Putting the cart before the camel

Sacramento, California, is a hotbed for cannabis.  Dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries operate in the city.  A local ordinance regulating dispensaries is being drafted, and is expected to be voted up or down by the city council sometime in late 2010.  In November, Californians will vote on Proposition 19, a state initiative that would allow localities to tax and regulate cannabis as they see fit.  The City of Sacramento has a $43 million budget deficit, and elected officials are eying cannabis revenues to potentially help reduce the city’s debt.  At their June 22, 2010 public meeting, the Sacramento City Council signaled wide interest in placing a marijuana tax on the November, 2010 ballot.  The pot tax was quietly placed by city staff on the council’s agenda, along with a broader, unrelated tax proposal.

ON April 8 it was reported that Maryland had changed their law to allow medical marijuana however MMA has since learned that this is not the case. Medical Marijuana is still illegal in Maryland and we apologize for the inaccurate information posted before.

"Mr. Keyes has a doctor's recommendation for medical marijuana that predates the citation. So in the interest of justice the people move to dismiss this case," prosecutor Keith McIntosh uttered quickly.

"Case dismissed,” replied Judge Bob McNatt.  “The law is clear in this area.  Mr. Keyes is entitled to the return of his property.  I will be signing the return property order."

13 months after her arrest in Operation GreenRx, Donna Lambert will face additional charges to her 7 felony count for medical marijuana

SAN DIEGO - On Friday, April 2nd at 1:30pm, Donna Lambert has been ordered to be arraigned on additional charges stemming from her arrest in the Operation GreenRx Sting in San Diego County last February 2009.  San Diego County is well known for its fierce attempt to overturn California's state medical marijuana laws. Advocates have long criticized the San Diego District Attorney's office for targeting and prosecuting medical marijuana defendants who collectively associate under the Medical Marijuana Program Act.    

Medical marijuana provider Virgil Grant III came to the attention of law enforcement in December 2007, when marijuana from one of his Los Angeles dispensaries was found in the possession of a young driver responsible for a fatal car accident.  Although Virgil had nothing to do with the accident beyond this tenuous association, the investigation triggered events that put him squarely in the cross-hairs of federal prosecutors.  Along with his wife Pshyra, Virgil was arrested in May 2008 on federal charges of running a drug-involved facility, money laundering and drug conspiracy.  These charges put the Grants in a difficult spot – although there was some hope that there would be a change of law once a new U.S. President took office, defendants in federal court have been unable to fight their charges by showing that they complied with state medical marijuana laws.  However, the Grants’ case never went to trial – instead, federal prosecutors offered Virgil a deal in which the charges against Pshyra would be dropped if he pled guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana.  As a loving husband and father, Virgil was unable to pass up such a deal.  He took the guilty plea, and in March 2010, Virgil was sentenced to six years in federal prison.

VIRGIL EDWARD GRANT  # 47375-112

FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION

PO BOX 3007

SAN PEDRO, CA  90731

In an unsurprising 3-2 vote, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors today  passed the highly controversial amendments to Mendocino County Code 9.31, extending the county's regulatory claims to include growing collectives.  The measure includes a possible exception to the 25 plants per parcel Nuisance Ordinance through which a collective may be able to get a permit to grow up to 99 mature flowering females, if the collective is able to jump through the highly complex series of 23 bureaucratic hoops in order to get their permit.

Supervisors Colfax and Pinches were the dissenting votes.

MMMAB has consistently opposed this measure, the validity of which now passes to the courts for determination.  A challenge to the existing MCC 9.31 was filed by Attorney ED Lerman on 9/11/2009 and will be heard by Judge Behnke in Superior Court on May 14.

In the meanwhile, keep your eye on Qualified Patients v. City of Anaheim, a case which is likely to impact the Mendo courts ruling on 9.31.  A decision in that case is expected around 4/20.


Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board
PO Box 2555
Mendocino, CA 95460

707-964-9377
http://www.mmmab.net

SACRAMENTO, CA -- Medical marijuana patient Matthew Zugsberger has an unusual reason for possessing three pounds of pot at the Sacramento International Airport on December 4th, 2008.  

He says he was attempting to take his personal stash to Louisiana, where he planned to have his ex-wife use her culinary training to cook up a variety of pot-infused foods for him to take back home and eat.   

No doubt this plan is curious and oddly labor-intensive.  But is it criminal?

That’s what Deputy District Attorney Satnam Rattu claimed during closing arguments in Zugsberger’s trial yesterday afternoon.  Although he lacked any conclusive proof of sales, Rattu appealed to jurors to use their common sense to find Zugsberger guilty of possession with the intent to sell and the illegal transportation of marijuana.  

SACRAMENTO, CA -- David Davidson was given a 41-month sentence when he appeared in federal court this morning, but the former medical marijuana grower won’t have to give up the next few years of his life. Having served nearly all of his sentence while waiting for his case to resolve, the 59 year old is now a step closer to home and a new beginning. Davidson will soon be transferred from Sacramento County Jail to a halfway house in Iowa, where he will be close to his girlfriend.

The length of Davidson’s sentence was no surprise – both sides agreed on exactly 41 months in the recommendation submitted to Judge Morrison C. England Jr. late last year. What remained to be determined today was whether Davidson’s sentence would include an order to pay criminal fines.

Medical marijuana grower Bryan Epis has been caught in a legal nightmare ever since 1997, when law enforcement agents seized 458 marijuana plants and various computer documents from his home in Chico, CA. That raid occurred mere months after California voters legalized medical marijuana statewide, and Epis’s case quickly inspired outrage in the activist community. Not only was he charged with criminal cultivation, prosecutors used documents taken from the search to charge him with conspiracy to cultivate over a thousand plants. Epis was unable to mount a medical defense to his charges because he was prosecuted on the federal level, where state medical marijuana laws don’t apply. When the case went to trial in 2002, prosecutors relied heavily on out-of-context excerpts from the seized computer documents, which had been printed from different computer programs in a manner that made them appear as a series of separate documents involving various locations. The jury ended up finding Epis guilty and he was given the mandatory minimum sentence: ten years in federal prison. Epis was incarcerated for over two years before getting released on bail pending appeal in August 2004, a move that gave him five and a half years of freedom to spend with his young daughter. However, in spite of claims of prosecutorial misconduct and missing evidence, Epis lost round after round of his appeal. By February 22nd, 2010, he had exhausted his legal options and was taken back into custody to serve the remainder of his ten-year sentence.

BRYAN EPIS #09636-097
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
PO BOX 3007
SAN PEDRO, CA  90731
 

To sign and help circulate a petition to pardon Bryan Epis, visit www.bestlodging.com/politics

From LA TIMES

As an $8.7-million state research effort comes to an end, investigators report that cannabis can significantly relieve neuropathic pain and reduce muscle spasms in MS patients. More research is urged.

With an innovative but little-known state program to study medical marijuana about to run out of money, researchers and political supporters said Wednesday the results show promise.

"It should take all the mystery out of whether it works. We've got the results," said former state Sen. John Vasconcellos, who led the effort to create the 10-year-old Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research.