokeswoman for SF Supervisor Carmen Chu's office said the vast majority of e-mails, phone calls and letters that the supervisor has received on the issue have been against the proposed dispensary.

"Most of the feedback that we've been getting is against this proposal," said Katy Tang, Chu's aide. "We're not supporting it, based on the community feedback that we've been getting."

Tang said they have been encouraging people to show up and speak at an upcoming SF Planning Commission meeting, which has not been calendared as of presstime but is expected sometime in April. The Commission makes a final decision on whether the dispensary will be approved or rejected.

"My feeling is it just draws the wrong element into the neighborhood," said Dr. Erich Habelt, a dentist with an office on Taraval that sits a block away from the proposed MCD location, which is on Taraval Street between 31st and 32nd avenues.

"Since it is an illegal drug, I feel a pharmacy should be dispensing it because they have jurisdiction over controlled substances," he said. "I know they have a couple of dispensaries out on Ocean Avenue. Do we need one on every block now?"

Susan Tibbon, who would assist in running the MCD, pointed out that the dispensaries on Ocean Avenue and the one in the Inner Richmond District are the only ones on the west side of town and there are none in the Sunset. She said one woman contacted her who suffers from debilitating chronic pain and is prescribed morphine or Vicodin, but she didn't want to become addicted to these drugs and she couldn't function decently on them, so she was glad to see a dispensary opening up near her. Tibbon said the elderly woman told her that because of limited mobility it now takes her half a day to get to the nearest dispensary and back home.

Jessica D. Manuel, of the Grace United Methodist Church, which sits on Taraval about four blocks from the dispensary, wrote in an e-mail: "Due to the fact that the place is so near to the church, schools it's not a good place to know and experience by all the children, young adults and people living nearby. They should at least look for a place that is remote, away from the church, schools, etc., in order not to encourage young ones any unexpected experience."

Hansbury said the rules of the BACHC exceed the standards required by the City regarding marijuana distribution. He said although they are allowed to sell to anyone with a doctor's referral who is 18 years old or older, they will not be selling to anyone under 21 years of age without a parent or guardian coming in with them. Everyone, regardless of age, must sit in the waiting area while a dispensary worker calls the doctor who issued the permit and confirms that the referral is legitimate. They also will not allow any loitering outside the establishment.

"We'll be keeping track of the (collective) members and the expiration date of their doctor's recommendation in our data base," Hansbury said. "If we see people buying eight ounces a week it's going to raise a red flag for us and we'll call the doctor and ask 'what's up with this?'"

He also mentioned that BACHC is part of a collective of independently-owned cannabis dispensaries which get their marijuana from legal growing sources, all of them outside San Francisco.

"We are in no way, and never will be, connected with any of the grow houses in the Sunset. We have our own places that are all outside the City. We support the police raiding illegal grow houses," he said.

Schoepp, who is confined to a wheelchair because he was paralyzed after being shot in 1982 by a burglar breaking into his house, uses medical marijuana for chronic back pain. He claims he is not in it for the money.

"There's a need for safe access to medical marijuana in a place that I would send my mother to," said Schoepp. "I just believe in medical marijuana and I think it should be out there for people to obtain safely."

Capt. Denise Schmitt, the commanding officer at the Taraval Station, acknowledges that the dispensary is in a legally permissible area, but she still has a number of reservations and concerns about the location.

Her concerns include "after sales," meaning someone purchases marijuana from the dispensary and then goes somewhere else to sell it illegally for a higher price. She referred to police investigations at an Ocean Avenue dispensary, which showed that although the dispensary was operating legally, some customers were taking the marijuana to nearby Aptos Playground and Aptos Middle School to resell it.

She also said that more serious crime is sometimes involved, like armed robbery.

"Criminals know drugs and money will be in the area. It's generally a cash business, so that's attractive for either the burglary or armed robbery of people coming and going to the dispensary."

Another concern she has is the fact that Abraham Lincoln High School has an open campus and is just eight blocks and a short Muni train ride away from the dispensary, creating a situation ripe for the development of an after-sales market.

"That's the concern we have about that location," she said.

In response, Hansbury points out that the dispensary by regulation must be at least 1,000 feet from a school or youth center and they are in compliance with this regulation. He also cited anecdotal statistics and reports that suggest crime does not increase significantly around marijuana dispensaries.

"It's no more dangerous than opening up a liquor store or a pharmacy," he said.

Opening up a pharmacy is just what Richard Plato thinks is a better alternative. A resident of the Sunset for 64 years, a homeowner and business owner, he is opposed to this type of facility doling out cannabis at its proposed location.

"I'm not opposed to medical marijuana," said Plato. "I'm just opposed to where they want to put it." As for whether or not a dispensary should be allowed on Taraval, Schmitt deferred that decision to the community. "That's what the people have to decide," she said.