Pubdate: Sun, 09 Aug 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

ANGRY WOMAN OUTS POT-GROWING NEIGHBORS

SANTA ROSA (TNS)  Mary Quinn wants to make one thing perfectly clear 
- - she does not grow pot.

The southwest Santa Rosa woman emphasized the point last week when 
she erected three large white-and-yellow banners in her pasture 
identifying two neighbors as growers.

Quinn said pot gardens near her home off Stony Point Road emit strong 
odors and attract thieves who have cut her fences to get to them, 
causing injury to her horses.

After living with the smell and the trespassing for more than four 
years, she said, she got fed up and decided to out her neighbors with 
the signs.

Hers is the latest clash between residents and what appears to be an 
increasing number of suburban pot farmers in Sonoma County.

"People think we grow," said Quinn, who runs a nonprofit animal 
rescue center on her leased land. "We don't grow. We just have horses."

Her banners say just that - and more. Quinn listed the addresses of 
the properties where the pot is being grown along with the names and 
phone numbers of the people she said are responsible.

Among them is Sebastopol City Councilman Robert Jacob, executive 
director of two Peace and Medicine marijuana dispensaries in Sonoma 
County. Jacob runs a nearby cultivation facility called RPC Nursery 
that Quinn said is creating a public nuisance.

It features large greenhouses lit around the clock that Quinn calls 
"glow worms." She said they beckon robbers who trample across her 
property in the middle of the night in the hopes of stealing weed, as 
well as people who are just curious.

The banners also name Jonathan Cohen, a neighbor Quinn said also is 
growing pot for a collective in his yard. Cohen's landlord, who owns 
a Larkfield hardware store, also is identified, along with his wife 
and a phone number to their business.

Quinn said she has refused requests to take the signs down and is 
standing up for others who "fear this is going to happen to them" 
with the proliferation of marijuana.

"I'm not going to tolerate it anymore," Quinn said. "I'm at the end 
of my rope."

Jacob and Cohen both said they were in compliance with state laws 
allowing them to grow cannabis for medical purposes. They accused 
Quinn of trying to soak them for cash.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom