JESSE LANUM    Staff Writer  River News-Herald  Isleton Journal Wednesday July 1st, 2009
               
The Isleton City Council received the cannabis club treatment this past Wednesday when Joe Marshall brought in the big guns from Sacramento to woo the town into allowing him to set up a medical marijuana dispensary. It’s no longer the 60s and 70s pitch about expanding your mind or Timothy Leary style psychopharmacology. No, it’s about going natural betting off Oxycontin and Demerol.

Marshall was hooked on a number of painkillers to combat his illness, and, then in 2005, he tried using medical marijuana. “It gave me a chance of getting my life back,” said Marshall.

According to Marshall, there are those hooked on 28 pills a day that could benefit from medical marijuana; however, the nearest dispensaries are in Sacramento and Oakland. “There’s people with cancer that can’t drive to Oakland or Sacramento,” said, Marshall.

Enter Marshall’s nonprofit dispensary collective. He hopes to set up shop in Isleton and start doing business with cardholders. To obtain a Medical marijuana card, the patient must  have a doctor’s prescription.  The card’s are given to assuage horrific pain or for patient to regain appetite.

Marshall does not believe dispensary will create any new crime on the streets. “The board will not allow people to bay excessive amounts [of
Marijuana]. If you know your patients and follow guidelines, it takes it off the streets,” said Marshall.     

According to Marshall, the state does not allow for medical marijuana to be smoked within 1,000 feet of a school, which could present a problem given the size of Isleton; however, Marshall added that the law doesn’t say anything about where the shop could be locat­ed.

Besides offering grants for those who can’t afford the product, Marshall also plans on offering free delivery to the house bound.

Marshall was in awe over the positive response he received in Isleton. It only took him nine days to obtain 401 signatures from the citizens of Isleton approving of the dispensary, and, according to Marshall, he only received one negative response.

Sacramento resident Dan Senna, who is opening two new dispensaries in Sacramento County, addressed the Council. “There’s over 1,000 of them in California,” said Senna. “We’re also opening a school called Oaksterdam University to teach people about medical marijuana. We’re just good ole’ businessmen,” added Senna.

Ryan Landers, who helped pass Prop. 215 in 1996, which allowed for the dispensaries, also spoke at the Isleton meeting. Landers has been fighting a terminal illness for the last 15 years and has been using medical marijuana to keep an appetite.

“I haven’t been hungry for fifteen years. I live in horrible pain,” said Landers. “There are a lot of people who are afraid to be judged, people who need it. I know- a woman who was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in nine months. She would not have, had time to grow [marijuana].

Luckily, I was able to give her a pound, but we are here to help the sick in the community. It’s just hard to get people to walk through that door.”

Sam Latino also came from Sacramento to support Marshall. He pointed out that there is a medical marijuana facility directly across from the courthouse in Sacramento. “So it doesn’t really matter where it is,” said Latino.

Latino went on to tell the story of his father afflicted with stomach cancer, who was unable to eat. He was able to give his dad medical marijuana pills and watched him regain his appetite and his weight.
After the Sacramento team finished tag teaming the microphone, Isleton resident and medical marijuana user Robert Jankovich addressed the crowd in support of Marshall’s dispensary. He asked that the zoning issues for the store be turned over to the planning commission.

The only real questions came from local business “owner Ross Peters and another Isleton resident. Peters supports the use of medical marijuana but is unsure ,what the potential problems of having a dispensary on Main Street might be. Another resident questioned the message it would send to the children of Isleton.

“My big question is the children. We have a park down there. When the kids see this shop, won’t they think it is okay to use ‘marijuana?” One Isleton resident asked.

At the end of the discussion, Mayor Resler decided to refer the issue to a workshop, which would then go on to the planning commission.