A self-described "therapeutic cannabis resource center" continues to operate in Temecula, despite a citywide ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.

The legal affairs director at Cooperative Patients' Services insists it isn't a dispensary, nor does it distribute the drug. Douglas Lanphere said it is an agricultural co-op that allows members to exchange the drug with each other.

"We're merely a service group," he said. "We provide a service between cultivating members and consuming members."

Riverside County sheriff's Capt. Andre O'Harra, who serves as Temecula's police chief, said police are aware of the establishment.

"The situation's under review from the city right now as far as what the city plans on doing about it," he said. "It's going to be based on what we find as a result of the review."

City planning chief Patrick Richardson said the establishment's business licenses allows it to sell equipment for hydroponic plants, but specifically forbids the distribution of marijuana.

Lanphere said police have not stopped by since his co-op got its use-and-occupancy permit in January.

"If the city felt we were in some way out of compliance, they would be better served letting us work with them" instead of mounting a costly legal challenge, he said.

CONFLICTING LAWS

California law allows people to use marijuana to treat a variety of ailments, provided they have a doctor's recommendation. Most Inland cities, however, prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries, and federal law bans the use of marijuana for any reason.

The result is a tricky standoff between cities and medical marijuana advocates. The city of Riverside is currently pursuing court injunctions against a number of medical marijuana establishments.

The would-be operators of a medical marijuana storefront in Wildomar have sued that city, claiming state law doesn't allow for blanket bans on dispensaries. The Wildomar Patients Compassionate Group is closed for now after a judge in December granted the city a preliminary injunction.

WHITE-COAT TREATMENT

With a window logo combining a marijuana leaf, a medical cross and a handshake, Cooperative Patients' Services operates out of a leased storefront in a tucked-away corner of an Old Town Front Street commercial building visible from Interstate 15.

Lanphere said the co-op's membership of roughly 900 people has grown by more than 500 since it opened. The vast majority of patients are from Temecula, he said.

A security guard controls access from the outside. Staff members wear white lab coats. The inside is spotless

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