Pot Club May Go Up in Smoke

Less than a week after  on California marijuana dispensaries, one of Newark’s two pot clubs was told it can no longer operate in town.

NBD Cannabis Collective’s application for the proper permits and licenses to operate a medical marijuana dispensary at 7180 Thornton Ave. was shot down by six of the city’s seven planning commissioners Tuesday night.

Commissioner William Fitts was absent.

opened in 2009 — without a business license and after city staff told an NBD representative that city zoning did not allow for the sale of medical marijuana.

For two years, the city and NBD were involved in civil and criminal litigations. In civil court, the pot club was directed to go forward with an application for a conditional use permit, according to city officials.

More than 20 people attended the Tuesday night's public hearing, with about a handful of people speaking, some in favor of allowing it to be sold and others against.

Fremont resident Howard Lawson has used medical marijuana from NBD Cannabis Collective for months. It’s a safer way, he said.

“I used to have to buy it off the street. It’s very dangerous buying drugs off the street. You could get marijuana laced with a methamphetamine which could kill people,” Lawson said. “You won’t get that in a major clinic like they do have in Newark. I think it is very, very beneficial for the city.”

Lawson said he suffers from a nerve disease caused by a carpal tunnel surgery. The pain began in his forearm and spread to both arms and down the whole left side of his body. Since he began using medical marijuana, which he has a prescription for, Lawson said he has less pain, and his mood has lifted.

“I’m at a point where my quality of life is OK,” Lawson said.

“Please do not shut down this clinic. If it needs to be regulated, then let’s regulate it but [let’s] not just shut it down,” Lawson told the commissioners. “I know the [NBD employees]. They’re very knowledgeable. … It is a really nice dispensary.”

But other residents said the dispensary has brought crime and been a negative impact to neighboring businesses.

Newark resident Melina Reyes said since NBD’s opening, the area near her family’s businesses has seen an increase in crime and vandalism. She said her parents’ businesses have been burglarized three times in the past two years.

“The environment in downtown has changed because of NBD and their presence,” Reyes said. “This is affecting our businesses, not just economically. The appearance of Old Town is changing.”

The commission rejected the application because it believes that the collective is not abiding by municipal code which states that all businesses and operations’ use “shall be consistent with state and federal law.”

But Attorney Sharmi Shah with Roberts & Kirk Elliott, LLP, the law firm representing NBD Cannabis Collective, said it’s hard to look at one branch of law without considering the other.

Regardless, commissioners cited that under the given circumstances, they did not feel it was appropriate to grant NBD Cannabis Collective a use permit. Half of the commissioners present said it was wrong for the dispensary to open without going through the procedures of obtaining a license and proper permits that all businesses are required to do.

“We have certain ways of doing things in our community,” said Commissioner Robert Marshall. “This operator has put the cart before the horse (and) chose to operate and by the direction of a judge decided well now’s the time to go back and look at what can we do with this. That’s not how we do things here in Newark.”

Commissioner Bernie Nillo echoed, “If it was something that was brought to our attention [earlier] or had they gone through the proper process, I would look at it totally differently.”

NBD Cannabis Collective can appeal its application to the City Council.

Meanwhile, the collective’s two owners and three of its workers are in the middle of a criminal case in which . The charges are related to drug, tax evasion and Labor Code violations. They are scheduled to later this month.