Dispensary Approved Near Medical Center Sparks Opposition

The opening of an approved marijuana dispensary at a medical center in La Mesa is facing opposition from doctors and nearby businesses. A conditional-use permit to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the La Mesa Medical Plaza on University Avenue near El Cajon Boulevard was approved by the La Mesa planning commission, but some practitioners who have businesses in the medical center aren’t happy about it.  350 Untested Rape Kits Sent to Outside Lab: DA Opponents are scheduled to voice their concerns at an appeal to the La Mesa City Council to overturn the permit at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Some scheduled to challenge the permit at the meeting Tuesday take issue that the dispensary’s location is located near a children’s clinic. The San Diego Center for Children, which serves as an outpatient mental health clinic for minors, also resides in the La Mesa Medical Plaza. Shooting Victim Dies in ER Parking Lot: SDPD “They can recognize we are a minor-oriented facility and add us to what they call their sensitive-use address list and that ensures that any future dispensaries cannot be within 1,000 feet of our program,” the clinic’s Vice President, Cheryl Rode, said.Doctors are also concerned with how close the facility being is to their practices. Arrest in 1986 Escondido Homicide Tied to New Technology “I don’t want my patients to be seeing that stuff and having any sort of thought in their head that that would be something that I condone or be part of,” said Dr. Larry Pawl, who owns a private practice in the plaza.Pawl does say that if the dispensary is regulated and in the proper place, he would consider its merits. “If they’re able to do that with this dispensary and in a proper place then I think it will be able to work out and help out a lot of people,” Pawl said. A letter of appeal sent to the La Mesa Planning Commission said the children’s center is a 131-year-old non-profit that serves children with mental, emotional and behavioral disorders. 
Source: NBC San Diego