Newport Beach's city council is apparently considering lawsuits against a trio of medical marijuana clubs, according to an item posted on the Newport Beach AOL/Patch website yesterday. The May 25 story noted that the three clubs were discussed in a closed session of Tuesday's city council meeting, during which council members approved unspecified “nuisance abatement” against the clubs in question.
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The three clubs that the city appears to be singling out are The West Coast Cure, Nature's Alternative Solutions and The Healing Tree. Tara Finnigan, a city spokesperson, told Patch that Newport Beach's municipal and zoning codes prohibit marijuana dispensaries, and confirmed the three clubs were discussed behind closed doors, but refused further comment. There are no other dispensaries located in Newport Beach that advertise their services on either California NORML's website or Weedmaps.
Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).