Drug News

Back in April, the Claremont City Council put off a decision on a city ordinance outlawing medical marijuana dispensaries in town. That issue, you may remember, was forced on the council by Darrell Kruse and David Touhey, who last year opened a dispensary in Claremont without taking out a city business permit.

Kruse made a big splash and seemed to seek out the media spotlight. However, Kruse and Touhey (any relation to West Covina Mayor Mike Touhey?) had a rift in their business and personal relationships, as Tony Krickl reported in the Claremont Courier.

In the Krickl article, Kruse said that the he and Touhey had only opened the Claremont dispensary as a strategic move to cut off potential competition from another dispensary owner, David Kasakove, who operates a couple dispensaries in Northern California. Kruse and Touhey owned another dispensary in Pomona and feared a loss in business if Kasakove was allowed to open his in Claremont. By opening their unlicensed dispensary, Kruse and Touhey forced the city to take up the matter. In September, 2006, the city enacted a one-year moratorium on dispensaries.

The council had put off a decision on a permanent ban on marijuana dispensaries until July. But apparently, David Kasakove is working the back channels, lobbying Councilmembers Peter Yao, Ellen Taylor and Sam Pedroza, or so Will Bigham writes in today's Daily Bulletin.

Kasakove is taking a much more low-key approach that Kruse did, which the councilmembers he's talked to seem to appreciate. You know the old saying, "You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar."