Editor, Do the foolish politicians in Tulare county not realize that cannabis will soon be re-legalized for all? All the problems you site are a direct result of prohibition and the black markets they create. These actions will only make it more profitable for people to grow and sell cannabis in the black market. You have to wonder if these same people are not being paid off to keep the price high. David Lane Santa Cruz [end]
Vallejo's facing another lawsuit by a former medical marijuana dispensary operator who claims the city violated his civil rights by raiding his collective last year. In a Solano Superior Court lawsuit, Greenwell, Inc. founder Matt Shotwell alleges the city, Mayor Osby Davis and the Vallejo Police Department violated his civil rights -- including his right to free speech -- by targeting his dispensary for raid and closure in retaliation for his outspoken advocacy for local taxation and regulation of medical cannabis. Greenwell was the first of at least six Vallejo dispensaries police raided last year. Federal and state agencies also participated in some raids. However, all of the cases fell apart because, lawyers argued, the dispensaries were in compliance with state law. [continues 435 words]
Evidence of Meth Thrown Out In what could be a significant ruling for medical marijuana defense, a Mendocino County Superior Court judge on Friday granted a motion to throw out evidence from a vehicle search done because the driver admitted to having the drug and a county-issued card identifying him as a medical marijuana patient. Judge Ann Moorman ruled in favor of Mendocino County Deputy Public Defender Eric Rennert's motion to suppress the evidence used to charge his client, Kevin R. Hawkins, 55, of Cloverdale, with possessing methamphetamine when a Ukiah Police Department officer pulled Hawkins over on South State Street and searched his vehicle. [continues 514 words]
Also: Ngaio explains Washington state's plan to get rid of medical cannabis I am a Sacramento Kings fan who likes to get high before games. Can you recommend some purple strains of pot I can toast my team with? - -Toquille O'Neal Go Kings! I would say stick to the classics. Grand Daddy Purple, Mendocino Purps, Grape Ape and Purple Kush (if you can find it) would all be good choices. Let's talk about "purple" strains for a moment. While some cannabis strains are naturally purple (Black Domina comes to mind), and some plants will turn purple if allowed to flower in a colder climate, most of the time, the word "purple" refers to the flavor. Yes, good-old synesthesia strikes again. The purple taste reminds me of that old-school lavender-flavored gum you can sometimes find at a corner store. It's delicious. [continues 391 words]
A California Appeals Court ruled Oct. 16 neither the Compassionate Use Act nor the Medical Marijuana Program Act allows retail sale of marijuana to consumers. The judges overruled a San Luis Obispo judge's pretrial finding which included the premise that "Providing money in exchange for harvested marijuana may, in itself, constitute 'associating for the purpose of collectively cultivating marijuana.'" The panel of three judges also stated, "The Legislature did not intend such immunity [under the Compassionate Use Act] to apply where the purchaser simply signs a paper stating she is a member of the seller's collective or naming the seller as her caregiver." [continues 489 words]
Draft ordinance could effectively ban pot dispensaries in some San Diego districts By Joshua Emerson Smith newsThe number of allowable cannabis dispensaries in each council district under a draft ordinance, according to a SANDAG mapping study - Illustration by Lindsey Voltoline Imagine if the city shut down all the corner drug stores and allowed them to open in only a few neighborhoods. Then imagine you're sick and rely on public transportation. Soon this may not be far from reality for medical-cannabis patients in San Diego, according to a mapping study done by the San Diego County Association of Governments and obtained by CityBeat. [continues 1148 words]
Tulare County has joined several other counties in California that have had enough of illegal marijuana growing. Now, it will be completely illegal to grow anything but a few plants indoors, no matter if you have a letter from a doctor or not. The move was inevitable. The growing of marijuana in the second leading agricultural county in the world has gotten out of hand and it is unfortunate that those with a medical need for marijuana will now suffer the most. But, they cannot blame the leaders of the county. [continues 260 words]
Well, the backers of a new effort to legalize marijuana in California learned at least one thing from the unsuccessful 2010 effort to make the state safe for dope smokers: It's better not to have a pot dealer as the face of your initiative. When the ACLU of California announced last month that it would be "studying" the questions of legalizing pot before putting an initiative on the 2016 ballot, it was Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom who was in front of reporters, talking about how "it is far past time for Californians to take a serious look at smarter approaches to marijuana." [continues 707 words]
After Holder's order, some U.S. attorneys ease up on policies that have packed prisons. Others have been slow to change. WASHINGTON - As drug dealers go, Lori Ann Newhouse was strictly small time. A high school dropout from a little Iowa town, Newhouse had three sons, a low paying job as a telemarketer and a relentless methamphetamine habit. On St. Patrick's Day in 2011, she bought cold tablets used to make meth and traded them to a lab for a gram of the highly addictive drug. [continues 1130 words]
In his Nov. 1 commentary "Drug courts a new model to replace failed 'war'," writer Robert L. DuPont states that the heart of drug legalization is to free prisoners and save money. Although this is partially true, the main reason for legalization is to get criminal cartels out of the business of drugs. Most of the crimes committed are perpetrated by or for these criminal elements that make billions of dollars in profit every year on the drug traffic. Atanasio Rodriguez San Diego [end]
The success of marijuana legalization in some states has put drug policy at the top of nation's attention for the first time since the cocaine epidemic in the late 1980s. At the heart of drug legalization is the conviction that the top priority of drug reform is to get the criminal justice system out of drug policy because our prisons are full of innocent drug users, particularly marijuana users, caught up in the failed "War on Drugs." In this view, drug legalization will empty our prisons and yield big financial savings. [continues 633 words]
Five members of a Browns Valley family have sued Yuba County, alleging their rights were violated when a sheriff's deputy confiscated most of their medical marijuana plants. The lawsuit filed this month in Yuba County Superior Court seeks an injunction to stop future "unlawful seizures" and "reasonable compensation" for the lost plants. "What I hope, a case like this will discourage the county or the Sheriff's Office from taking similar actions against other legal patients in the future," said Oakland attorney Robert Raich, who represents the family members. "It's sad that we need something like this to send a message to reluctant law enforcement about the need to comply with state law." [continues 297 words]
Also: Ngaio Answers Whether Out-Of-Staters Can Buy Marijuana in Colorado. I am contemplating using marijuana for my chronic back pain. The medications my doctors have prescribed over the years are taking their toll and are not working anymore. My problem is: When I've smoked pot in the past, I got terrible anxiety, and now I am afraid to go forward with trying to get a card. I've done some research, and it appears there are different strains of marijuana that are particularly useful for pain. However, I'm very reluctant. Any advice on where to get a card, and if I do get one, what type of marijuana should I be looking to alleviate pain? I've also heard that some dispensaries mix up their pot, and when you think you are buying one strain, you get another. That would be no bueno. Any advice is appreciated. [continues 381 words]
State legalization of recreational use and production doesn't stop some towns from trying to keep it out. SEATTLE - When Washington state voters legalized recreational marijuana a year ago, Jeff Stewart saw an opportunity: After all, he figured, it's the rare industry that's born overnight with proven demand and little competition. But then the 37-year-old tech worker tried to find a warehouse where he could grow about 10,000 square feet of pot plants. What he found was that some cities in the Evergreen State had imposed moratoriums to keep out recreational pot while the foundation is being laid for the new industry. Others have banned marijuana outright, although "dry" regions are prohibited. [continues 1056 words]
Jake had been clean for just a couple of weeks, and he was struggling. Facing a possible 15-year sentence in state prison on a joint suspension for burglary and possession of heroin, it was his "last shot." He'd spent weeks between sober living facilities and jail while waiting to be admitted to a treatment program at the San Luis Obispo County Drug and Alcohol Services. Once he was enrolled in adult drug court, he bounced back and forth between sobriety and relapse while attempting to keep up with the strict regimen and almost impossible expectations of his treatment. He was required to attend group counseling in SLO three days a week, pass all drug tests, and maintain 32 hours of employment per week-as a felon with no driver's license. [continues 3754 words]
The department's crime lab now has a decade-long backlog of more than 650 homicide investigations with unexamined evidence, yet it processes 95 percent of drug cases in just 24 hours. Oakland is known as one of the most violent cities in the nation, in large part because of its high murder rate. And yet, over the past decade, the Oakland Police Department has not prioritized homicide investigations, and instead has focused on patrolling city streets. In 2012, OPD solved just 28 percent of the homicides in the city, and the department has come under intense criticism for its investigative shortcomings. Last year, the Alameda County Grand Jury noted that OPD's crime lab had untested evidence in at least 330 homicide cases dating back several years. Moreover, a recent department report indicates that the grand jury underestimated OPD's massive backlog - and that the problem has worsened. [continues 1375 words]
The hot button that is medical marijuana was pushed Tuesday night in Vacaville, with speakers on both sides of the spectrum voicing passionate opinions at a public meeting on the issue. The goal -- for Solano County officials to gather commentary on whether potential dispensary sites are plausible. "This issue is one that a lot of local governments have struggled with," said Bill Emlen, the county's director of the Department of Resource Management. "It's a complicated issue, in reality. It's not a traditional land use issue." [continues 578 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- A divided Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a suite of new medical pot rules, adding the county's name to a small roster of California governments to effectively sanction a gray area of green commerce. The 3-2 vote puts into place new restrictions on the operations, location and staff of the approximately dozen dispensaries in unincorporated areas of the county, an effort to encourage good business practices in an industry still viewed as illegal by federal law. Eventually, the new rules will ban any new clubs. [continues 615 words]
When opinion shifts in modern America, the change can be like a flash flood. Three years ago, 54 percent of California voters rejected Proposition 19, which would have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Last year, Colorado and Washington voters approved measures to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Last week, Gallup released a poll that found 58 percent of Americans support legalizing the recreational use of marijuana - a 10-point jump from one year ago. Sunday's New York Times reports that a template for how the two states will regulate marijuana may be found in California. [continues 388 words]
Marijuana Becoming Alcohol Substitute for Young People. LOS ANGELES - In the heart of Northern California's marijuana growing region, the sheriff 's office is inundated each fall with complaints about the stench of marijuana plots or the latest expropriation of public land by growers. Its tranquil communities have been altered by t he emergence of a wealthy class of marijuana entrepreneurs, while nearly 500 miles away in Los Angeles, officials have struggled to regulate an explosion of medical marijuana shops. But at a time when polls show widening public support for legalizing marijuana - recreational marijuana is about to become legal in Colorado and Washington, and voter initiatives are in the pipeline in at least three others states - California's 17-year experience as the first state to legalize medical marijuana offers surprising lessons, experts say. [continues 281 words]
LOS ANGELES - In the heart of Northern California's marijuana growing region, the sheriff's office is inundated each fall with complaints about the stench of marijuana plots or the latest expropriation of public land by growers. Its tranquil communities have been altered by the emergence of a wealthy class of marijuana entrepreneurs, while nearly 500 miles away in Los Angeles, officials have struggled to regulate an explosion of medical marijuana shops. But at a time when polls show widening public support for legalizing marijuana - recreational marijuana is about to become legal in Colorado and Washington, and voter initiatives are in the pipeline in at least three others states - California's 17-year experience as the first state to legalize medical marijuana offers surprising lessons, experts say. Warnings unfounded [continues 346 words]
LOS ANGELES - In the heart of Northern California's marijuana growing region, the sheriff's office is inundated each fall with complaints about the stench of marijuana plots or the latest expropriation of public land by growers. Its tranquil communities have been altered by the emergence of a wealthy class of marijuana entrepreneurs, while nearly 500 miles away in Los Angeles, officials have struggled to regulate an explosion of medical marijuana shops. But at a time when polls show widening public support for legalizing marijuana - recreational marijuana is about to become legal in Colorado and Washington - California's 17-year experience as the first state to legalize medical marijuana offers surprising lessons, experts say. [continues 313 words]
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is a deft politician. So when he announced that he would lead the latest campaign to legalize marijuana in California, the movement gained an instant level of legitimacy. Newsom calls the war on drugs an abject failure and believes most politicians share his view, though they "say one thing publicly and another thing privately." "If it was good politics, you'd have a lot more politicians out front," Newsom told me last week. "I can't defend the status quo. I feel an obligation to make a better argument." [continues 1032 words]
Warnings of Disorder in California Have Proved Unfounded LOS ANGELES - In the heart of Northern California's marijuana growing region, the sheriff's office is inundated each fall with complaints about the stench of marijuana plots or the latest expropriation of public land by growers. Its tranquil communities have been altered by the emergence of a wealthy class of marijuana entrepreneurs, while nearly 500 miles away in Los Angeles, officials have struggled to regulate an explosion of medical marijuana shops. But at a time when polls show widening public support for legalizing marijuana - recreational marijuana is about to become legal in Colorado and Washington, and voter initiatives are in the pipeline in at least three other states - California's 17-year experience as the first state to legalize medical marijuana offers surprising lessons, experts say. [continues 650 words]
LOS ANGELES - In the heart of Northern California's marijuana growing region, the sheriff's office is inundated each fall with complaints about the stench of marijuana plots or the latest expropriation of public land by growers. Its tranquil communities have been altered by the emergence of a wealthy class of marijuana entrepreneurs, while nearly 500 miles away in Los Angeles, officials have struggled to regulate an explosion of medical marijuana shops. But at a time when polls show widening public support for legalization - recreational marijuana is about to become legal in Colorado and Washington, and voter initiatives are in the pipeline in at least three other states - California's 17-year experience as the first state to legalize medical marijuana offers surprising lessons, experts say. [continues 1643 words]
Regarding your Oct. 20 editorial, no further research is needed. The results are already in. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a failure. The United States has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. The war on marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not an evidence-based public health campaign. It's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana. Robert Sharpe, Common Sense for Drug Policy [end]
Re "Weed over booze" by Ngaio Bealum (SN&R The 420, October 17): Many marijuana smokers have turned their lives around by putting down the bottle and picking up the marijuana pipe. These former alcoholics no longer wake up with debilitating hangovers. They are no longer at risk of overdose death. Because they have chosen a safer alternative to alcohol, they now lead productive lives. Yes, some marijuana users have substance-abuse problems stemming from traumatic life experiences. The last thing they need is Big Brother testing their bodily fluids and threatening jail time. [continues 97 words]
Over the decades of the drug war we have seen countless headlines reporting "drug-related" crimes of violence and drug-induced frenzy. What is not reported, and perhaps never even considered, is that the madness and violence being reported almost always arises not from a person too high to realize what they are doing, but rather from implementing the mechanisms of the drug war. Dean Becker, Houston, Texas [end]
I have long been an advocate of legalization of all drugs, not just marijuana, for reasons of civil liberties. You are quite correct that prohibition leads to all of the problems that you described, and many more, including imprisoning people who should not be imprisoned. However, the federal government is not legalizing pot anytime soon, regardless of what the majority of people want. Too many rich and powerful people make too much money from pot being illegal, and until we get a far more representative government, from one dollar one vote to one person one vote, and proportional representation so that people are not afraid of "wasting" their votes by voting for people whose policies they actually support, pot will remain illegal. So, we have to deal with reality as it is while trying to change it to what it should be. [continues 237 words]
Ngaio Chooses His Favorite Hey there, Ngaio. I'm a huge fan of your work. Keep it up. What do you think is better for smoking in general: bud, hash, kief or dabs? Thanks for taking time out of your day for reading my question. - -Edgar Thank you for taking time out of your day to ask me a question. I like bud the most. Kief, hash and dabs are all pretty much the same. Kief is what you get when you collect the trichomes (all those little crystals on the bud, they are full of THC) from the pot plant. Compress that kief until the crystals pop and form a glob, and you have hash. Use some sort of solvent, like butane or carbon dioxide, to blast and freeze those crystals, and you get hash oil, also called "dabs." [continues 358 words]
Feds and the Media Say Cannabis Kills Forests, Rivers and Animals. Is Prohibition Really to Blame? The Photo Looks Like Something Out of a Horror Film: A long, thin animal lays dissected on a white table. Metal tools pull the animal's skin back to reveal its jellied, maroon-colored insides-all soupy, slick and lumpy. It's the remains of a Pacific fisher, an 8-pound member of the weasel family that's now hovering near extinction, thanks in part to illegal marijuana farming in the vast forests of California. [continues 3142 words]
Ripe marijuana plants growing under the glow of fluorescent lights on a wooden farm-style table wait to be plucked. The thick, skunk-like smell of cannabis fills the back room of Organic Solutions of the Desert, and will linger on clothes hours afterward. The buds, once separated from the leaves, will be packaged and labeled with names such as Diablo, Earthshaker or Karma Krush, then made available to 6,000 dispensary members to alleviate everything from chronic body pain and anxiety to depression and HIV side effects. [continues 2450 words]
Laboratories that specialize in pot testing. Security companies that only guard dispensaries. Chefs that just make edibles for medical marijuana patients. Businesses that cater to cannabis are starting to flourish. "There's all kinds of companies out there," said Lanny Swerdlow, a medical marijuana patient and advocate from Whitewater. "When you go to a collective, there's pill bottles, pipes ... If there's a market, someone takes advantage of it." Collective Protective Services, based in Chino, focuses on providing security for cannabis clubs. It started with three employees in 2010 and now has 60 that protect more than 100 collectives across Southern California, including Desert Organic Solutions, a legal dispensary in north Palm Springs. [continues 845 words]
PALM SPRINGS -- Medical marijuana users in Palm Springs don't have to register with the state, but their information is entered into a local dispensary database that can be reviewed by city officials, a requirement some privacy experts say goes too far. Patient records, including a physician's referral, must be maintained by each dispensary and made available upon demand, according to the city's ordinance. Some dispensary owners wonder if the request violates HIPAA, the American Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The law protects individual medical records and other personal health information. [continues 1407 words]
County Aims to Reduce Illegal Growing A variety of proposed medical marijuana policy changes will be discussed at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday that range from a permanent ban on new dispensaries and cultivation sites to reducing the number of plants an individual can grow. The study session is in response to a number of State Appellate Court decisions this year that provide clarification of State law regarding the ability of local governments to regulate or ban marijuana activity. [continues 331 words]
HIT - It was the perfect example of big bank versus little bank this week. Chico got slapped down by its own financial institution - a big bank - that said it could not help with the city's search for temporary cash. In steps the little guy, Golden Valley Bank. A community bank that's seven years old with one branch, Golden Valley said it could cover the financial gap, which was only for a short time until money due the city actually arrived in the city's accounts. [continues 522 words]
There are certain issues where the tide of public opinion inexorably turns the level of discourse. That's what's happening with marijuana, where only a few years ago California voters turned down a ballot measure legalizing personal use of the drug. But that was so 2010. By this past November, voters in Washington and Colorado had voted to legalize pot. The ballot measures benefited from a long list of leaders who argue that continuing criminalization of personal use was a huge waste of resources -- and that officially regulating marijuana would bring in needed tax dollars. [continues 570 words]
The owners of a former Vallejo medical marijuana dispensary raided by police last year are suing the city for alleged abuse of power, excessive force and retaliation. Plaintiffs Daniel and Rhonda Chadwick operated Homegrown Holistic Cooperative, Inc. at 215 Tennessee St., which shut down after being raided by police on Aug. 10, 2012. It was one of at least six dispensaries raided by police last year; however, all of the cases fell apart because, lawyers argued, police didn't understand California law. [continues 306 words]
(AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he would lead a panel of medical, legal and law enforcement experts who plan to spend the next 18 to 24 months studying how the state can tax and regulate legal marijuana sales in an effective way. Mr. Newsom, a Democrat who supports the legalization of marijuana, said the goal is to make recommendations that could be written into a ballot initiative in time for the November 2016 election. Allen Hopper, the A.C.L.U.'s director of criminal justice and drug policy, said the committee would draw heavily from the experiences of Colorado and Washington, which legalized adult use of marijuana last year. [end]
Panel Will Consider Drafting Measure to Appear on 2016 Ballot Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will head the American Civil Liberties Union's new panel studying marijuana legalization in California, with an eye toward drafting a measure for 2016's presidential-year ballot. "Enough's enough. I can't sit back and support the status quo any longer," Newsom said in a telephone interview Thursday, citing the high prison and police costs associated with marijuana enforcement that disproportionately affects minority communities. "I don't want to be the guy giving the speeches after I'm gone about what we should've and could've done." [continues 473 words]
At the end of my Sept. 7 column, I asked you to respond to me about any area of importance to you, and I would show to your satisfaction how it was made worse by marijuana prohibition. So many of you took me up on my offer that I want to share my answers. So here goes: Under our curent system, marijuana is the largest cash crop in California - No. 2 is grapes. But when a product like marijuana is made illegal, it is pushed underground. So these are some of the obvious and not so obvious results: [continues 637 words]
Dispensary Rules Change-and More Changes Likely on Horizon Colorado and Washington are settling comfortably into their new normals on the marijuana-legalization front, with the feds backing off and Seattle cops even offering helpful tips on responsible pot consumption. (Do eat Doritos. Don't drive while high.) But here in California's state capital, fitful prohibition laws keep the Schedule I narcotic off the tax rolls and in the homes of suspected criminals. During the first week of October, Sacramento County sheriff's officials seized north of 250 marijuana plants from multiple homes, while city police violated two probationers after locating weed and handguns in their residences. [continues 695 words]
Marijuana advocates took a step toward making California the third state to legalize the drug for adult recreational use Thursday when Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and the American Civil Liberties Union opened a campaign intended to land a measure before voters during the next presidential election. Newsom, who came out in favor of legalization last year, will lead a panel of academics, drug policy experts, law enforcement authorities and officials from Colorado and Washington - the two states whose voters legalized recreational use last year. [continues 740 words]
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Lanny Swerdlow, a Inland Empire marijuana activist, received no punitive damage award against his anti-drug opponent Paul Chabot despite a jury ruling in favor of him in a civil trial. Jurors in West Valley Superior Court on Thursday afternoon did not find Swerdlow's suffering worthy of the $1 million punitive damages he was seeking after a 2007 incident at a Inland Valley Drug Free Coalition meeting in Rancho Cucamonga where he alleged false arrest and malicious prosecution. [continues 361 words]
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A jury ruled in favor of Inland Empire marijuana activist Lanny Swerdlow on Wednesday in his civil trial against anti-drug foe Paul Chabot with a final financial amount pending based on punitive damages. Jurors will be back in West Valley Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. today to determine punitive damages against Chabot, said Judge Joseph Brisco to Swerdlow, who is representing himself, and Chabot's attorney Andrew Haynal in court before court was dismissed. Swerdlow is seeking punitive damages of $1 million after a 2007 incident at a Rancho Cucamonga meeting where he alleged false arrest and malicious prosecution. [continues 295 words]
A Proposal From Riverside Safe Access Would Set Rules to Allow Handful of Dispensaries to Legally Open in Riverside A group of medical marijuana supporters is planning a ballot measure that would legalize, regulate and tax a small number of dispensaries in Riverside, which led the fight to ban such facilities. On Wednesday, Oct. 16, Riverside attorney Jason Thompson filed paperwork seeking permission to gather signatures to place the initiative before voters. Thompson represents Riverside Safe Access, a local group of about a dozen authorized users and proponents of medical marijuana. [continues 697 words]
I gotta give you an update, man. Weed has worked wonders for my girlfriend (she's been diagnosed with bipolar II disorder). We've stuck to pure indica, and it relaxes and calms her. She was developing a pretty severe drinking problem before, and now, she'll just have a few puffs instead, and be happy for the evening. Thank you so much man, it really, really helped us. - -Jay Don't thank me. Thank cannabis. But seriously, I am glad it's working out for you guys. Keep in mind that I am not a medical professional, and your girlfriend should keep her doctor informed. [continues 415 words]
Ex-Owner of Two Businesses Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering; Sentencing Dec. 9 SAN DIEGO - The former owner of two medical marijuana dispensaries has struck a deal with federal prosecutors, pleading guilty to a money laundering charge Tuesday and resolving a case that has been closely watched by lawmakers and the medical cannabis community. Ronnie Chang, 45, had faced 77 charges, including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, money laundering and conspiracy to distribute to minors. His indictment in 2011 followed a lengthy investigation and the forced closure of two of his dispensaries, Club One in San Marcos and Extreme Holistic Care in Wildomar in Riverside County. [continues 469 words]
Bigger, dirtier crops, "light dep," and the Slow Weed Movement define the outdoor cannabis harvest this year. Northern California is overflowing with seasonal laborers who are cutting down and trimming the state's outdoor medical marijuana crops this week, and experts in the field forecast a bigger, longer, yet more conflict-ridden harvest than in years past. California leads the nation in domestic cannabis production, and the state's pot growers bring in hundreds of metric tons of the fragrant, cane-like bush every harvest season, researchers estimate. This time of year, East Coast wholesale brokers tour farms in traditional growing epicenters like Humboldt, Mendocino and Lake counties, where a seasonal influx of trimmers - manual laborers from all over California and the nation - are paid in weed and cash to harvest this year's crop. [continues 829 words]
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - The lawsuit between marijuana activist Lanny Swerdlow and marijuana opponent Paul Chabot continued this week in court with lengthy testimony from Chabot, who said the activist pushed him. "I remember feeling a forearm, a fist, not as a punch but as a push, and the line of a box," Chabot, president of the Coalition for a Drug Free California, testified Wednesday in West Valley Superior Court. At the time, Swerdlow was holding a box in front of his body, Chabot said. [continues 346 words]
Inside California
