A former Palm Desert medical marijuana dispensary operator and his two managers, who are facing trial on drug charges, will ask tomorrow that a search warrant used in the case be quashed.

Stacy Hochanadel, the former owner of CannaHelp, and managers James Campbell and John Bednar, all 31, were arrested in December 2006, and charged with felony possession of marijuana for sale, transport and sale of marijuana and keeping a place to sell controlled substances.

The three contend they were running a legal medical marijuana business under Proposition 215 and Senate Bill 420. Under California law, marijuana can be sold on a not-for-profit basis to patients with a doctor’s prescription, although it is illegal under federal law.

In ordering the three to stand trial, Judge Eric G. Helgesen of Tulare County said last Dec. 7 it appeared the defendants violated the law because the dispensary was profitable, generating well over $1 million in pot sales.

The three defendants have been allowed to remain free on their own recognizance on the condition that they do not obtain marijuana in excess of what the law allows. All three men are medical marijuana cardholders with prescriptions for the drug. They also cannot sell the drug or provide it to patients in a care-giving capacity.

If convicted, they could be sentenced to 16 months to two years in prison, prosecutors said.

—From news services

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