Pubdate: Sun, 12 Apr 2015
Source: Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA)
Copyright: 2015 Appeal-Democrat
Contact: 
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/sections/services/forms/editorletter.php
Website: http://www.appeal-democrat.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1343
Author: Harold Kruger
Page: A7

POT CASE GOES UP IN SMOKE?

California's Marijuana Wars Never Seem to End, and Now the Frontlines 
Are in Yuba County.

What a scary thought if you're one of the pot people.

This mess just spun out of control, as the supervisors passed an 
ordinance they thought would make everybody happy, or at least not upset.

But with marijuana, nothing is easy. Suddenly, there were all of 
these pot grows, mostly in the foothills, which got the foothills folks upset.

So they managed to persuade the board to pass a more restrictive ordinance.

Who's unhappy now? The pot people, who say they need their pot for 
medicinal purposes.

But isn't that supposed to be allowed in California? You grow pot for 
medical reasons?

Well, apparently not, if growing the pot upsets your neighbor, whose 
life is apparently ruined just knowing there's pot growing next door.

And then there's the crime thing - folks apparently like to steal 
other folks' pot - so it turns into a big mess.

And now it's a big mess in the courts.

Lawsuits are blooming faster than pot buds. Lawyers are running into 
court for injunctions and restraining orders and plenty of other stuff.

It makes for plenty of legal work but not much more pot being grown.

The appeals court in Sacramento has already ruled on this, saying a 
municipality isn't required to allow the growing of any marijuana.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines

You may remember this paper's stories about Rice Aircraft Services 
Inc. in Olivehurst and its efforts to sell helicopters to the Philippines.

Those efforts have sparked two federal lawsuits in Sacramento and a 
criminal case on the East Coast involving a man who claimed to be a 
State Department employee but wasn't.

Now, it seems, the Philippine Senate is launching its own 
investigations, three of them, in fact.

And the government recently terminated its contract with Rice, 
according to the Manilla Times, which has reported all of this with 
great gusto.

It reported earlier this month that one senator was trying to find 
out if "there was clear violation of law and a prima facie wastage of 
taxpayers' money."

Yes, a wastage.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom