A sense of certainty that recreational, random marijuana use will be legalized, regulated and taxed in California after next month's election lies behind the millions of dollars invested so far in Proposition 64, which would allow adults to grow, buy and possess pot. No more medical marijuana ruses. The sense of inevitability stems partly from the experiences of Colorado and Washington state, where cannabis can be had anytime in very many places and is regulated somewhat like cigarettes. In short, not much. Polls now show between 55 and 60 percent of likely voters favor complete legalization, and national polls indicate almost exactly half of all Americans also want that. Support for freedom to use the weed has never been higher. [continues 592 words]
A s some areas of the Golden State already seem to be embracing the marijuana industry, thankfully Tulare County continues to follow the law and awaits further legislation. On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors again passed an interim ordinance blocking the growing and dispensing of medical marijuana and basically thwarting any attempts for someone to set up a growing operation in the county in preparation should the state's voters pass a measure in November which will legalize cannabis. There is so much uncertainty and still so much illegal activity surrounding marijuana - medical or not - we support the moratorium on opening up new cooperatives or collectives to distribute medical marijuana because the regulations are still far too lax. [continues 239 words]
No One Speaks Against Extension Surprisingly, not one person spoke Tuesday for or against an ordinance which will extend the ban on new medical marijuana collectives or cooperatives in Tulare County. Following a detailed staff report into why the county wants to extend its interim ordinance prohibiting the establishment of new or expansion of existing medical marijuana entities in the county, supervisors passed the extension on a 5-0 vote after no one spoke during the public comment portion of the hearing. [continues 376 words]
County Looking at Continued Enforcement County supervisors are being asked on Tuesday to extend the county ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana collectives, cooperatives or businesses. Extending that ordinance, which was first passed in 2013 then extended in 2015, will be the subject of a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the board chambers in Visalia. The recommendation before the supervisors is to once again extend the ban, a decision sure to come under fire from those medical marijuana proponents. [continues 307 words]
The Tulare County Sheriff's Department arrested a Los Angeles obstetrician-gynecologist on Tuesday for illegally issuing medical marijuana recommendations. Dr. Howard Ragland was taken into custody for two felony warrants which were issued after an investigation by the Sheriff's Tactical Enforcement Personnel team. According to a Sheriff's Department press release, it came to the attention of the Department that Ragland, who had an office in Visalia, was issuing medical marijuana recommendations "in an unscrupulous and illegal manner." The Sheriff's Department said it is the first prosecution of a doctor related to the issuance of recommends in Tulare County. [continues 83 words]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Thousands sent up a cheer and a collective plume of marijuana smoke at the stroke of 4:20 p.m. Wednesday in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. They gathered at the park's "Hippie Hill" to toke up, eat and drink the afternoon away into the night. A plane dragging a banner encouraging attendees to "smoke weed" circled overhead, while unlicensed vendors set up tables and makeshift tents to sell all types and strains of bud, not to mention T-shirts, pipes and food. [continues 287 words]
Unofficial of course but widespread is the belief that marijuana is already California's largest cash crop. Many who believe that also predict that "we ain't seen nuthin' yet." They project the belief that pot will lead to another gold rush economically, probably with as much wildcatting, thievery, claim jumping and bedlam as the first. If that were not so, they say, tighr controls on the illegal weed would have been relaxed long ago. With approval of marijuana for recreational use on next November's ballot it is not hard to believe that smoking it in a legal context will skyrocket. If voters determine that it can be smoked legally can it be long before it will be grown and distributed legally? [continues 526 words]
Editor, It's been almost 20 years since California voters approved medical marijuana. State legislature efforts to restrict marijuana access only benefit Mexican drug cartels. It's time for California to move beyond medical marijuana and catch up with Colorado. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand 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 catastrophic failure. The United States has almost double the lifetime rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands where marijuana has been legally available for decades. The federal war on marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not an evidence-based public health campaign. In California and throughout the nation, it's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana. Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy [end]
With the state Legislature passing three bills dealing with the regulating of medical marijuana and voters likely facing a ballot measure next year to legalize marijuana, it would be best for the City of Porterville to place on the back burner any consideration of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. It is not so much that we are for or against the dispensaries, but right now the entire issue of marijuana is in a state of flux and it would be unwise for the city to spend staff time, and probably an attorney's time, coming up with regulations that may be outdated or out of compliance by the time they are crafted. [continues 193 words]
It's been nearly a year since the marijuana ordinance went into effect for the city of Porterville and Tuesday the council members will review to see if the ordinance has been effective. Some of the topics to be reviewed and considered for possible change include drought concerns and the amount of water the plants use, patients with drug-related felonies, and the possibility of a dispensary. With drought a huge concern and the state mandated conservation program that requires cities to conserve at least 25 percent of water usage (Porterville's goal is 32 percent), city staff expressed concerns of the ability to maintain the required conservation amounts of water usage with plants that use a lot of water. According to a staff report, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates a single marijuana plant uses six to eight gallons of water per plant, per day. These numbers may vary depending on the variety of the plant and how it is grown. [continues 247 words]
It's been eight months since the City of Porterville required residents to acquire a permit to grow marijuana for medical use, and for most of that time, only one permit had been issued. However, the permits are suddenly more popular, with 10 issued recently, according to city staff. The ordinance requiring permits was approved in October 2014 and went into effect Nov. 6. It allows medical marijuana patients to have up to 20 cannabis plants which can be located in a yard or accessory structure, or a combination of both. [continues 226 words]
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California took the first step Thursday to regulate its nearly 20-year-old medical marijuana industry, one that lawmakers said currently resembles something out of the "wild, wild West." Lawmakers in the Senate and Assembly passed separate bills attempting to set up state regulations that will pass muster with the federal Department of Justice. The bills were among dozens of pieces of legislation advancing through the Legislature Thursday as lawmakers faced a Friday deadline to move bills out of their house of origin. [continues 652 words]
Tulare County Supervisors Tuesday adopted what they termed "medical marijuana policy principles" in response to a slew of bills bouncing around Sacramento that could change the current laws governing the use and cultivation of marijuana in the state. Debbie Vaughn with the Chief Administrator's Office told the board a committee had recently surveyed all the bills being talked about in the state Legislature and noted, "the belief is there will be some ballot measures in the next election." The purpose was to keep the county up-to-date on what is being considered so it can react to any serious legislation. [continues 263 words]
Regarding your May 5 editorial, one day marijuana will be fully legal and there will be no environmentally destructive wilderness grows. Suburban basement grows with artificial lights and massive carbon footprints will be a thing of the past. These are vestiges of marijuana prohibition. When marijuana is fully legal, legitimate farmers will produce it by the ton under natural sunlight and ideal soil conditions at a fraction of the current cost. This is important. Financial incentives drive harmful cultivation practices. Marijuana prohibition distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. Mexican drug cartels do not sneak into national forests to grow cucumbers and tomatoes. They cannot compete with real farmers. For the sake of the environment, the sooner the marijuana plant is treated as a legal agricultural commodity, the better. California needs to catch up with Colorado. Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy [end]
When officers with the Tulare County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement agencies raided a large, sophisticated marijuana-growing operation last month, they removed a significant threat to the safety of anyone who might have stumbled upon the illegal operation. On April 23, officers went to the location northwest of Delano where they found more than 12,000 marijuana plants in various stages of growth inside 49 separate green houses. Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said it appeared the operation had been there a while. [continues 235 words]
We were please to see the board of supervisors stay the course when it comes to curtailing the growing of marijuana in Tulare County. The board recently agreed to keep the ordinance in place which greatly restricts the growing of marijuana. It does not completely ban marijuana growing, but narrows down where it can legally be grown. Marijuana growing both on private and public lands hit epidemic proportions three years ago. So blatant were the illegal growers, you could smell the illicit weed and often, it was very visible to neighbors or even passersby on roadways. [continues 214 words]
The marijuana ordinance requiring patients cultivating their own plants to have a city-issued permit goes into effect today. "[Patients] need to submit an application starting [today]," Interim Community Development Director Jenni Byers said. Porterville City Council approved the permit process a month ago, but so far no one has inquired about the application. "We have not actually received any requests for applications, or requests to even view the application," said Byers. The new ordinance allows qualifying patients to have up to 20 cannabis plants which can be located in a yard or inside an accessory structure, or a combination of both, as long as they have a permit. [continues 729 words]
Now that the city has basically given local medical marijuana users what they want, the pressure is on them to see to it that the city's new medical marijuana growing ordinance is followed and there are no problems with people illegally growing marijuana in their back yards. The council has agreed to not only allow those who have a "letter of recommend" from a doctor to use and grow their own marijuana, but to grow as many as 20 plants. The council set the fee to get a permit at the lowest recommended amount -- just $40 per user, which we feel it too low. [continues 203 words]
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]
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]
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]
Once again Tulare County Supervisors passed a moratorium on the opening of medical marijuana stores, be those dispensaries, cooperatives or collectives. This is at least the third time the county has taken such action, but at some point the county, along with entire state, is going to have to make some serious decisions on marijuana, especially medical marijuana. Cities are also in limbo. There is no doubt the current status is not only wrought with crime and fraud, it is putting legitimate medical marijuana users in a state of flux while stretching law enforcement resources. We call on the state Legislature to finally settle the issue of what is legal and what is not. [continues 236 words]
Editor, Regarding your Dec. 27 editorial, if marijuana were fully legal there would be no backyard residential growers cashing in on inflated medical marijuana prices. Legitimate farmers would produce it by the ton at a fraction of the current cost. There is a reason you don't see Mexican drug cartels sneaking into national forests to cultivate tomatoes and cucumbers. They cannot compete with a legal market. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda. [continues 69 words]
More than 200,000 marijuana plants were confiscated and destroyed by local law enforcement this year in Tulare County, an astounding figure, but one that shows the effort to eradicate the illicit growing of the popular weed will not end soon. Those in law enforcement will tell you that they are only making a small dent in the growing of marijuana locally. While we agree that may be true, it did seem this summer that some progress was made to discourage the illegal growing of marijuana in the county. [continues 273 words]
When law enforcement announces the finding of an illegal marijuana garden on forest land what usually gets the attention of people is the dollar amount of the plants cut down. However, what should be getting attention is the environmental damage done by these illegal growers, and the health damage they may be causing by the chemicals they are using on plants that could eventually end up being inhaled by a marijuana user. Law enforcement for several years now has noticed the environmental damage done by these illegal gardens and federal district attorneys that prosecute the cases are taking a harder stance. [continues 269 words]
Law Enforcement Anticipating Double Number of Illicit Gardens Last week's bust of several illegal marijuana gardens on public land in the hills of Tulare County clearly demonstrates the battle to curtail the illicit gardens is just beginning. Capt. Mike Boudreaux of the Tulare County Sheriff's Department said he expects to see double the number of illegal gardens in the foothills and mountains and a tri-fold increase in the number of gardens on the Valley floor over last year. [continues 723 words]
Editor, Regarding your May 17 editorial, not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. [continues 66 words]
Tulare County this week filed for injunctive relief against a medical marijuana collective in the community of Cutler. According to the complaint filed on Monday with Tulare County Superior Court, the county alleges that the collective violates the requirements of the county's zoning ordinance, which states that marijuana collectives and cooperatives must be located on land zoned for commercial or manufacturing use within the unincorporated areas of the county. The collective is located in an agricultural zone. In addition, the complaint states the collective violates the county ordinance by not being grown, "within a secure, locked, and fully enclosed structure." [continues 188 words]
THE ISSUE County effort to curb illegal marijuana growing. OUR VIEW Laws needed to be strengthened. The new county ordinance which shortens the time a grower of marijuana has to comply with county zoning laws was needed and should help to curb the illegal growing of marijuana in Tulare County. County Supervisors a week ago amended the code enforcement regulations affecting medical marijuana growing, reducing the amount of time a grower has to comply with from as many as 180 days to as few as 30 days. The amendment speeds up the process and at the same time places a $765 fee and a daily fine of $100 on violators. [continues 211 words]
Users: Cannabis Does More Good Than Harm "I will not issue you any more prescriptions because I'm not going to leave your children orphans." When Dawn Jobe heard these words from her doctor years ago, she opted instead for marijuana. For years, Jobe had consulted specialists and downed countless anti-inflammatory drugs and other pain relievers to treat numerous traffic accident and work injuries. After alarming results of several liver function tests - blood tests used to help detect liver disease or damage - she was warned she'd have to find an alternative to treat her pain. [continues 1450 words]
The stores have become popular over last several years There's a growing phenomenon sweeping across Tulare County - and across the nation, for that matter. It's called "indoor grow shops," and it's taking many people - from farmers-market fanatics to, yes, those who grow marijuana legally - by storm. There are two indoor grow shops in Porterville alone. Maximum Harvest Grower Supplies, the city's oldest indoor grow shop, is located at 730 E. Date St. The other shop, M&J's Grower Supply, is located at 128 N. Second St. [continues 382 words]
On Wednesday, Tulare County Sheriff's Department officials served four illegally zoned medical marijuana operations near Visalia, Ivanhoe, and Seville, with notices of violation requiring they shut down within the next ten days. If the owners and operators refuse to comply, the county will file for a preliminary and permanent injunction to enforce compliance, Tulare County officials announced Thursday. The move comes nearly four weeks after a Tulare County Superior Court judge found the Foothill Growers' Association, a medical marijuana cooperative that was previously located in Ivanhoe, violated a county ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2009. The ordinance requires marijuana collectives and cooperatives to be located on land zoned for commercial or manufacturing use within the unincorporated areas of the county. [continues 277 words]
Tulare County has taken a new step in its approach to control the proliferation of supposed medical marijuana growing operations in the county. On Tuesday, Tulare County Superior Court Judge Paul Vortmann ordered that operators of a large medical marijuana cooperative near Ivanhoe shut down by noon Friday or the county will shut it down. However, the operators of the Foothill Growers Association, Visalia Compassionate Care Center and Sunshine Farms could appeal the ruling and have so far not complied with orders to stop operating the cooperative. [continues 714 words]
Garden Busted Near Plainview In what has become practically an everyday occurrence, officers with the Tulare County Sheriff's Department's S.T.E.P. (Sheriff's Tactical Enforcement Personnel) spent Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning taking down another larger marijuana garden. So far this summer - which is turning out to be a busy summer - officers have eradicated approximately 70,000 plants. On Tuesday, Lt. Tom Sigley watched as two more dump truck loads of marijuana were hauled off from a site on Avenue 192 west of Plainview. [continues 710 words]
A week after more than 25,000 illegal marijuana plants were chopped down in Tulare County, officers with the Tulare County Sheriff's Department S.T.E.P. team cleared out two more gardens this week. A total of 1,503 plants were chopped down and destroyed this week, 903 at a garden in the 25300 block of Avenue 102, about a mile from the 4,000 plant garden busted July 26 in the Terra Bella area, and 600 plants in the Alpaugh area. [continues 348 words]
More than a dozen Tulare County Sheriff's deputies spent Tuesday tending to a garden - an illegal marijuana garden with more than 4,000 plants just north of Terra Bella. The proliferation of illegal marijuana groves apparently run by the Mexican cartels on the Valley floor has reached alarming proportions, noted Lt. Tom Sigley who heads up the TSCD narcotics enforcement team. "There are literally hundreds and hundreds of these on the Valley floor (in Tulare County)," he noted as officers worked to cut down and haul off the 6- to 12-foot tall plants. [continues 926 words]
Editor, Speaking as a retired street cop, the amount of time and money going after the marijuana crop is a horrific waste of taxpayer money. Pot has been readily available to kids for over 30 years, despite the pinpricks in supply reduction. As the "Thin Blue Lines" get thinner, I hope my colleagues will focus their attention on pedophiles, drunk drivers and other public safety threats. Got a problem with marijuana? See an addiction doctor. Howard Wooldridge Springville [end]
The middle of the growing season for Tulare County's leading cash crop is here. In 2010, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department seized nearly $1.67 billion worth of marijuana, slightly outdoing $1.6 billion in revenue fetched the same year by the dairy industry, the county's top commodity. And although the late rain and snow season have delayed this year's harvest, local officials are bracing for what they foresee will be a larger marijuana crop than in years prior. [continues 545 words]
The Porterville City Council will revisit the issue of marijuana during its regularly scheduled meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 291 N. Main St. City staff are asking the council to look again at its current regulations in the event federal law, which prohibits the use, possession, transportation and distribution of marijuana, is changed. Some states have said private individuals can grow marijuana for medical purposes, but under federal law, dispensaries are still illegal. In November 2007, the council approved regulations that effectively prohibited land uses that are inconsistent with local, state and federal law - by implication, prohibiting the location of medical marijuana dispensaries - and provided for regulation of such dispensaries in the event federal law is changed so that such a use is permitted. [continues 179 words]
The Tulare County Sheriff's Department is requesting the Board of Supervisors approve an operational agreement for the South Valley Marijuana Suppression Program. To underwrite these efforts, both Tulare and Fresno counties use a combination of general fund and grant money. The state's Marijuana Supression II Program requires that counties create a joint marijuana suppression team to apply for funding with one county serving as fiscal agent for the grant, a staff report states. The proposed grant, in the amount of $550,000, would pay for the following: [continues 194 words]
Editor, Let's not for a moment forget cultivating cannabis (marijuana) is, "like hanging 100 dollar bills in your front yard" (Council Waits for Prop. 19, Sept. 22), because it is unfairly prohibited. Prohibiting the extremely popular and relatively safe, God-given plant is the only reason for the artificial black market pricing realities, which cause unnecessary risk and danger. When was the last time a 17-year-old died from a gunshot wound received while reportedly stealing from an alcohol producer such as grapes from a winery? Murder rates decreased for 10 years after ending the original prohibition with alcohol and there is reason to believe ending the sequel will have the same results. Prop. 19 deserves our support. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
The marijuana garden where a Lindsay teen was shot, and later died, violated county laws. According to Tulare County Sheriff's Department officials, the marijuana was being grown for medicinal use, but was outdoors. On Sept. 14 - the same day the 17-year-old was fatally wounded while allegedly stealing from the site - growers Jacinto Gomez and Justin Jolly were handed a notice telling them they had 10 days to come into compliance. "It was surrounded by a fence only," Lt. Marsh Carter said. [continues 439 words]
The City Council will wait until voters cast ballots on Proposition 19 this November before determining whether to fine those who violate the state's marijuana growing and possession laws. While several members of the City Council appeared inclined Tuesday night to require all legalized, essentially medically purported, marijuana growth to occur indoors, they recognized that the legalization initiative could be a game changer if it's passed. It would require local governments to regulate, set and collect fees and taxes and authorize various criminal and civil penalties. [continues 214 words]
A Field Poll released Friday shows that likely voters in the Central Valley oppose Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization initiative, by a higher margin than any other region statewide - 54 percent to 36 percent. Of the 161 likely voters surveyed in the Central Valley by the nonpartisan Field Research Corporation, 10 percent said they were unsure. Statewide results show of the 1,005 likely voters interviewed, there's a much narrower margin of 48 percent no to 44 percent yes. If approved, the marijuana legalization initiative would legalize marijuana-related activities, compel local governments to regulate it and to impose and collect marijuana-related fees and taxes and authorize various criminal and civil penalties. [continues 367 words]
Tulare County Sheriff's Department announced Tuesday that it will file a criminal complaint with the district attorney's office against a medical marijuana dispensary that reportedly violated the county's newly adopted laws regarding medical marijuana. The announcement followed the department's completion of its second round of compliance checks at the seven medical marijuana shops in the county's unincorporated areas. Detectives found that all but one of the dispensaries they initially visited Dec. 10 were closed during what had been their normal hours of operation. [continues 370 words]
On Thursday, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department served seven medical marijuana shops with orders, forcing them to shut down for not being in compliance with federal laws. The checks were in accordance with a recently enacted Tulare County law that applies to unincorporated areas. Operators, like Melanie Mendes, were provided copies of the new ordinance that requires they comply with unaligned county, state, and federal laws. "Right now they are out of compliance," Lt. Keith Douglass said. "They have to obey all state and federal laws, and federal law says you can not [provide medical marijuana]." [continues 462 words]
While no one would begrudge Sheriff Bill Wittman his award for doing his job energetically, the unfortunate truth is that marijuana "eradication" is a myth ("Anti-marijuana campaign earns national honors," Dec. 3). The U.S. government's own National Drug Threat Assessment 2008 reports no decline in marijuana availability despite years of escalating plant seizures and increasing arrests for possession. In fact, the report cites raids on outdoor grows (such as those for which the sheriff is being honored) as one of the factors causing illicit growers to "shift operations indoors," where they "will produce higher-potency marijuana year-round, allowing for an exponential increase in profits derived." [continues 71 words]
Timing: Sheriff In Nation's Capital Thursday. A trial program in Tulare County that targets marijuana growing operations proved so successful it's being recognized Thursday in the nation's capital. The Sheriff's Department was nominated for, and has received, this year's National Marijuana Initiative Award. Sheriff Bill Wittman is in Washington, D.C. to receive the recognition of achievements during a ceremony in the Eisenhower Office Building. The award is in recognition of the marijuana eradication and drug trafficking investigations resulting from operation LOCCUST. [continues 556 words]
Status: Program would be entirely voluntary. The City Council is looking to add a voluntary drug-testing program to cover elected council members and citizens serving on city boards and commissions. Whether or not individual council, board and commission members take part in the program is up to them, and in any event the public may never know the results. The council on Sept. 2 directed the city attorney to develop a voluntary drug-testing program for members of the City Council and the city's various boards and commission members. [continues 412 words]
While there have been studies showing that marijuana can shrink cancerous tumors, medical marijuana is essentially a palliative drug. If a doctor recommends marijuana to a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy and it helps them feel better, then it's working. In the end, medical marijuana is a quality of life issue best left to patients and their doctors. Federal bureaucrats waging war on non-corporate drugs contend that organic marijuana is not an effective health intervention. The federal government's prescribed intervention for medical marijuana patients is handcuffs, jail cells and criminal records. [continues 101 words]
