Pubdate: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2001 San Francisco Chronicle Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Author: Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) OAKLAND RAID TURNS UP POT AND PLENTY MORE 891 Plants Found In Hills Home, Police Say Oakland -- A young couple was charged yesterday with numerous drug violations for allegedly transforming their rented home in the posh Montclair area of the Oakland hills into a marijuana-growing haven with their son living there. Jeremy A. Smith and his wife, Tina Suzanne Smith, both 23, kept 891 marijuana plants in the garage of their home at 6200 Westwood Way, along with growing equipment, authorities said. Oakland police also found $6,238 in cash, hallucinogenic mushroom-growing kits, hashish and brass knuckles during the raid Tuesday, records show. Police said drugs were found in the room where the couple kept their 16-month-old son's crib. Yesterday, Jeremy Smith put his arm around his wife as their attorney, William Panzer of Oakland, entered not-guilty pleas on their behalf before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Carlos Ynostroza in Oakland. The two were arraigned on charges of cultivating marijuana, possession and possession for sale of marijuana, attempted cultivation of psilocybin mushroom spores and possession of brass knuckles. They are free after they each posted $40,000 bail Wednesday. Outside court, Jeremy and Tina Smith denied any wrongdoing, saying they sold marijuana for medicinal purposes only. "We're not violent people," Jeremy Smith said. "We went out of our way to be legal." But Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Russ Giuntini said yesterday that the cash and the sheer number of plants found in the home indicated that the two were selling the marijuana for profit. The other drugs found in the home discredit their defense, he said. "It's curious to me that someone who is offering help to people with ailments would have psilocybin, which to my knowledge serves no medicinal purpose," Giuntini said. "Maybe it must be that you have to hallucinate your misery away." When a shirtless Jeremy Smith answered the door to officers responding to an anonymous tip, he had marijuana leaves sticking to his chest, Giuntini said. Giuntini said a handwritten note from a buyer was found on top of a computer that was left as collateral for a $1,080 purchase of "30 pieces of honey bud." The prosecutor said the couple could face charges of child endangerment pending a continuing investigation. Tina Smith said her son, Kody, was never in danger. He was taken to a foster home, then released to his parents Wednesday. Jeremy Smith said he uses medicinal marijuana for chronic asthma, while his wife uses it to alleviate severe back pain. Panzer, the co-author of Proposition 215, the 1996 voter-approved measure that allows marijuana to be provided for medicinal use, also attacked the case. "The police have grossly overexaggerated the amount of plants in this case, " Panzer said, noting some were clones. "We deny vehemently that the patients are not qualified patients." He said the number of plants fell under the limit allowed under Oakland law for each patient. - --- MAP posted-by: