OHIO: Burglar steals marijuana from drug agents

OHIO: Burglar steals marijuana from drug agents

Posted by Damian G. Guevara August 14, 2007 18:49PM


Chardon -- First the drug agents took the marijuana away from an illegal home-grow operation. Then a burglar took it away from the drug agents.

A secret stash of marijuana -- supposedly safeguarded by local drug agents in a van trailer -- is missing after a burglar picked his way into the storage unit, the Geauga County sheriff said.

The thief, or thieves, likely had no clue agents were using the storage for contraband, or that marijuana was inside, Sheriff Dan McClelland said.

McClelland said he was "not pleased" with the break-in. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday.

The stolen marijuana was the proceeds of a bust in June that Geauga authorities touted as the largest in the county's history. Drug agents found 580 marijuana plants valued at nearly $600,000 inside a Chardon home. A 27-year-old man was charged in that case.

Investigators sent the pot to a crime lab. When it came back, drug agents locked the dope in the trailer and temporarily parked the trailer on private property in a location McClelland would not reveal. The thief cut the lock on the trailer. Police discovered the break-in July 30.

The crook took half the bags inside the trailer: four bags of marijuana plants weighing a total of 15 pounds. The value of the plants has not been determined.

The marijuana was not cured for consumption and it's questionable whether anyone can sell it.

"Whether it's salvageable is undetermined," McClelland said.

The theft -- and whether drug agents followed policy -- is under investigation, McClelland said.

Investigators suspect the burglar is the same person who broke into several area businesses in recent weeks, McClelland said. The theft should not have an effect on the upcoming drug case, he said.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/08/burglar_steals_marijuana_from.html


DaBronx

State rejects Lassen's medical marijuana ID request

State rejects Lassen's medical marijuana ID request


Posted on Tuesday, August 14 @ 10:12:51 PDT


Lassen County News Headline Aug. 14, 2007 — Lassen County may not alter state medical marijuana ID cards with the stamp “not valid under federal law.”

Supervisor Jim Chapman insisted on stamping the statement on the cards in red ink when the board approve in June a resolution establishing the medical marijuana ID card program, established in 1996 by Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act.

Chapman made the motion on June 26 to approve the resolution only if it stated the board was resolved to add the “not valid under federal law” stamp to any cards issued for Lassen County. His motion passed unanimously.

However, District 4 Supervisor and Board Chairman Brian Dahle immediately added, “We’ll see that again in a couple of weeks.”

About a week later the county received “a verbal statement from the state saying that we could not alter the card,” Assistant County Administrative Officer Kevin Mannel said on Tuesday, Aug. 7. He asked county staff to verify the verbal statement.

“I asked staff to get that in writing,” Mannel said, “because if we need to go back to the supervisors, we need to verify the person making the statement from the Department of Health Services.”

The staff now has a copy of a written statement from the state. Mannel said he plans to take the letter back to the board and ask if its members plan to continue with the resolution requiring the stamp — to which “it appears we cannot comply,” he said — or if the board will agree to pass the original resolution, which complied with state law. Mannel said he expects to have the issue back on the board agenda by the second week of September.

The letter dated July 24 from Karen Parr, the chief of the medically indigent services section of the California Department of Public Health, states the cards, or MMICs, are produced through a contracted vendor “and the production price of the MMIC specified within the contract is based on the current design, therefore, it cannot be changed.”

It said any design changes would increase the card costs and any increase “must be passed on to the counties. Furthermore, in order to assist law enforcement in verifying valid medical marijuana patients or caregivers the information contained on the MMICs must be consistent statewide.”

The medical marijuana ID card application informs patients they are not protected from prosecution under federal law, Parr’s letter said, providing “sufficient notification to patients and primary caregivers of possible federal prosecution.”

Chapman said the board could reconsider the program if the state rejected the stamp.

There is no provision for individual counties alter the cards under the process established by Senate Bill 420, which implements Prop 215 and became law in January 2004. SB 420 specifies a patient, who has documentation from a physician verifying the client suffers from a serious medical condition and the use of medical marijuana is appropriate, must pay a fee. The board’s resolution set that fee at $150, or $117 for those served by MediCal.

The county must verify the address of the person applying for a card by checking proof of residency and a government-issued photo ID. The state issues the card after the county health department screens the application and reviews it for completeness. If anything is missing the state automatically denies the application.

Once the application is entered into a computer the state will issue a card within five days. The county will notify the user when the card is available for pickup.

Saying the state coerced the counties into approving the program, Chapman said it would be easy to go to the local office supply store and have a stamp made. He added SB 420 does not prohibit the stamp being added to the card.

“Let the state say, ‘No you can’t do that, and if that’s the case let them come up with a way to revise it,’” Chapman said in June.

At the June 25 meeting, Mannel agreed SB 420 conflicts with federal law. But he said more than half the state’s counties have already implemented the ID card program, including Shasta and Plumas counties. He said approval of the program does not take any authority away from the sheriff’s department to enforce DUI laws.

Sheriff Steve Warren said his deputies would continue to arrest anyone suspected of driving under the influence regardless of whether they carried a medical marijuana card.

http://www.lassennews.com/News_Story.edi?sid=4128&mode=thread&order=0



DaBronx

Salinas City Council Considers Ban on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Salinas City Council Considers Ban on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Last Update: Aug 14, 2007 10:11 AM

Video Watch This Video





SALINAS, Calif. - Monday, the Salinas City Council will talk about a proposed ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.

While most council members want to keep the pot clubs out of the city, one of them says that she believes in them.

Jyl Lutes says she lost her husband to bone cancer 23 years ago and she's seen first hand what wonders medicinal marijuana can do.

Council member Sergio Sanchez was also in favor of the dispensaries in the beginning, but now he says he supports a ban because Salinas isn't ready for a pot club.

http://www.kion46.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=b63a6c1b-df42-4023-8a2c-e25943b95164&rss=172


DaBronx

Stoned Dog Uncovers Marijuana Grow

Stoned Dog Uncovers Marijuana Grow

BY CAT ROBERTSON





Last week, Deputy Gil Flores of the Twin Peaks Sheriff Department discovered 150 marijuana plants after he investigated a suspicious circumstances call in Cedarpines Park. Kurt Norlander placed the call after his chocolate Labrador, Maple, had eaten a large quantity of marijuana.

“We had a new neighbor move in a couple of weeks ago,” explained Norlander. “He was unloading things at night and seemed kind of suspicious. Maple kind of befriended the guy and went over there sometimes.

“We believe the man fed him, and Maple grabbed some marijuana off a table and ran off with it,” Norlander continued. “He came home and was staggering and his eyes were dilated. We thought maybe he'd gotten into some poison or something, so we rushed him to the animal hospital. They gave him some charcoal to make him throw up and there was a lot of marijuana in his stomach.”

“Marijuana is not really dangerous for dogs,” said Lynnda Nafzgar of the Rim Forest Animal Hospital. “It kind of has the same effect on animals as it does on humans—it just makes them dazed and dumb looking. We gave Maple charcoal and he vomited. He's fine now, but we kept him overnight to keep an eye on him.”

Once he discovered the marijuana in Maple's stomach, Norlander reported the incident to the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department, and Deputy Flores went out to investigate. “I attempted to contact the neighbor,” said Deputy Flores in a report on the incident. “While on the property, I observed small amounts of marijuana on the coffee table. I checked the perimeter of the residence and noticed an odor of marijuana. I could hear a humming sound from within the lower buildup of the residence. Upon further investigation, I saw discarded air ducts as well as empty lighting boxes. The windows on the lower level were completely blacked out. I also noticed the electrical meter was spinning very rapidly.”

Deputy Flores contacted the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Narcotics Division and secured the scene. Several members of the sheriff's Marijuana Eradication Team arrived on scene and a search warrant was obtained. Approximately 150 live marijuana plants were confiscated from within the residence.

Also recovered were several plants, which were ready to be processed, hanging in a bedroom closet. Documents recovered inside the residence suggested a James Julianna resided at the location. He was not found at the scene, but is a person of interest in the case.

Anyone with information on James Julianna should contact Deputy Flores at (909) 336-0600.

http://www.crestlinecourier-news.com/articles/2007/08/09/news/news2.txt


DaBronx