Pubdate: Thu, 17 Oct 2013
Source: Sacramento News & Review (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://newsreview.com/sacto/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/540
Author: Raheem F. Hosseini

SACRAMENTO EASES MARIJUANA LAWS-BUT CRACKS DOWN ON ILLEGAL GROWS

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.

The local interdiction efforts occurred days after the Sacramento 
City Council relaxed zoning restrictions for medical-marijuana 
dispensaries, which proponents believe will improve patient access 
and public safety, as well as set an example for the region.

"We are impacting not just our area, but surrounding areas around us 
that are watching how we implement this," said Canna Care's Lanette 
Davies, who noted that El Dorado County opened its door to 
collectives, in part, because of the evolving mood in Sacramento.

The city's policy shift affects more than a dozen medical-marijuana 
collectives that have been in limbo for the past three years. During 
this time, many dispensaries were forced to close or relocate due to 
federal enforcement, uncertainties in state law and local stasis.

"We closed for a time ... because many of our friends were raided and 
had federal interaction," said A Therapeutic Alternative's Kimberly 
Cargile. "We saw what happened to them and didn't want that to happen to us."

Both Davies and Cargile were speaking at the October 1 city-council 
meeting, during which a 5-1 vote walked back some of the stricter 
requirements applied to dispensaries in November 2009.

Those requirements prohibited pot shops from establishing within 
1,000 feet of parks and schools, 600 feet of churches and day cares, 
and 300 feet of homes.

But now, 15 dispensaries that opened on or before October 26, 2010, 
can remain where they are or request modified distance restrictions. 
In all, 34 dispensaries are affected by the amended codes.

So are their patients.

"You don't know how hard it is to find your medicine when dispensary 
after dispensary [is] forced to close," said Marcia Blount, a 
medical-cannabis user and president of the Brownie Mary Democratic 
Club of Sacramento County, whose mission, she said, is to "end the 
failed war on drugs."

Speaking of that war, the Sacramento front mostly targets illegal indoor grows.

One raid occurred the morning of Wednesday, October 2, when sheriff's 
detectives served a search warrant inside a middle-class subdivision 
just south of a country club in the unincorporated Vineyard 
community. Inside the two-story house on Crooked Stick Drive, 
detectives located indoor marijuana grows totaling 133 plants in both 
the garage and a downstairs bedroom.

Authorities say a gun, drugs and "copious amounts of caustic 
chemicals" used to cultivate the marijuana were accessible to the two 
young children living at the residence.

The kids were placed in protective custody, while the home's two 
residents-Tong Tran and Anh Huyen Nguyen, both 27-were arrested for 
possessing and cultivating marijuana for sale, as well as child endangerment.

Two days after the south county raid, sheriff's deputies and county 
probation officers checked in on a Rancho Cordova home and struck 
green gold again.

According to department reports, officers initially encountered some 
resistance on the part of 29-year-old Justin Philbrook, who "lied to 
the officers about who was inside," said Sheriff's Sgt. Lisa R. Bowman.

Not that it mattered. His probation status allowed officers to enter 
the residence, where they detained Joshua Frederick Holmboe and Tyler 
Mickel. Both 24-year-olds are also on probation.

Spotting several ounces of drying marijuana buds on the dining-room 
table, officers moved into the master bathroom, where they discovered 
a small marijuana grow. Digital scales and packaging materials were 
also found. Officers then went to Holmboe's home nearby and found a 
separate marijuana grow. Bowman said authorities seized 119 plants 
between the two grows, not including loose parts and pieces, like 
buds or stems.

Along with their own probation-search busts, Sacramento police are 
investigating the October 13 theft of a pound of marijuana from a 
good Samaritan who was assaulted by the stranded driver he or she 
pulled over to help near Altos and Acacia avenues.

Councilman Allen Warren, who supported the zoning amendments, warned 
that the effort to normalize medical marijuana could hit a setback if 
those within the community didn't police themselves. His colleague, 
Councilman Steve Hansen, said the city should next re-examine its 
prohibition against outdoor cultivation within the city.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom