For at least the past six years, one of the fiercest struggles in the federal government's war with the states over medical marijuana has been waged from a nondescript Santa Cruz warehouse, tucked between an auto repair shop and an electrical contractor. These days, there is unprecedented optimism inside that warehouse, where the feisty Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana appears to be on the brink of outlasting the feds and winning the most important legal fight still left in the courts over California's nearly 13-year-old voter approved medical pot law. [continues 703 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- After the Obama administration announced last week that it would only prosecute medical marijuana cases if they violate state and federal law, a Santa Cruz collective is still taking a wait-and-see approach to its own lawsuits and operations. "We're not exactly sure what's going to happen with the feds," said Michael Corral, co-founder of Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz. However, "I feel in all likelihood we will be probably be left alone." [continues 320 words]
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder signaled a change on medical marijuana policy Wednesday, saying federal agents will target marijuana distributors only when they violate both federal and state law. That would be a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which targeted medical marijuana dispensaries in California even if they complied with that state's law. "The policy is to go after those people who violate both federal and state law," Holder said in a question-and-answer session with reporters at the Justice Department. [continues 218 words]
We don't think we'd be accused of "smoking weed" to venture that Santa Cruz would solidly be in favor of the state of California legalizing marijuana. State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, has introduced a bill that would regulate marijuana like alcohol, with people over 21 years old allowed to grow, buy, sell and possess cannabis. All these activities are illegal under federal law, which probably would not be affected by state legalization, which also is unlikely for the present. [continues 346 words]
Plastered all over the world today is a photo of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana out of a bong. Mr. Phelps put out a statement saying that he acted in a youthful and inappropriate way and that he promises it won't happen again. Different people are weighing in on the possible impact of this photo on the gold medalist's $100 million endorsement deals. Here are a few of my observations on Phelps' bong hits. Phelps Is in Good Company Phelps struck another blow to the myth that marijuana smokers are lazy couch potatoes. Here is the guy who has won more gold medals than anyone in history, and obviously his health and accomplishments are not hindered by smoking some pot. In addition to his swimming skills, he is a successful businessman who has turned his accomplishments into an enormous public relations platform and money generator. Successful and honorable people who have smoked some pot are all around us, from President Obama to Mayor Bloomberg. [continues 490 words]
Thanks for the front-page story on the marijuana raids that took 55 officers serving warrants across the country on those enterprising home growers to net a whopping $22,000. It took officers from DEA, BNE, NET, ATF and several sheriff's departments, "investigating" for who knows how long or breaking who knows what laws to do this, to put these heinous pot growers behind bars. Compare that with the Madoff story, an old fellow who made off with $50 billion. There was only one agency peripherally involved and I say peripheral only because the SEC claims they just don't have the money to police all the crime they are mandated to police. And of course, the police didn't solve this crime; Madoff's sons turned him in. I am still waiting for the story where the two sons of a wealthy marijuana farmer turn their dad in for growing pot that hurt thousands of people and charity organizations. OK, I'd settle for the pot grower's son turning dad in for hurting even one person. We spend millions more police dollars enforcing the law on folks not wearing seat belts than we do on crime that hurts society 50 billion times more. Maybe the law-enforcement business is more like investment banking than I thought, and our laws aren't really safe and are way overleveraged. Walt Froloff Aptos [end]
SANTA CRUZ -- The city's first medical marijuana dispensary is hoping to build a new kitchen for its two pastry chefs so they can bake pot brownies, cookies and truffles in a controlled space at its shop. Lisa Molyneux, owner of Greenway Compassionate Relief Inc. in Harvey West, is slated to ask the city Planning Commission on Thursday to approve plans for a new, 430-square foot commercial kitchen. Now, the two chefs rent a commercial kitchen, which Molyneux said she can't watch as closely as if she had her own. [continues 394 words]
Medicinal marijuana caregivers may be prosecuted as drug dealers, according to a state Supreme Court ruling issued Monday. The ruling upholds a Santa Cruz County Superior Court jury decision that found medicinal marijuana user Roger Mentch, 53, guilty of cultivating and possessing marijuana for sale. Mentch, who was arrested by sheriff's deputies in 2003, claimed he was a caregiver for five medicinal marijuana patients. He also opened the Hemporium, a medicinal marijuana collective in Felton, where he sometimes sold the pot he grew. [continues 481 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- City Council candidate Lisa Molyneux is best known for opening her medical marijuana shop in Harvey West in 2005. Now, the recent transplant from Boulder Creek is seeking a seat in local government. Molyneux did not return repeated calls for comment for this story, but according to her statement on the voter's pamphlet, Molyneux said she would work to increase "public and bicycle safety," provide affordable education and increase the safety of medical cannabis patients in town. Molyneux, a former broadcast engineer with Fox New Sports in Los Angeles, left her job to open Greenway Compassionate Relief Inc. in Harvey West in 2005. [continues 126 words]
The plague of alcohol and drug abuse has fallen upon Santa Cruz County as it has fallen on the rest of California. Though program providers scurry around, bouncing from case to case in what amounts to a sea of triaged decision-making, the number of people who need -- and want -- drug or alcohol treatment far outstrips the ability of county providers to help them. The result of not being able to provide recovery services to all who want them has led to one undeniable fact. Many of those who need and who could benefit from treatment end up behind bars. According to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, over the past two decades the number of drug offenders who make up California prison populations has increased by a factor of 25! California can now boast the highest ratio of drug-offender incarcerations in the entire country. [continues 570 words]
SANTA CRUZ - Thousands of medicinal marijuana patients and supporters attended WAMMfest to celebrate and learn about the herbal medicine Saturday. Though medical marijuana patients were able to smoke their medicine at the event that featured music, crafts and speeches, that portion of the festivities was in question until this week. After failing to muster the votes to lift the city smoking ban in parks in a prior meeting, the council Tuesday agreed to do so. Only those with a medical marijuana identification card were allowed to smoke in a specially-designated tent Saturday. [continues 462 words]
Any misconception that Santa Cruz doesn't march to a different drummer should once again dissipate in a cloud of smoke. You can make your own conclusions about the origin of that smoke. But, in a week where news headlines have warned of an imminent financial market meltdown, as a presidential campaign continues to veer into the slightly surreal, events and public life in the city of Santa Cruz provide a welcome respite from all the seriousness. After all, in what other city would a decidedly left-leaning city council be told it was acting as if members were old and conservative by not permitting people to smoke marijuana in public, at a city park, where smoking is officially banned? [continues 354 words]
SANTA CRUZ - Medical marijuana patients will once again be allowed to smoke dope in San Lorenzo Park this Saturday, after city leaders temporarily lifted a smoking ban to allow for a festival celebrating the medicinal herb. The decision came after testimony from more than 20 patients who reasoned and pleaded with the Santa Cruz City Council to allow them to inhale their medication while partaking in Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana's annual WAMMfest. Some accused council members of growing old and more conservative, while others said Santa Cruz was losing both its compassion and its weirdness. [continues 366 words]
This coming Tuesday, Santa Cruz City Council members will once again be faced with deciding if the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana WAMM should be granted an exemption to the non-smoking policy for San Lorenzo Park. The stated need for this exemption is to allow members to "utilize their medication" during a festival intended to raise funds and awareness for the organization. I urge the Santa Cruz City Council to oppose this exemption. While I support the mission of WAMM and I recognize that there are people who legitimately use marijuana for medicinal purposes, I do not believe that sanctioning the use of our public spaces for this purpose, and the likely recreational drug use that will accompany it, is consistent with our goals as a community. [continues 387 words]
Should medical marijuana advocates be permitted to light up at their annual festival later this month? The Santa Cruz City Council, so far, says no and we agree. Here's the reasons why. First, however, the obligatory disclaimer: the Sentinel, along with the council, has supported the use of medical marijuana for people who need the drug to help them cope with medical issues. We also have consistently voiced concerns -- rooted in common sense and personal observations -- that everyday tokers have taken advantage of city policies allowing the limited cultivation and use of medical marijuana to further their own drug use. For example, police raided a medical marijuana advocacy office in downtown Santa Cruz and arrested its founder on suspicion of selling pot. [continues 325 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- County and federal authorities raided a Pacific Avenue medicinal marijuana organization Thursday, saying the group, which claims to be a counseling service, is nothing more than a cover-up for an interstate marijuana cultivation and sales operation. "They were actually selling marijuana out of there as a storefront," Sgt. Steve Carney of the Sheriff's Office said. "It's kind of like street-level dealing, but putting a nice, pretty picture on it." Five men, including the founder of the Local Patients Advocacy Group of Santa Cruz, have been arrested and a sixth is wanted on a warrant for selling marijuana, Carney said. [continues 942 words]
Those of you who know me, know that I respect and care for each of you. This is why I feel I can ask you to be very decent, brave and consistent on Tuesday evening by unanimously allowing the sick and dying patient members of Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana to smoke their medicine in peace at the WAMM Fest. By denying them this privilege on the chance that someone will smoke recreationally that day is just like the state taking Lighthouse Field and Its Beach from us dog lovers because someone might be bitten which has not happened, by the way. Limiting behaviors and the enjoyment of good people who are causing no harm because something "might happen" is just not like you. You are better than that. I learned of the efficacy of medical marijuana when I was doing AIDS work back when people were dropping like flies. I worked with John at SCAP to open the house on Delaware for AIDS patients; and I, who have never smoked anything, am thoroughly in support of comfort other than Vicodin and Oxycotin or liquor or cigarettes, which kill more Americans annually than anyone cares to enumerate. Diana Cohan Santa Cruz [end]
SANTA CRUZ -- WAMMfest, the annual event where medical marijuana patients toke up in San Lorenzo Park while touting the benefits of their medicine, may be in for a major bummer. Organizers might have to throw a marijuana festival without the smoke. On Sept. 27, Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana will hold its annual WAMM Festival -- a medical pot, hemp and music celebration. The group last week requested an exception from the city's ban on smoking in San Lorenzo Park so its 200 patients could attend the event and inhale their medicine. [continues 427 words]
The smoking ban in city parks could be lifted for the second time since it passed three years ago, as city leaders are considering allowing medical marijuana patients to light up during a festival at San Lorenzo Park at the end of the month. "It's not like a recreational marijuana event," said Councilman Mike Rotkin, who supports the temporary lifting of the city's 3-year-old ordinance that bans smoking in parks. "It's not a smoke-in, it's not like the 4/20 thing up on campus," Rotkin said. [continues 432 words]
A federal court ruling handed down Wednesday has lifted the hopes of medical marijuana users by denying a Bush administration request to toss a lawsuit brought by Santa Cruz city and county officials and Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana members. WAMM co-founder Valerie Corral called the ruling "hopeful." WAMM had its medical marijuana seized by federal agents in a 2002 raid. "Our lawsuit is really much more of an appeal than a lawsuit. It's an appeal for mercy from the federal government," Corral said. "We're not asking to break the law. We're asking to have another avenue for relief." [continues 365 words]
Heath Ledger's haunting role as the Joker in the new Batman film, "The Dark Knight," hit the screens nationwide last weekend. The critics have been raving about Heath's "dark" Joker performance and there is already buzz that he might win an Oscar for the role posthumously. Until very recently, I lived down the block from Heath Ledger and his wife, Michelle Williams, in Brooklyn. I found myself hit hard by the news of Ledger's accidental overdose death and continue to be disturbed every time I see photos of him, either out of costume or in his role of the Joker. I often used to see Ledger and Williams walking around the neighborhood with their young daughter. It is heartbreaking to think about that young girl never again being able to spend time with her father. [continues 399 words]
Six times in the past month, sheriff's deputies have busted marijuana gardens where the growers were allegedly stealing either water or power to care for hundreds of pot plants. Two men were arrested and deputies still are trying to track down who was responsible for the other grows, none of which were related, according to Sgt. Steve Carney, who heads the sheriff's narcotics enforcement team. He said the rash of utility-stealing pot grows is just a coincidence. "We've just followed up on citizen tips and we talk with PG&E on occasion when they receive tips as well," Carney said. [continues 399 words]
Five-thousand people break the law of California together and how does the Sentinel report it? Would the Sentinel write this anti-pot article if this was an anti-war rally or a civil rights march? I found your article one-sided and oblivious to 4/20 protests all over the country. Your article did not mention 4/20 gatherings at Denver, over 1,000 people, and in Redwood Park, over 2,500 people. It takes courage to break the law when you believe the law is unjust. Marijuana should be decriminalized and taxed, regulated like alcohol. How many people die with alcohol versus marijuana? Prohibition did not work, if I remember my history. What about the children? Well, I asked a group of teenagers what was harder to get -- beer or pot? Can you guess what they said? One is regulated and the other is not. Eric Kahl Felton [end]
I am not pro-marijuana, nor am I anti-alcohol. After reading accounts about public celebrations in Santa Cruz, I have made some observations. Five-thousand people drinking ends up with police in riot gear with batons at the ready and some people committing acts of vandalism, DUIs, fighting and even a shooting or stabbing. Five-thousand people smoking pot are happy, hugging and hungry. And as your photo showed, the police were not in riot gear and certainly don't look too stressed. It makes me think even law enforcement recognizes the different effects pot and alcohol have on the mood of the people at a festive event. Greg Tedesco Capitola [end]
SANTA CRUZ -- For those who arrest people who use, abuse or sell drugs, Sunday's pot-smoking festival at UC Santa Cruz was "a moral slap in the face to the cause," said Rich Westphal, task force commander with the Santa Cruz County Narcotics Enforcement Team. Despite efforts by the university to control access to campus, thousands of people, many of them students from UCSC and other California colleges, gathered at Porter Meadow to commemorate the so-called 4/20 cannabis culture holiday. [continues 843 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- Thousands of college students, dispelling the notion that marijuana somehow makes users forgetful, showed up late Sunday afternoon at UC Santa Cruz and smoked major amounts of weed. It was a coordinated effort that went off without a hitch to celebrate what has become commonly known as "4/20" to a pot-smoking subculture. In what could be aptly described as a cross between a New Year's Eve party and a wannabe Woodstock gathering, thousands of students found their way to the meadow behind Porter College in a scene reminiscent of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," then counted down the seconds until 4:20 p.m. [continues 807 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- UC Santa Cruz officials will restrict visitor and vehicle access on campus Sunday in anticipation of thousands gathering to mark the so-called 4/20 cannabis culture holiday. According to a memo sent to faculty and staff Thursday by Executive Vice Chancellor David S. Kliger, UCSC will take numerous measures to block unauthorized vehicles from entering campus and parking, as well as parking along Empire Grade, the 1.2 mile stretch between the main and west gates. Students also will not be allowed to have overnight guests tonight or Saturday. [continues 302 words]
Seven city residents volunteer their time to ensure police essentially ignore adult marijuana use on private property, a law overwhelmingly passed by Santa Cruz voters in November 2006. The group known as the Measure K Oversight Committee includes the head of the local United Way, a retired state Department of Justice employee, an attorney, a former downtown business owner, a retired college instructor and a former journalist now working at UC Santa Cruz. The committee, appointed by individual City Council members as a requirement of the law, met for the first time in September and released its first public report last week. [continues 581 words]
SAN FRANCISCO -- Employers can fire workers found to have used medical marijuana even if it was legally prescribed, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday in another setback for California in its increasingly rancorous clash with the federal government over medical pot use. The high court upheld a Sacramento telecommunications company's firing of a man who flunked a company-ordered drug test. Gary Ross held a medical marijuana card authorizing him to legally use marijuana to treat a back injury sustained while serving in the Air Force. [continues 539 words]
WATSONVILLE -- After narrowly permitting body artists to set up shop last month, the City Council today will consider another potentially controversial business ? medical marijuana dispensaries. Staff is recommending a ban, citing problems in other communities with crime, public pot smoking and complaints from neighboring businesses. But John Doughty, the city's community development director, said the bigger problem is that officials would be forced to issue business licenses or planning permits in conflict with federal drug laws. "We don't think it's appropriate to put ourselves in a position to have to violate federal law," Doughty said. [continues 454 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- City leaders have made an exception to the no-smoking rule at parks to allow an annual tradition to continue. The smoking ban, less than two years old, will be lifted temporarily for medical marijuana users to medicate at San Lorenzo Park during next week's Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana annual festival. "I think there's a solid basis for supporting this group," said Councilman Mike Rotkin, who joined Mayor Emily Reilly in writing the resolution to exempt WAMM from the smoking ban. "They're pretty selfless folks. It's not like they're out there profiting off other people's medical needs." [continues 360 words]
A federal court ruling Thursday dashed hopes of local medical marijuana advocates seeking to keep the government out of their pot gardens. In the case of Santa Cruz County v. Alberto Gonzales, U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel granted the attorney general's motion to prevent a Santa Cruz marijuana cooperative and its supporters from suing the office to stop federal marijuana raids. "Naturally, we're disappointed. I had hoped for something better," said Davenport resident Mike Corral, who owned the land where federal agents seized medical pot plants in September 2002, thrusting him, his wife and their collective into the five-year legal battle that's put the them at the center of California's medical marijuana debate. [continues 310 words]
SAN JOSE -- A Santa Cruz marijuana collective raided by federal agents in 2002 made its case for the right to grow medical pot in court Friday. Though no ruling was issued, supporters of the group, Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, said they're encouraged by the judge's response. U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel heard arguments on the federal government's motion to dismiss the suit, which alleges the raid five years ago at WAMM's Davenport garden was outside the law, given the legality of medical marijuana in California. The county and city of Santa Cruz are signed on as plaintiffs in the suit. [continues 391 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- Santa Cruz's oldest marijuana club has seen a precipitous drop in donations that sustain the organization since the federal government raided its gardens five years ago, and organizers are worried they will have to scale back their operations or even close. Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana has reduced the amount of marijuana given away as it struggles to stay in business and continue serving its 175 members, many seriously ill with terminal cancer or AIDS. "It's dire," WAMM co-founder Mike Corral said. "Not too far in the future we'll run out of what's available in our bank accounts now. It's a matter of months not a year or years" [continues 414 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- The annual fight to stop illegal marijuana gardens from sprouting in the Santa Cruz Mountains begins this month and, once again, the Sheriff's Office will get federal funding to support its efforts to eradicate large-scale pot grows. The county Board of Supervisors gave Sheriff Steve Robbins the go-ahead this week to apply for and accept about $120,000 in federal money that funds a deputy sheriff assigned to marijuana enforcement and a portion of an assistant district attorney position. [continues 443 words]
The stories are pouring in. Large numbers of veterans returning from Iraq are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. A frequent reaction to both of these painful health challenges is the use and misuse of alcohol and other drugs. Veterans, closed out of meaningful support when they return from the front lines, seek relief of their symptoms through self-medication. Some get better. Tragically, others do not. For some vets, many of them on longer-than-expected tours of duty, the self-medication begins even before they have left the battle fields in Iraq and Afghanistan. A March 13 front-page story in The New York Times addresses the issue of drug use among soldiers: "It's clear that we've got a lot of significant alcohol problems that are pervasive across the military," said Dr. Thomas R. Kosten, a psychiatrist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston. He traces their drinking and drug use to the stress of working in a war zone. "The treatment that they take for it is the same treatment that they took after Vietnam," Dr. Kosten said. "They turn to alcohol and drugs" [continues 408 words]
It's at the top of this page, day in, day out: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech ." The First Amendment means that even speech many of us might find offensive is protected by the Constitution. And while most people wouldn't argue with that premise, this support often might be revealed as somewhat shallow, especially when someone utters or writes words we vehemently disagree with. Sometimes this can be speech that seems hateful, such as racist rhetoric, or misogynist music lyrics. [continues 453 words]
Like Capt. Renault in the movie classic "Casablanca," we were shocked - -- shocked! -- to discover that some proprietors of medical marijuana clinics have pulled down millions of dollars, even as "nonprofit" clinics. We're also shocked -- shocked! -- at reports that just maybe some people without a medical condition are picking up their pot at medical marijuana stores. Most people in California, including us, support the idea of those in need of relief from disease or from chemotherapy being provided with marijuana to take away pain. [continues 443 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- Half the calls to criminal defense attorney Ben Rice are people busted for growing, selling or using marijuana. Rice has developed a reputation for protecting the rights of those who buy and sell the drug under the 10-year-old state law that makes marijuana legal for sick people. While most of those seeking Rice's services are legitimate medical marijuana patients or caregivers, he estimates 30 percent are not. These people aren't sick, he says, and are simply trying to hide behind the Compassionate Use Act for recreational or profit-making reasons. [continues 941 words]
For the first time, since Californians authorized the use of medical marijuana, Watsonville is being asked to come to grips with the implications of the 10-year-old law. The issue comes to a town that for more than 20 years hasn't even allowed tattoo artists to operate except under the direction of a physician. Now city officials have received inquiries from parties interested in opening not only a medical marijuana dispensary, but a tattoo parlor and a head shop to sell pot paraphernalia as well. [continues 380 words]
Do the people of Santa Cruz really want marijuana to be what the city is known for? That question just may be turning into a reality, especially after the passage last week of Measure K. The ballot measure passed overwhelmingly, although we still believe that a number of voters didn't really understand the full implications of the measure. It's part of a national effort by a well-funded group that's trying to overturn the nation's marijuana laws. They're going about the effort by picking off far-left towns like Santa Cruz to apparently convince the rest of the country that marijuana ought to be legalized. [continues 391 words]
RE: "Skepticism surrounds Santa Cruz's marijuana law" - Mike Bethke says: "It sends the wrong message to our kids, and to the rest of the country that Santa Cruz is a haven for folks who smoke pot." It's OK for adults to consume a substance less harmful than alcohol. What's wrong with that message? Thank you, Santa Cruz! That's a message the country needs to hear loud and clear! My children need to hear it too. It's important for them to know the truth about recreational drugs so when they get to be adults, they can make wise choices. [continues 55 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- Measure G, the proposal to raise the minimum wage in Santa Cruz to $9.25 an hour, was shot down by city voters Tuesday in a landslide defeat. "Defeating Measure G preserves the ability of local businesses to continue to employ people and continue to do everything we can to keep the community unique and successful," said Larry Pearson, owner of Pacific Cookie Co. and a leader in the opposition to the wage increase. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, 61 percent of voters had rejected the measure. [continues 412 words]
Measure K, the lowest law-enforcement priority initiative, is about setting police priorities that make sense. This November, Santa Cruz voters will have the chance to choose a local, common-sense alternative to the Bush administration's failed War on Drugs. Measure K will make adult marijuana offenses the lowest law-enforcement priority for the Santa Cruz Police Department, allowing our police to use their valuable time and resources to focus on preventing serious and violent crime. There are far more pressing issues and far more pressing drugs, like methamphetamine and heroine, affecting our city than nonviolent adult marijuana users. [continues 446 words]
I have a challenge for the advocates of marijuana use in Santa Cruz. Try telling the truth for a change. Measure K isn't meant to reallocate Santa Cruz Police Department resources to give them "more resources to fight violent crime." Like the medical-marijuana initiative, it is just one more attempt at de facto legalization through misinformation and yes, lies. Ultimately, Measure K will decrease the ability of the police to justly apply their discretion and further remove the real issue of legalization from public discussion. [continues 561 words]
Medical marijuana advocates say this week's state appeals court ruling broadens the scope of who can legally sell marijuana and will make it easier for those who need the drug to get it. California's 6th District Court of Appeal on Wednesday overturned the conviction of Roger Mentch. The Felton man found guilty last year of cultivation of marijuana and possession of the drug for sale because he was not considered a "caregiver." Santa Cruz attorney Ben Rice said in the past, caregivers have had to prove they had regular contact with a patient and provided services beyond drug delivery. But now, "all you have to do is show some evidence of helping in some fashion with a person's health," Rice said. That help includes providing medical marijuana, and could apply to a distributor or collective. [continues 305 words]
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's weekend decision to veto a bill that legalized growing hemp in California was greeted with disdain by the state assemblyman who supported it. The Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau also was frustrated with the veto, saying growers are always looking for viable crop alternatives, and that hemp could have been one given demand. But Schwarzenegger, in a statement Saturday, said while he supports the development of new crops in the state, he felt he could not approve the legalization of hemp, a type of cannabis related to marijuana but without the euphoric effects: "Unfortunately, I am very concerned that this bill would give legitimate growers a false sense of security and a belief that production of 'industrial hemp' is somehow a legal activity under federal law." [continues 493 words]
Richard Quigley's latest comment in this paper about the Marijuana Enforcement Team couldn't be any more off base. He claims that we don't need the MET team because voters passed Prop. 215 by a 4-1 vote. Does anyone really believe that people who grow hundreds of marijuana plants hidden on public lands, guarded by men with assault rifles, do it for medicinal purposes? I don't want to be hiking or mountain biking in the area's public parks and come across people armed with assault rifles. [continues 153 words]
Santa Cruz's city attorney and police officials are concerned about the marijuana initiative on the November ballot. They should look into the experience from similar initiatives in two larger cities - Seattle and Oakland. Seattle has been under a similar vote passed in 2003, while Measure Z passed in 2004. Seattle's initiative required statistical research into how the newly freed police have spent their time and found salutary effects on violent- and property-crime rates. Santa Cruz has much to hope for and little to fear after the initiative passes in November. Bill D'Amico Ben Lomond [end]
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office has a Marijuana Enforcement Team. What for? To ensure that the 4-to-1 vote in support of Prop. 215 is respected? I think not. In a recent edition of the Sentinel, Sheriff Steve Robbins' office bragged of destroying 29,000 marijuana medicine plants so far this year. I can't help but think that if Sheriff Robbins had actually had to run opposed for the office of sheriff, that we would not be living with this particular affront to the wishes of the majority of voters in this county. But he didn't, and we are. One has to wonder how many other majority-held views are being disregarded by Sheriff Robbins in favor of whatever he has deemed urgent instead. Aptos [end]
