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Riverside Bans Medical Marijuana Dispensaries From Making Home Deliveries

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com)  — Pizza Hut delivers. So does just about every Chinese restaurant. But one thing you can't get delivered in Riverside is marijuana to your front door.

The city has banned all medical marijuana clinics from delivering pot directly to patients.

KCAL9's Tom Wait said many clinics are defying the ban.

Wait on Thursday also went on a ride-along with "Kalonnie," a marijuana deliverer. (He asked Wait not to use his last name.)

"Not everyone can afford prescription medication," said Kalonnie. "Not everyone enjoys prescription medication."

Kalonnie insists his clients are patients who need the service.

He is concerned for patients who will have to find pot the old-fashioned way.

"You can meet someone in a gas station parking lot," says Kalonnie, questioning how "safe" that is. "That might be the riskiest thing you could ever do."

The majority of Kalonnie's customers, he says, have major medical issues.

"They have had back surgery. They have problems with walking. They can't be on Vicodin all day," says Kalonnie.

Most of Kalonnie's customers were too uneasy to appear on camera.

But one client -- namely David Lopez -- said he has few options if the delivery service goes away. "It's better to have it in your house than to drive all over, you don't know neighborhoods."

Riverside City Council voted in favor of the ban. The city has taken a hard line on medical marijuana dispensaries for years and council members point to statistics that say violent crime -- like armed robberies -- come with the territory of marijuana sales.

Kalonnie is not eager to stop receiving his home deliveries. "It's beneficial to the people. It's safer than meeting some stranger off the street."

The new law goes into effect immediately.

 

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