SONOMA, Calif. – The son of an infamous smut peddler wants to open a medical marijuana club in Sonoma.

Aaron Mitchell said he decided to open what he calls the Sonoma Cannabis Buyers Cooperative after police arrested him for having hash oil and refused to honor his medical marijuana card. The charges were later dropped, he said.

Mitchell wants to dispense both marijuana for medical purposes and paraphernalia for personal use.

“I found that to be so unjust I thought I’d get on the legal end of everything,” said Mitchell, who lives in Sonoma. He wants to be open by April 1.

The city has no regulations specifically focusing on medical marijuana outlets, but city officials questioned the legality of opening a marijuana club.

“A business license doesn’t make the business legal,” said City Manager Mike Fuson “It doesn’t give you the authorization to run an illegal business, or authorization to run a business where the zoning code doesn’t allow it.”

City officials expected to meet with Mitchell Monday to discuss his planned business.

Mitchell described himself as a businessman who runs a company called Mitchell Bros. 21st Century Film Group. His father Artie Mitchell, a self-proclaimed “king of porn,” was shot to death by his brother Jim Mitchell in 1991 during an argument. Jim Mitchell served three years in prison and now lives in Petaluma.

The Mitchell brothers were pioneers in the live and film porn business in San Francisco. Their 1972 film “Behind the Green Door” was an influence on contemporary hard-core pornography.