Principal: Pot shop will draw druggies

Marijuana dispensary was cleared before state passed proximity laws

A Lake Worth charter school has gone on alert after learning a dispensary for medical marijuana is planning to move in across the street.

The principal of Academy for Positive Learning told parents at a meeting Thursday night about the school’s new neighbor, scheduled to arrive in late September.

The dispensary is operated by Miamibased Modern Health Concepts and is one of two opening soon in Lake Worth — the first two to open in Palm Beach County since voters approved a constitutional amendment in November legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

The school, founded in 2003, serves 135 students ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade. It is at the northeast corner of North Dixie Highway and 14th Avenue. The dispensary is in a small retail complex on the southwest corner, less than 200 feet away.

Principal Renatta Espinoza said she’s not concerned about patients who go to the pharmacy for medical marijuana, but about

others who might linger nearby.

“They’re going to attract other people who don’t have a medical need asking to buy marijuana from the clientele,” she said.

The news shocked Lea Brittain, whose son, John, is a sixth-grader at the school.

“I think this will lead to people illegally selling it outside,” she said. “I understand it’s become legal in the state and it's been passed, but i think there should be restrictions as to how close they should be to schools.”

A medical marijuana regulation law signed by Gov. Rick Scott in June prohibits dispensaries from opening less than 500 feet from a school, unless a city overrules it after a public meeting. However, the city approved the dispensary across from the school before that law went into effect, City Manager MIchael Bornstein said.

A second dispensary is scheduled to open on South Dixie Highway near City Hall. Lake Worth has since placed a moratorium on any new facilities opening.

Bornstein said the city approved the sites using its regular zoning and code enforcement laws, which treat dispensaries the same as regular pharmacies.

“A CVS or Walgreens locating in Lake Worth has to follow the city’s code and zoning laws,” he said. “The two medical marijuana dispensaries have done that and they have pulled the required permits. Pharmacies do not have a distance requirement from schools; therefore the business in question was not required to have a distance separation.”

Espinoza asked parents to sign a letter asking Scott to help get the dispensary relocated. She also plans to lead a protest outside the facility once it opens.

Attempts by the Sun Sentinel and news partner WPEC-Ch. 12 to reach the dispensary were unsuccessful.

The city approved the dispensary in February, records show, but Espinoza said the city never told her about it. She learned about it from a reporter.

“Apparently the city of Lake Worth did not take into consideration about the safety of our students or parents,” she said. “What they’re doing is wrong.”

stravis@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6637 or Twitter @smtravis