Fontana's Last Medical Marijuana Dispensary Fights Looming Shutdown
FONTANA (CBSLA.com) — The director of the last remaining medical marijuana dispensary in Fontana is fighting law enforcement to continue operations for his sick and dying patients.
KCAL9's Tom Wait reports the dispensary located in the 16000 block of Foothill Boulevard has been banned by the city.
But its director, Levi Boicourt, says police are being unfair to his patients.
"None of us want to fight with these people. We just want to exist," Boicourt said.
Surrounded by members of his staff who suffer from debilitating illnesses, he made a case for why the dispensary should be permitted to remain in business.
"We have a guy that has [a] bone... disease where he was taking medication that ate away all of his bone marrow. We have two MS patients. We have a guy with stage four cancer," he said, adding that the dispensary is non-profit, and operates only to help the sick and the dying.
"For some reason they believe that these people could travel far distances when they can barely travel to me," he continued.
Boicourt said he opened his current space after operating for seven years in another location near Fontana which was previously shut down by law enforcement.
"I would understand if I was advertising or if I had a big green neon cross on my building, but I don't. I'm trying to hide," Boicourt said.
Fontana Police Chief Rodney Jones said the city's citizens have spoken, however, and the city has a law banning dispensaries.
"The case decision from the California Supreme Court affirmed the city's right to ban dispensaries," Jones said.
The chief said that Fontana also has ordinances that tie into federal law.
"Fontana does not allow medical marijuana dispensaries, nor do we allow a business that is contrary to federal state or local law," Jones said.
Police say if the dispensary does not shut down voluntarily, they may have to go in within the next 45 days and shut it down themselves.
