2 pot clinics ignore orders

Despite city orders to abide Costa Mesa’s ban on medical marijuana, two of three pot dispensaries told to close remained open for business Friday.

City code enforcement officers escorted by police served three dispensaries with cease-and-desist orders Thursday, instructing them to close immediately for operating outside the boundaries of their business licenses.

Two of the clinics — MedMar Patient Care Collective, 440 Fair Drive, Suite V, and Live Well OC, 440 Fair Drive, Suite I — ignored the order.

Employees at both dispensaries declined to speak with reporters.

A third dispensary, Nutritional Concepts Pain Releaf Center, 2787 Bristol St., was closed Friday. A note on the dispensary’s website said the business was closed temporarily.

Many of the medical marijuana dispensaries in the city have business licenses to operate as alternative health or vitamin shops, said Costa Mesa Police Capt. Les Gogerty, adding that if the businesses continue to dole out medical marijuana, they will be subject to fines and legal action.

“They say they’re going to be an alternative medical center, or therapeutic massage or medicinal herbs and so forth,” Gogerty said. “They have bottles of legal herbal vitamins and massagers, but you also have marijuana.”

Police have recently noted more motorists being arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana, and businesses next to pot dispensaries have complained to the city about increased foot traffic and the smell of pot, Police Chief Chris Shawkey said.

The city will continue to shut down a growing number of pot dispensaries that have sprouted up in Costa Mesa over the past several months, he said.

“They are in violation of a city ordinance, and we intend to continue to investigate and inspect them,” Shawkey said. “If we find they are in violation of a city ordinance, we will take whatever action is appropriate.”

One of the dispensaries, MedMar, plans to rally supporters for an 11 a.m. protest today at Costa Mesa City Hall.

MedMar staff declined to answer questions Friday, but a message on the dispensary’s website urged supporters to attend the rally, adding, “Costa Mesa does not want to allow safe access to your medication.”

Costa Mesa resident Sheryll Alexander, a MedMar client, said in an e-mail that she was disappointed that city officials were trying to shut down the dispensary.

Alexander said she uses medical marijuana to help cope with a painful skin condition.

“I like MedMar because this collective complies with all state regulations, and the people are very compassionate and caring,” Alexander wrote. “Truly, MedMar is about the medical marijuana patient who truly needs pain medication and not about selling pot to delinquents.”

Daily Pilot reporter Mona Shadia contributed to this article.