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SAN DIEGO (AP) — The first legal medical marijuana dispensary in San Diego has opened doors without fanfare.
U-T San Diego (http://bit.ly/1EwAohX ) says the shop — called "A Green Alternative" — opened Wednesday in an Otay Mesa strip mall near the Mexican border.
It's the first officially recognized medical pot shop in the city since California passed a medical marijuana initiative in 1996.
Two more are expected to open this spring.
Owner David Blair says patients finally have a safe place to go to obtain the drug.
Last year, the city passed regulations allowing 30 dispensaries. They must be nonprofit and cannot be within 1,000 feet of schools, parks or churches. There also are stringent security requirements.
San Diego County allowed a dispensary to open last summer in an unincorporated area outside El Cajon.
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