User Of Medical Marijuana Can't Regain His Driver's License Eleven years ago, Clarence Johnson was convicted of drunken driving. It was his last rub with the law, he said, and he hasn't had a driver's license since. Now, to help his wife's business, he's trying to get behind the wheel again. The state Department of Motor Vehicles first requires counseling so he started the 18-month program last spring with Community Recovery Resources in Grass Valley. [continues 802 words]
Last summer, narcotics agents reported finding 105 indoor marijuana plants at a San Juan Ridge home. Three people said it was their medicine, but they were charged with cultivation and their trial is approaching. Last month, two men were charged after agents reported finding 185 plants in Historic Five Mile House on Highway 20. A defense lawyer said the crop benefited at least five patients. Last week, agents reported finding 106 outdoor plants at a Nevada City-area home. An ongoing investigation is focusing on how many people had medical recommendations connected with the garden. [continues 510 words]
Nevada City - Ambiguity prevailed in the first medical-marijuana case to challenge Nevada County's cultivation guidelines. How much marijuana is too much for a patient to grow? Jurors in John D. Cassatt's trial couldn't agree, and a mistrial was declared after they deadlocked Thursday in Nevada County Superior Court. Differences hinged on language in the Compassionate Use Act, which California voters passed as Proposition 215 in 1996. "I just think it's the way the law is - it's very, very vague. It doesn't set limits," said juror Chaylinn Tanguay of Grass Valley. Her vote changed from not guilty to guilty during four hours of deliberation. The jury stalled at 7 to 5 in favor of conviction and told Judge Ersel Edwards they were unlikely to reach the unanimity required for conviction. [continues 349 words]
Marijuana plants were on display Saturday at the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley for attendees of the Medical Marijuana School to examine and smell. Ben Furtado Maruschka Schipanski, hunched over and shuffling behind a walker, eased through Saturday's packed crowd at the Center for the Arts. The 69-year-old Grass Valley woman has a degenerative spinal condition and takes marijuana for pain relief. She used to take "lots of heavy medications that were just tearing up my body." [continues 1059 words]
There's a "giant sucking sound" sweeping across Nevada County, according to Martin Webb, and it's not coming from hundreds of gurgling marijuana bongs. He says it's legitimate medical marijuana users getting ripped off by the black market, diverting money that could be going into the local economy. The Penn Valley man teaches people, including AIDS patients, how to grow marijuana for their own medical use. On Saturday, he will be among several medical marijuana authorities at the one-day Medical Marijuana School in Grass Valley. [continues 413 words]
If you have two pounds of processed marijuana and a legitimate prescription, smoke in peace. Four hazy years after California voters passed the Compassionate Use Act, Nevada County has added some clarity by adopting a set of guidelines on how much pot a patient can own and what constitutes a legitimate medical A patient is permitted up to two pounds of processed marijuana and to cultivate up to 10 plants at any given time - so long as the plants yield no more than two pounds of processed marijuana. [continues 511 words]
