UPLAND - At least once a week, commercial real estate agent Tom Mitchell said he is approached by operators of medical marijuana dispensaries looking to open up shop in town. The problem is, such enterprises are illegal in Upland and have been for several years. To skirt around the problem, the operators often offer to pay three times the asking rent and six months' security deposit. Some are willing to pay any legal fees they may incur, said Mitchell, who manages three commercial properties in Upland with about 100 tenants. [continues 992 words]
UPLAND - A proposal that will ban both medical and recreational marijuana-related activities in the city is going to the Planning Commission for review. After making numerous revisions to the ordinance, the commission will look at zoning and land issues. The council voted Aug. 8, 3-2, expedite to have a total ban in place before the November election - when voters across the state may approve the use of recreational marijuana. "If we don't have a ban in place, Upland will have not regulations to prohibit recreational marijuana or anything dealing with recreational marijuana, which means the day after the election could be anarchy," said Councilwoman Carol Timm. [continues 249 words]
UPLAND - Councilman Gino Filippi wants to know why a report about medical marijuana dispensaries failed to consider options to regulate them or present a recommendation more favorable toward the city. A medical marijuana initiative, which would amend the city's current ban on dispensaries as well as mobile dispensaries and allow three in the northwest part of town, raised legal questions for Upland. The City Council subsequently voted earlier this month to place the controversial medical marijuana dispensary ballot measure in a general election in 2016 rather than hold a special election. [continues 674 words]
UPLAND - Several residents are claiming they were misled by petition gatherers of a medical marijuana ballot measure by being told it was an effort to outlaw dispensaries. One resident even told the City Council recently he felt he was "duped" by the petition gatherers. The measure proposes to amend the city's existing ban on such facilities and allow three medical marijuana establishments in the northwest part of the city as well as deliveries. Proponents have gathered sufficient signatures to force a special election this year. [continues 565 words]
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Lanny Swerdlow, a Inland Empire marijuana activist, received no punitive damage award against his anti-drug opponent Paul Chabot despite a jury ruling in favor of him in a civil trial. Jurors in West Valley Superior Court on Thursday afternoon did not find Swerdlow's suffering worthy of the $1 million punitive damages he was seeking after a 2007 incident at a Inland Valley Drug Free Coalition meeting in Rancho Cucamonga where he alleged false arrest and malicious prosecution. [continues 361 words]
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A jury ruled in favor of Inland Empire marijuana activist Lanny Swerdlow on Wednesday in his civil trial against anti-drug foe Paul Chabot with a final financial amount pending based on punitive damages. Jurors will be back in West Valley Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. today to determine punitive damages against Chabot, said Judge Joseph Brisco to Swerdlow, who is representing himself, and Chabot's attorney Andrew Haynal in court before court was dismissed. Swerdlow is seeking punitive damages of $1 million after a 2007 incident at a Rancho Cucamonga meeting where he alleged false arrest and malicious prosecution. [continues 295 words]
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - People on both sides of the marijuana legalization issue presented their viewpoints at Victoria Gardens on Monday, both declaring themselves "mad as hell" about the other side's efforts to either defeat or continue its prohibition. Paul Chabot, president and founder of the Coalition for a Drug Free America, held what was billed as the nation's first National Marijuana Policy and Strategy conference, at the Victoria Garden Cultural Center. Chabot said the continuing legalization of marijuana throughout the United States posed a serious public safety and health issue for the country. [continues 377 words]
The state Supreme Court's decision upholding local governments' right to ban medical marijuana dispensaries left pro-marijuana advocates to rely on legislative action to ensure patients access to marijuana. Although the court recognized the legality of medicinal marijuana use, they did uphold the constitutional rights of the nearly 200 cities and counties throughout the state to ban dispensaries. "I think the take-home from the court's decision wasn't a big surprise, it just really underscored the need of the state to step up and provide comprehensive regulations which is in everybody's interest," said Tamar Todd, senior staff attorney with Drug Policy Alliance's legal affairs office in Berkeley. "The patients need access. Law enforcement needs clarity, and localities need help in regulating. " [continues 745 words]
Now that the more than 180 cities and counties up and down the state have the state's highest court on their side, many local government officials are actively seeking the closure of medical marijuana dispensaries operating in violation of their zoning laws. In San Bernardino County, cities from Upland on the west to Redlands on the east, as well as the county in its unincorporated areas, are marshalling their forces to dispense with the remaining dispensaries ASAP. The California Supreme Court on Monday upheld the right of cities and counties to ban the dispensaries, giving officials 100 percent certainty to enforce their ordinances that marijuana advocates believed were in violation of state laws that make it legal for the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. [continues 607 words]
Effects: Patients Say Ruling Will Limit Access to Treatment, Increase Illegal Sales RIVERSIDE -- Medical marijuana patient Gilbert Aguilar, who used the local collective at the center of Monday's landmark court ruling affirming cities' ability to ban cannabis dispensaries, did not hide his disappointment when he found it closed. "I think it sucks. They fought the good fight," Aguilar, 49, of Temecula said. "They ran a good establishment. I was proud to be a patient here," added Aguilar, who said he uses marijuana to alleviate back pain. [continues 443 words]
Two medical marijuana cases going before the state Supreme Court could determine whether dispensary bans by dozens of California cities are legal. The City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient's Health and Wellness Center is scheduled to begin Feb. 5 at the University of San Francisco School of Law over the city's legal authority to ban the dispensaries, which was upheld by an appeals court last year. In another upcoming case, City of Upland v. G3 Holistic Inc., G3 lawyers are expected to argue that cities can't ban the dispensaries because they're allowed under Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, which legally allows doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients. [continues 726 words]
Some local medical marijuana advocates see good things coming from President Barack Obama's comments that prosecuting recreational marijuana users in Colorado and Washington state should not be a "top priority" of federal law enforcement. Obama told ABC News' Barbara Walters last week that law enforcement has "bigger fish to fry" than the recreational users in the two states, which legalized marijuana on Election Day. The attorney for Aaron Sandusky, who was convicted in October of operating medical marijuana dispensaries in the Inland Empire, said he will use the president's words at his client's sentencing on Jan. 7 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. [continues 676 words]
UPLAND - After finding out her two stepsons were using marijuana and methamphetamine in her home, Jackie Nutting decided she had enough. The Upland resident helped form Upland Parents Against Drugs, which held its first official meeting Friday at the Pacific Christian Center. "I said I'm tired of this," said Nutting, who is a government affairs specialist. Nutting said the group is concerned with all drug use in the city. "Anything that doesn't come out of CVS, our parents are against it," Nutting said. [continues 412 words]
Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Chino, has introduced contentious legislation that could conceivably mean DUI convictions for unimpaired drivers, according to opponents of the bill. The bill aims to make it a crime for drivers to operate a vehicle with any level of marijuana in their blood or urine. But unlike the relatively quick burnoff rate of alcohol from one's system, advocates say marijuana compounds, or cannabinoids, can remain detectable in the body after the last use of the substance for up to 30 days. This difference is at the center of the controversy. [continues 501 words]
Marijuana Clinic Defies Federal Raid UPLAND - G3 Holistic is resilient. The medical-marijuana cooperative has survived two Drug Enforcement Administration raids - including one last week - and continues to provide medication to its 2,900 members. "I've been first in line, and I've been in early every day, so I would continue to be the first in line to solve this issue," said Aaron Sandusky, the president of G3. Federal law prohibits marijuana, but California voters approved the use of the drug for medical purposes in 1996. [continues 558 words]
UPLAND - Upland Rotary Club has now heard both sides of the medical marijuana debate. Paul Chabot, founder and president of Coalition for a Drug Free California, gave a presentation Wednesday during the club's weekly meeting outlining the dangers of marijuana to communities and children. "They're flooded with the pro-drug side, which has so much money for their message, and we don't," Chabot said. "I think it's refreshing for people to see this, but I think it's also a call to action - to not just sit here and listen to what I'm saying, but to take it and go fight in their communities." [continues 313 words]
UPLAND - The California Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to review an appeal filed by an Upland medical marijuana cooperative. Counsel representing G3 Holistic in Upland filed the appeal in December following a decision in November by the Fourth District Appellate Court in Riverside siding with the city's ban on medical marijuana dispensaries through its zoning code. "I'm totally flabbergasted," said Roger Jon Diamond, attorney for G3. "I thought they might take it, but you never know for sure." The co-op appealed an injunction granted by the West Valley Superior Court in August 2010 that shut it down along with several other co-ops in the city. [continues 390 words]
Well, it looks like Hank Williams Jr. might have been right. Obama and his henchman Eric Holder have gone back on their promise to leave California's medical marijuana clinics alone. It's bad enough that the narrow-minded, short-sighted city and county officials scoff at the will of the people of California. It seems they enforce the laws they want and ignore the ones they don't like. I wonder what they will think when one of their loved ones is deteriorating down to nothing because they can't eat due to the poisoning of the chemotherapy they must endure to fight the cancer they have. Do you think they would change their minds then? Probably not. Chino Hills [end]
President of Marijuana CO-Op Alleges Extortion UPLAND - The president of a medical-marijuana cooperative shut down by the city filed a claim this week accusing former Mayor John Pomierski of demanding money to keep it in business. Aaron Sandusky, the president of G3 Holistics Inc., accuses Pomierski of demanding $20,000 last March to secure what was described as a "tolling agreement." Sandusky is seeking unspecified damages in the claim. "My No. 1 goal is a permit," he said. Sandusky was told a "tolling agreement" would suspend all efforts by the city to force the closure of the co-op until after the November 2010 election, according to the claim, which was filed Monday. [continues 523 words]
UPLAND - City officials have mixed views on the impact an Upland medical marijuana cooperative may have had in the Upland City Council election. G3 Holistic, which is embroiled in litigation with the city, sent three mailers to Upland voters opposing two incumbents, one of whom lost the election after 20 years on the council. Tom Thomas lost to newcomer Gino Filippi, who was endorsed by the co-op. Ray Musser was also targeted in the mailers, but received the most votes, which makes the candidates wonder how much of a role the co-op actually played. [continues 1017 words]
