Grant Holt
Member
It's like the wild west up there. Lot of nervous, paranoid, growers around this time of year, then you throw in the tweakers and you got trouble
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2011 Norcal Intel
- Thread starter nomaad
- Start date
It's like the wild west up there. Lot of nervous, paranoid, growers around this time of year, then you throw in the tweakers and you got trouble
Heard from some friends from over the Hill that Lake County was being worked by the Feds. And that there was many problems with ripoffs. Immature bud being pilfered. Probably Teenagers or Tweekers or Both. Relatively Mellow Coastside..
Hang in there......!
Hang in there......!
HELLCAT ALERT:
Funny but sad drama that qualifies as an "Only In Covelo" Story.
Due to the Blatant and almost Science-Fiction-Like happenings.. Even the Coppers aren't safe from Rippers, Females at that..!
Antics in this Area always take some of the Heat away from other parts in MDO County.
--------------------------------
The Ukiah Daily Journal
On Thursday, Sept. 20, at about 9:30 p.m., Mendocino County Sheriffs Deputies observed a pick-up driving on Hwy 162, near Covelo, at a high rate of speed, with marijuana plants in the bed of the truck.
As deputies followed the vehicle, they paced the truck traveling at a speed of approximately 65 miles per hour in a posted 55 miles per hour zone. When Deputies attempted to conduct a traffic enforcement stop, the vehicle reportedly accelerated to a paced speed of over 80 miles per hour. Deputies pursued the vehicle for approximately one mile at which time the vehicle pulled into a driveway located on Agency Road, in Covelo.
Deputies contacted the occupants of the vehicle at which time they were identified as Linda Britton, 63, Colleen Downey, 37, and Kerra Stillwell, 22, all of Covelo.
Following a brief investigation it was determined that the three suspects had allegedly taken the marijuana, which was in the bed of the truck they were driving, from the Round Valley Tribal Natural Resources Department yard. According to the suspects, they had learned that the Round Valley Tribal Police had eradicated a marijuana garden on tribal land earlier in the day, and that the marijuana had been at the yard for eventual destruction. The suspects further stated that they had intended to sell the marijuana and split the monetary proceeds between the three of them. Deputies located eight mature Marijuana plants in the bed of the truck, with a potential yield of approximately 6 pounds of processed marijuana (in total).
Suspects Stillwell and Downey were issued a citation for transportation and possession of marijuana and released upon their signed promise to appear. Suspect Britton was arrested for possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, transportation of marijuana and evading a peace officer / reckless driving. Britton was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where she was held on $25,000 bail.
Funny but sad drama that qualifies as an "Only In Covelo" Story.
Due to the Blatant and almost Science-Fiction-Like happenings.. Even the Coppers aren't safe from Rippers, Females at that..!
Antics in this Area always take some of the Heat away from other parts in MDO County.
--------------------------------
The Ukiah Daily Journal
On Thursday, Sept. 20, at about 9:30 p.m., Mendocino County Sheriffs Deputies observed a pick-up driving on Hwy 162, near Covelo, at a high rate of speed, with marijuana plants in the bed of the truck.
As deputies followed the vehicle, they paced the truck traveling at a speed of approximately 65 miles per hour in a posted 55 miles per hour zone. When Deputies attempted to conduct a traffic enforcement stop, the vehicle reportedly accelerated to a paced speed of over 80 miles per hour. Deputies pursued the vehicle for approximately one mile at which time the vehicle pulled into a driveway located on Agency Road, in Covelo.
Deputies contacted the occupants of the vehicle at which time they were identified as Linda Britton, 63, Colleen Downey, 37, and Kerra Stillwell, 22, all of Covelo.
Following a brief investigation it was determined that the three suspects had allegedly taken the marijuana, which was in the bed of the truck they were driving, from the Round Valley Tribal Natural Resources Department yard. According to the suspects, they had learned that the Round Valley Tribal Police had eradicated a marijuana garden on tribal land earlier in the day, and that the marijuana had been at the yard for eventual destruction. The suspects further stated that they had intended to sell the marijuana and split the monetary proceeds between the three of them. Deputies located eight mature Marijuana plants in the bed of the truck, with a potential yield of approximately 6 pounds of processed marijuana (in total).
Suspects Stillwell and Downey were issued a citation for transportation and possession of marijuana and released upon their signed promise to appear. Suspect Britton was arrested for possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, transportation of marijuana and evading a peace officer / reckless driving. Britton was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where she was held on $25,000 bail.
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BIG BUSTS THIS WEEK...large scale federal/state joint raids in two seperate areas, all involving multiple properties that werent connected with eachother.
biggest was santa rosa, 32 homes, military style raids with flashbangs and over 150 agents....this is some scary shit, first of a kind that might be a precedence for the future...
Dozens of combat-clad police officers, deputies and federal agents swarmed a southwest Santa Rosa neighborhood Wednesday morning in the region's largest-ever operation against residential marijuana gardens.
Photo Galleries
Marijuana Raids In Santa Rosa
A team of 150 law enforcement officers raided 32 homes off Moorland Avenue immediately south of the Corby Auto Mall, where the pungent smell of marijuana hung heavily in the air and backyard marijuana plants towered over fences in plain view from the street.
Law officials, who suspected gang involvement with at least some of the gardens, arrested 13 people on a variety of drug and weapons charges and seized more than 300 plants from 32 locations, said Sonoma County sheriff's Lt. Dennis O'Leary.
The raids began about 9 a.m. when FBI agents in full military gear ordered residents to leave, then rushed into their homes, most of them modest multi-plex units.
Soon the area was punctuated by the sounds of exploding flash grenades at several homes in the neighborhood, which is bordered by Highway 101 on the east and railroad tracks on the west.
After the homes were secured, officers carrying search warrants poured into backyards and uprooted hundreds of marijuana plants, piling the 6- to 8-foot-tall plants into giant heaps in driveways as neighbors watched.
The operation was planned after a recent complaint about rampant pot cultivation in the neighborhood, O'Leary said. A sheriff's helicopter surveyed the area and discovered more than two-dozen marijuana gardens in the backyards of homes along Barbara Drive, Eddy Drive, Robin Way and Neville Way.
theres 4 more pages in the article on press democrat
look at these fucks...its like we are in IRAQ!
biggest was santa rosa, 32 homes, military style raids with flashbangs and over 150 agents....this is some scary shit, first of a kind that might be a precedence for the future...
Dozens of combat-clad police officers, deputies and federal agents swarmed a southwest Santa Rosa neighborhood Wednesday morning in the region's largest-ever operation against residential marijuana gardens.
Photo Galleries
Marijuana Raids In Santa Rosa
A team of 150 law enforcement officers raided 32 homes off Moorland Avenue immediately south of the Corby Auto Mall, where the pungent smell of marijuana hung heavily in the air and backyard marijuana plants towered over fences in plain view from the street.
Law officials, who suspected gang involvement with at least some of the gardens, arrested 13 people on a variety of drug and weapons charges and seized more than 300 plants from 32 locations, said Sonoma County sheriff's Lt. Dennis O'Leary.
The raids began about 9 a.m. when FBI agents in full military gear ordered residents to leave, then rushed into their homes, most of them modest multi-plex units.
Soon the area was punctuated by the sounds of exploding flash grenades at several homes in the neighborhood, which is bordered by Highway 101 on the east and railroad tracks on the west.
After the homes were secured, officers carrying search warrants poured into backyards and uprooted hundreds of marijuana plants, piling the 6- to 8-foot-tall plants into giant heaps in driveways as neighbors watched.
The operation was planned after a recent complaint about rampant pot cultivation in the neighborhood, O'Leary said. A sheriff's helicopter surveyed the area and discovered more than two-dozen marijuana gardens in the backyards of homes along Barbara Drive, Eddy Drive, Robin Way and Neville Way.
theres 4 more pages in the article on press democrat
look at these fucks...its like we are in IRAQ!
second group of raids was in butte county, had some of our local friends worried...11 residences from palermo to forest ranch....joint effort between feds and sheriff.
PALERMO, Calf. -
The culmination of a month long, joint investigation of commercial marijuana growing operations in Butte County is coming to an end.
10 different marijuana farms were raided by local and federal officials around Butte County. Deputies raided other areas of Palermo and parts of Forest Ranch.
This is was a joint operation with the Butte County Sheriff's Office and other federal agencies.
"We have [gathered information regarding] a number of Butte County residents who have been growing an excessive amount of marijuana beyond what we typically might see in a medicinal marijuana grow," says Sheriff Jerry Smith.
On Wed., Sept. 26, The Drug Enforcement Agency, The U.S. Forest Service and The Butte County Sheriff’s Office, along with 12 other agencies, are in the process of conducting Federal Search warrants at 10 locations in the Forest Ranch and Palermo areas of Butte County.
During one search at an address on Parent Rd. in Palermo, investigators found close to 100 marijuana plants. Investigators say that they do not believe that this specific raid was cartel-related.
On Wednesday, deputies found over 967 marijuana plants in their raids, bringing the total to 17,120 pounds. The street value of the marijuana is $34.2 million.
There were no arrests made today but the investigation is still ongoing.
PALERMO, Calf. -
The culmination of a month long, joint investigation of commercial marijuana growing operations in Butte County is coming to an end.
10 different marijuana farms were raided by local and federal officials around Butte County. Deputies raided other areas of Palermo and parts of Forest Ranch.
This is was a joint operation with the Butte County Sheriff's Office and other federal agencies.
"We have [gathered information regarding] a number of Butte County residents who have been growing an excessive amount of marijuana beyond what we typically might see in a medicinal marijuana grow," says Sheriff Jerry Smith.
On Wed., Sept. 26, The Drug Enforcement Agency, The U.S. Forest Service and The Butte County Sheriff’s Office, along with 12 other agencies, are in the process of conducting Federal Search warrants at 10 locations in the Forest Ranch and Palermo areas of Butte County.
During one search at an address on Parent Rd. in Palermo, investigators found close to 100 marijuana plants. Investigators say that they do not believe that this specific raid was cartel-related.
On Wednesday, deputies found over 967 marijuana plants in their raids, bringing the total to 17,120 pounds. The street value of the marijuana is $34.2 million.
There were no arrests made today but the investigation is still ongoing.
wow... just when i think being a personal medical grower has me in the clear this kind of shit happens... what if a few of my neighbors were growing their limit of plants... so now they can come in and do an accumulative plant count for separate residences and properties ?
32 locations at 300 plants, an average of 10 plants a location!? Fbi raid style on communities and whole neighborhoods?
well hell... what is ALMOST 100 plants these days anyways ? lol
the picture above looks under 50....
hope for locals only....
32 locations at 300 plants, an average of 10 plants a location!? Fbi raid style on communities and whole neighborhoods?
well hell... what is ALMOST 100 plants these days anyways ? lol
the picture above looks under 50....
hope for locals only....
^yea none of the grows were above 100 plants....which is pretty damn frustrating. some of them may have been shady people with no recs...but clearly some of them have recs. but because its the DEA/FBI it doesnt matter one bit, federal law trumps state law. they are making a statement, they come and chop all your plants down and might not even arrest or press charges...its all about sending a message to the rest of us....
its utterly disgusting what is happening in norcal right now, this is the police state at its finest. FREAKING FLASHBANGS IN A RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD OVER POT!?!?!??! not even a knock? what if there were kids in the house? fucking makes me so angry what the feds are up too....total disregard for the constitution and states rights...
its utterly disgusting what is happening in norcal right now, this is the police state at its finest. FREAKING FLASHBANGS IN A RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD OVER POT!?!?!??! not even a knock? what if there were kids in the house? fucking makes me so angry what the feds are up too....total disregard for the constitution and states rights...
are they trying to come at all of use like in the prohibition days? conspiracy, organized crime through association? there is obviously an agenda... this is certainly not the first time the FBI has been in norcal or socal for that matter... but in this manner is a new one.... separate properties, residences, accumulative plant counts? fuck me, glad my close surrounding neighbors arent growing, have the big boys around quoting all the plants together! fuck em all FTF's!
Pot crop seizures plummet for 2nd year
Pot crop seizures plummet for 2nd year
Somebodies doing a good job of hiding their grows!
********************************************
As California's outdoor marijuana growing season nears its end for 2012, drug officials are reporting a sharp decline in crop seizures for the second year in a row.
The latest figures show that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are on track to eradicate an estimated 1.5 million plants from outdoor gardens - mostly on public land - down from a decade high of about 7.3 million plants in 2009. This year's seizure total would be the lowest since 2004, when a little more than 1.1 million plants were eradicated, according to federal Drug Enforcement Administration statistics.
Some attribute the drop to a federal crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries and illegal cultivation on public land, along with political losses in California such as the defeat in 2010 of pro-legalization Proposition 19. At the same time, fewer counter-narcotics teams hunted for California pot this year because of the elimination of a 3-decade-old state eradication program.
Others say growers have retreated to smaller plots on private land and gone back underground. They also point to a glut of marijuana that depressed wholesale prices and burst the state's "green rush" to capitalize on relaxed attitudes toward the drug.
Trending down
Tommy LaNier, director of the National Marijuana Initiative, a program funded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said law enforcement officers and agents had a hard time locating marijuana patches this season, even though they spent the same amount of flight time as in years past searching for plants.
"There's a significant down trend in cultivation activities," LaNier said. "There's been a huge impact because of what we've been doing the last six years."
A confluence of other factors might have contributed to fewer plants this year, including improved intelligence gathering and investigative efforts, more tips about illicit marijuana gardens from the public, and concerted efforts to prosecute growers, LaNier said.
He also highlighted the use of intelligence analysts and informants to find marijuana gardens on public land. The U.S. intelligence community has helped track money that moves across the southern border and people who are entering the United States from Mexico who are involved in cultivation, he said.
While more federal attention has turned toward California's pot industry, the state's 28-year-old Campaign Against Marijuana Planting did not operate this year. Funding for the program was slashed in 2011, and Gov. Jerry Brown effectively shuttered the state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, which oversaw the effort and eradication teams in five regions in the state.
In the absence of state funding, a consortium of federal agencies banded together to support the Cannabis Eradication and Reclamation Team, as the new program is known. State Justice Department spokeswoman Michelle Gregory said that as of last week, the program had destroyed 959,144 plants from 215 sites, more than half of which were found on national forestland.
Growers adjusting?
Dale Gieringer, the California coordinator of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that other than for a brief period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the annual eradication campaign didn't have a huge effect on marijuana production. The same might be true of recent efforts, he said.
Growers have improved their techniques to avoid detection, with some turning to smaller patches and even using Google Earth as a tool to help improve concealment, Gieringer said.
"All I can look at are prices and availability on the ground, and I really haven't seen any impact," he said.
As law enforcement has squeezed growers on public land, officials have seen them migrate elsewhere, often to where they can exploit the state's permissive medical marijuana law, officials said.
"There is other stuff that is happening," said William Ruzzamenti, who directs the federally funded Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. "My honest opinion is that there was just as much growing this year as last year. But we're just not getting it."
Moving operations
Increasingly, growers are moving out of state, to places such as Nevada, southern Utah, Wisconsin and North Carolina, often growing closer to drug markets, he said.
In California, Ruzzamenti said, there's been a transition from illicit gardens on public land in the Sierra to the valley floor in Fresno and Tulare counties and remote plots on private land in Northern California, where growers operate "under the pretenses of medical marijuana."
For years, Trinity County, Humboldt County's eastern neighbor, has attracted growers because of its sparse population and amenable climate. Local law enforcement says the region has seen a recent explosion in marijuana gardens on private land.
"The number of private grows we have is astronomical. It's a huge problem," said Chris Compton, a detective with the Trinity County Sheriff's Department. "It's not a secret what we have going up here."
Andrew Becker is a reporter for California Watch ( www.californiawatch.org), part of the independent, nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Pot-crop-seizures-plummet-for-2nd-year-3904309.php#ixzz27uOiVs39
Pot crop seizures plummet for 2nd year
Somebodies doing a good job of hiding their grows!
********************************************
As California's outdoor marijuana growing season nears its end for 2012, drug officials are reporting a sharp decline in crop seizures for the second year in a row.
The latest figures show that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are on track to eradicate an estimated 1.5 million plants from outdoor gardens - mostly on public land - down from a decade high of about 7.3 million plants in 2009. This year's seizure total would be the lowest since 2004, when a little more than 1.1 million plants were eradicated, according to federal Drug Enforcement Administration statistics.
Some attribute the drop to a federal crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries and illegal cultivation on public land, along with political losses in California such as the defeat in 2010 of pro-legalization Proposition 19. At the same time, fewer counter-narcotics teams hunted for California pot this year because of the elimination of a 3-decade-old state eradication program.
Others say growers have retreated to smaller plots on private land and gone back underground. They also point to a glut of marijuana that depressed wholesale prices and burst the state's "green rush" to capitalize on relaxed attitudes toward the drug.
Trending down
Tommy LaNier, director of the National Marijuana Initiative, a program funded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said law enforcement officers and agents had a hard time locating marijuana patches this season, even though they spent the same amount of flight time as in years past searching for plants.
"There's a significant down trend in cultivation activities," LaNier said. "There's been a huge impact because of what we've been doing the last six years."
A confluence of other factors might have contributed to fewer plants this year, including improved intelligence gathering and investigative efforts, more tips about illicit marijuana gardens from the public, and concerted efforts to prosecute growers, LaNier said.
He also highlighted the use of intelligence analysts and informants to find marijuana gardens on public land. The U.S. intelligence community has helped track money that moves across the southern border and people who are entering the United States from Mexico who are involved in cultivation, he said.
While more federal attention has turned toward California's pot industry, the state's 28-year-old Campaign Against Marijuana Planting did not operate this year. Funding for the program was slashed in 2011, and Gov. Jerry Brown effectively shuttered the state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, which oversaw the effort and eradication teams in five regions in the state.
In the absence of state funding, a consortium of federal agencies banded together to support the Cannabis Eradication and Reclamation Team, as the new program is known. State Justice Department spokeswoman Michelle Gregory said that as of last week, the program had destroyed 959,144 plants from 215 sites, more than half of which were found on national forestland.
Growers adjusting?
Dale Gieringer, the California coordinator of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that other than for a brief period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the annual eradication campaign didn't have a huge effect on marijuana production. The same might be true of recent efforts, he said.
Growers have improved their techniques to avoid detection, with some turning to smaller patches and even using Google Earth as a tool to help improve concealment, Gieringer said.
"All I can look at are prices and availability on the ground, and I really haven't seen any impact," he said.
As law enforcement has squeezed growers on public land, officials have seen them migrate elsewhere, often to where they can exploit the state's permissive medical marijuana law, officials said.
"There is other stuff that is happening," said William Ruzzamenti, who directs the federally funded Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. "My honest opinion is that there was just as much growing this year as last year. But we're just not getting it."
Moving operations
Increasingly, growers are moving out of state, to places such as Nevada, southern Utah, Wisconsin and North Carolina, often growing closer to drug markets, he said.
In California, Ruzzamenti said, there's been a transition from illicit gardens on public land in the Sierra to the valley floor in Fresno and Tulare counties and remote plots on private land in Northern California, where growers operate "under the pretenses of medical marijuana."
For years, Trinity County, Humboldt County's eastern neighbor, has attracted growers because of its sparse population and amenable climate. Local law enforcement says the region has seen a recent explosion in marijuana gardens on private land.
"The number of private grows we have is astronomical. It's a huge problem," said Chris Compton, a detective with the Trinity County Sheriff's Department. "It's not a secret what we have going up here."
Andrew Becker is a reporter for California Watch ( www.californiawatch.org), part of the independent, nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Pot-crop-seizures-plummet-for-2nd-year-3904309.php#ixzz27uOiVs39
That is so F'd about S Rosa. Happened before there, but it was under the guise of looking for a "Young Hispanic Gang Member."
This is a well-mixed neighborhood in question, and people WILL tolerate these Heavy-Handed Military-Style Policing Techniques more if it is in areas of Minorities.
THEN we make the cross to using the same techniques with absolutely everyone. We lose our Rights by Degrees. Like the Frog in the Heat-to-boiling water. Doesn;t know what's happening until it is too late, and dies in the hot water.
This is a well-mixed neighborhood in question, and people WILL tolerate these Heavy-Handed Military-Style Policing Techniques more if it is in areas of Minorities.
THEN we make the cross to using the same techniques with absolutely everyone. We lose our Rights by Degrees. Like the Frog in the Heat-to-boiling water. Doesn;t know what's happening until it is too late, and dies in the hot water.
Grant Holt
Member
Shooting at Marijuana Grow in Bald Hills
On 10/1/12 at about 6:50 A.M., deputies were dispatched to the Mad River Hospital for a reported self-inflicted gunshot victim. The victim, whose name is not being released at this time, is described as a white male, age 30, of Crescent City. The victim initially told deputies he was bear hunting in the Bald Hill’s area of Humboldt County when he accidently discharged his shotgun, striking himself in both legs. With the help of a friend, who was also hunting, the victim was transported to the Bald Hill’s Cal Fire Station on Bald Hills Road and an ambulance responded, transporting him to the hospital. The victims injuries are non-life threatening.
Several hours later, the victim contacted the sheriff’s office a second time and recanted his initial statement. The victim told deputies he works at a marijuana growing operation off Johnson Road and was gone from the site for several days. He returned on the above date and time and entered the grow site where he was confronted by several people. One of the people shot the victim.
On 10/2/12 at about 2:00 P.M., investigator’s responded to the area of the shooting and searched for evidence. Evidence of a marijuana growing operation was located along with evidence supporting some of the victim’s statements. Investigator’s also interviewed several persons of interest in the area.
This investigation is still on-going. No arrests have been made. Further information will be released as it becomes available.
Anyone with information for the Sheriffs Office regarding this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Sheriffs Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriffs Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.
http://lostcoastoutpost.com/
On 10/1/12 at about 6:50 A.M., deputies were dispatched to the Mad River Hospital for a reported self-inflicted gunshot victim. The victim, whose name is not being released at this time, is described as a white male, age 30, of Crescent City. The victim initially told deputies he was bear hunting in the Bald Hill’s area of Humboldt County when he accidently discharged his shotgun, striking himself in both legs. With the help of a friend, who was also hunting, the victim was transported to the Bald Hill’s Cal Fire Station on Bald Hills Road and an ambulance responded, transporting him to the hospital. The victims injuries are non-life threatening.
Several hours later, the victim contacted the sheriff’s office a second time and recanted his initial statement. The victim told deputies he works at a marijuana growing operation off Johnson Road and was gone from the site for several days. He returned on the above date and time and entered the grow site where he was confronted by several people. One of the people shot the victim.
On 10/2/12 at about 2:00 P.M., investigator’s responded to the area of the shooting and searched for evidence. Evidence of a marijuana growing operation was located along with evidence supporting some of the victim’s statements. Investigator’s also interviewed several persons of interest in the area.
This investigation is still on-going. No arrests have been made. Further information will be released as it becomes available.
Anyone with information for the Sheriffs Office regarding this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Sheriffs Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriffs Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.
http://lostcoastoutpost.com/
http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archi...n-robbed-in-yuba-county-marijuana-garden.html
October 5, 2012
Man beaten, robbed in Yuba County marijuana garden
The Yuba County Sheriff's Department is investigating the report of a robbery at a marijuana garden in the community of Rackerby.
Deputies received a call about 3 a.m. Wednesday regarding a patient in the emergency room at Oroville Hospital who had suffered multiple stab wounds, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Investigators responded and learned that a 32-year-old Grass Valley man who was watching over the marijuana garden in the 16000 block of Vierra Road had been attacked by four men. The men beat and stabbed the victim, and then stole several plants and some of the victim's property, officials said.
The victim was able to call a relative, who took him to the hospital. He suffered facial fractures, as well as multiple stab wounds to his upper torso and arms.
He told authorities that the men who attacked him were 18 to 30 years old. Three were described as white and the fourth as possibly Latino or American Indian. The men reportedly were driving a 2000s' model, four-door, white Ford diesel pickup.
Anyone with information pertaining to the case is asked to call the Yuba County sheriff's Department at (530) 749-7777.
October 5, 2012
Man beaten, robbed in Yuba County marijuana garden
The Yuba County Sheriff's Department is investigating the report of a robbery at a marijuana garden in the community of Rackerby.
Deputies received a call about 3 a.m. Wednesday regarding a patient in the emergency room at Oroville Hospital who had suffered multiple stab wounds, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Investigators responded and learned that a 32-year-old Grass Valley man who was watching over the marijuana garden in the 16000 block of Vierra Road had been attacked by four men. The men beat and stabbed the victim, and then stole several plants and some of the victim's property, officials said.
The victim was able to call a relative, who took him to the hospital. He suffered facial fractures, as well as multiple stab wounds to his upper torso and arms.
He told authorities that the men who attacked him were 18 to 30 years old. Three were described as white and the fourth as possibly Latino or American Indian. The men reportedly were driving a 2000s' model, four-door, white Ford diesel pickup.
Anyone with information pertaining to the case is asked to call the Yuba County sheriff's Department at (530) 749-7777.
another interesting story.....
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/10/tax_cheat_or_hero_medical_mari.php
Tax Cheat or Hero? Medical Marijuana Tax Revolt Brewing
Taxes are never far from Dave Hodges' mind. According to the state of California, Hodges, the founder and operator of the All American Cannabis Club in San Jose, owes almost a quarter million dollars in back taxes. According to Hodges, the state owes him -- about $11,000, in taxes he "mistakenly" paid.
Like every other medical marijuana dispensary in the state, Hodges paid state sales taxes in order to appease the Board of Equalization, which levies the same tax rate on pot clubs (8.375 percent, as of Oct. 1) as any other business.
Except Hodges does not conduct sales. His collective, according to city law, receives donations in exchange for medical marijuana. And a donation is not a sale. The BOE told him so -- and now Hodges wants to tell other dispensaries how not to pay taxes, too.
California state law is not explicit one way or another on the legality of a marijuana "sale" -- and indeed, as recently as the spring, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón's office filed a legal brief, which it since retracted, stating that all sales of marijuana are illegal (an odd stance to take in a city that had, at the time, more than 20 taxpaying medical marijuana businesses).
Storefront marijuana businsses may operate as nonprofit collectives or cooperatives under laws and guidelines passed by the legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown. The state began collecting sales tax on every transaction in 2007. But is walking into a dispensary and exchanging money for OG Kush a "sale"? Is it a "donation" to cover the cost of producing and distributing the product? Or is it something else entirely?
Hodges, who blogs and advocates for the medical cannabis movement at SaveCannabis.org, says that his organization does not sell marijuana (which is one reason why he changed the name of his dispensary from San Jose Cannabis Buyers Club in 2011). Other dispensary operators tired of forking over nearly 10 percent of their take may be interested in Hodges' information symposium in San Jose on Oct. 19.
A main theme of the SaveCannabis.org Education and Planning Conference will be taxes -- namely, why and how not to pay them.
Hodges also refuses to remit taxes to the city of San Jose, which passed a local gross receipts tax on marijuana, Measure U, in 2010. That tax went into effect in 2011. Hodges doesn't pay that tax, either, because city law says gross receipts apply to sales -- and again, Hodges maintains he takes donations.
If his argument is correct, and if his argument is judged correct in court, the BOE could be hard-pressed to collect the $100 million in state sales taxes medical marijuana was estimated to produce prior to the 2011 federal crackdown that closed 400 dispensaries statewide. In other words, a tax revolt could be brewing.
"The BOE, in a legal opinion from their attorneys, have stated that a collective does NOT pay sales tax," Hodges told SF Weekly. "If I can prove in court we ARE a "collective" they owe me 11k in sales tax I mistakenly paid them."
Such a decision could be a ways off. Hodges filed his initial petition against the BOE a year ago. Only recently did he receive notice of an audit on his tax situation; an appearance in court could be "60 days to a year" away, he said Thursday.
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/10/tax_cheat_or_hero_medical_mari.php
Tax Cheat or Hero? Medical Marijuana Tax Revolt Brewing
Taxes are never far from Dave Hodges' mind. According to the state of California, Hodges, the founder and operator of the All American Cannabis Club in San Jose, owes almost a quarter million dollars in back taxes. According to Hodges, the state owes him -- about $11,000, in taxes he "mistakenly" paid.
Like every other medical marijuana dispensary in the state, Hodges paid state sales taxes in order to appease the Board of Equalization, which levies the same tax rate on pot clubs (8.375 percent, as of Oct. 1) as any other business.
Except Hodges does not conduct sales. His collective, according to city law, receives donations in exchange for medical marijuana. And a donation is not a sale. The BOE told him so -- and now Hodges wants to tell other dispensaries how not to pay taxes, too.
California state law is not explicit one way or another on the legality of a marijuana "sale" -- and indeed, as recently as the spring, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón's office filed a legal brief, which it since retracted, stating that all sales of marijuana are illegal (an odd stance to take in a city that had, at the time, more than 20 taxpaying medical marijuana businesses).
Storefront marijuana businsses may operate as nonprofit collectives or cooperatives under laws and guidelines passed by the legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown. The state began collecting sales tax on every transaction in 2007. But is walking into a dispensary and exchanging money for OG Kush a "sale"? Is it a "donation" to cover the cost of producing and distributing the product? Or is it something else entirely?
Hodges, who blogs and advocates for the medical cannabis movement at SaveCannabis.org, says that his organization does not sell marijuana (which is one reason why he changed the name of his dispensary from San Jose Cannabis Buyers Club in 2011). Other dispensary operators tired of forking over nearly 10 percent of their take may be interested in Hodges' information symposium in San Jose on Oct. 19.
A main theme of the SaveCannabis.org Education and Planning Conference will be taxes -- namely, why and how not to pay them.
Hodges also refuses to remit taxes to the city of San Jose, which passed a local gross receipts tax on marijuana, Measure U, in 2010. That tax went into effect in 2011. Hodges doesn't pay that tax, either, because city law says gross receipts apply to sales -- and again, Hodges maintains he takes donations.
If his argument is correct, and if his argument is judged correct in court, the BOE could be hard-pressed to collect the $100 million in state sales taxes medical marijuana was estimated to produce prior to the 2011 federal crackdown that closed 400 dispensaries statewide. In other words, a tax revolt could be brewing.
"The BOE, in a legal opinion from their attorneys, have stated that a collective does NOT pay sales tax," Hodges told SF Weekly. "If I can prove in court we ARE a "collective" they owe me 11k in sales tax I mistakenly paid them."
Such a decision could be a ways off. Hodges filed his initial petition against the BOE a year ago. Only recently did he receive notice of an audit on his tax situation; an appearance in court could be "60 days to a year" away, he said Thursday.
http://www.kget.com/news/local/stor...f-marijuana-grows/SZhN0486XkGwM2v9tffVmA.cspx
Marijuana grows in the valley are an alarming trend. That's the news the Drug Enforcement Administration is sharing with the Kern County Law Enforcement Foundation. The DEA found 1,500 grows this year alone.
Now, the DEA wants land owners to know they can lose their property if they rent to someone who starts a grow. And, they want those who think they can hide behind state laws and traffic marijuana, to know they are coming for you.
In the middle of valley farm land, illegal crops are popping up. There are rows of marijuana plants, some towering, taller than agents. And, other pot crops are tucked away in backyards. But, they are not going unnoticed by the DEA.
"We started seeing individuals coming down to the valley floor, renting farmland, and then putting up commercial style marijuana grows production," said Resident Agent- in-Charge Carl Beckett with the DEA.
While in Kern County, it's illegal for those licensed to grow more than twelve plants per parcel. Outlying counties like Tulare, allow up to 99 plants. Agent Beckett says it's part of State Proposition 215 called the "California Compassionate Use Act" which was passed in 1996 for people with legitimate medical issues to grow marijuana. Now, he says the law is being abused.
"However, what it's turned into right now is a commercial enterprise, a drug trafficking organization to hide behind Proposition 215 to grow marijuana," explained Beckett.
The DEA is now looking for those grows and using federal laws to shut them down. This year so far, 400 have been eradicated. Agent Beckett shared pictures and information at a presentation to the Kern County Law Enforcement Foundation, of which Jon Busby is president.
"Afterward, there were a lot of people stating I didn't know. I had no idea there was that much marijuana growth in Kern County," said Busby.
Agent Beckett says most of the people they capture are undocumented immigrants. And, finding them is getting more dangerous, with grows booby-trapped. Plus, Beckett says there were no shootouts in 2010. Last year, there were nine.
"It seems to lend more towards the Mexican drug trafficking organization," said Beckett.
Now, the DEA is spreading the word to land owners to be careful to whom you rent land. If they find a pot grow before land owners do, the property can be seized.
"California is known for its agriculture. We would like for it to be still known for that. So, we would rather work with the land owners, educate them. That way we can eliminate a threat before it becomes even a bigger problem," said Beckett.
Agent Beckett says the DEA sends land owners a letter if they find illegal pot grows on their properties. They give them a period of time to get the growers out.
Marijuana grows in the valley are an alarming trend. That's the news the Drug Enforcement Administration is sharing with the Kern County Law Enforcement Foundation. The DEA found 1,500 grows this year alone.
Now, the DEA wants land owners to know they can lose their property if they rent to someone who starts a grow. And, they want those who think they can hide behind state laws and traffic marijuana, to know they are coming for you.
In the middle of valley farm land, illegal crops are popping up. There are rows of marijuana plants, some towering, taller than agents. And, other pot crops are tucked away in backyards. But, they are not going unnoticed by the DEA.
"We started seeing individuals coming down to the valley floor, renting farmland, and then putting up commercial style marijuana grows production," said Resident Agent- in-Charge Carl Beckett with the DEA.
While in Kern County, it's illegal for those licensed to grow more than twelve plants per parcel. Outlying counties like Tulare, allow up to 99 plants. Agent Beckett says it's part of State Proposition 215 called the "California Compassionate Use Act" which was passed in 1996 for people with legitimate medical issues to grow marijuana. Now, he says the law is being abused.
"However, what it's turned into right now is a commercial enterprise, a drug trafficking organization to hide behind Proposition 215 to grow marijuana," explained Beckett.
The DEA is now looking for those grows and using federal laws to shut them down. This year so far, 400 have been eradicated. Agent Beckett shared pictures and information at a presentation to the Kern County Law Enforcement Foundation, of which Jon Busby is president.
"Afterward, there were a lot of people stating I didn't know. I had no idea there was that much marijuana growth in Kern County," said Busby.
Agent Beckett says most of the people they capture are undocumented immigrants. And, finding them is getting more dangerous, with grows booby-trapped. Plus, Beckett says there were no shootouts in 2010. Last year, there were nine.
"It seems to lend more towards the Mexican drug trafficking organization," said Beckett.
Now, the DEA is spreading the word to land owners to be careful to whom you rent land. If they find a pot grow before land owners do, the property can be seized.
"California is known for its agriculture. We would like for it to be still known for that. So, we would rather work with the land owners, educate them. That way we can eliminate a threat before it becomes even a bigger problem," said Beckett.
Agent Beckett says the DEA sends land owners a letter if they find illegal pot grows on their properties. They give them a period of time to get the growers out.
Harborside raid missed deadline, city says
Harborside raid missed deadline, city says
When the federal government tried to confiscate more than $500,000 from the operators of illegal bingo games in Tennessee in 1994, a federal appeals court ruled that the seizure was too late because government agents had known about the lawbreaking more than five years earlier.
That's the case the city of Oakland is relying on as it tries to stop the Justice Department from shutting down Harborside Health Center, the nation's largest supplier of marijuana to medical patients.
Like the fund-skimming at the Tennessee bingo parlors, Oakland says the federal government was well aware that Harborside was distributing marijuana from the time the dispensary opened in 2006 - the date that triggered a strict five-year deadline for any government attempt to seize the property.
The city's lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, challenged U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag's forfeiture action in July against the dispensary at 1840 Embarcadero, along the Oakland Estuary.
It was the latest of hundreds of medical marijuana outlets that California's four regional U.S. attorneys have sought to close since October 2011 by suing or threatening to sue their landlords for violating federal drug laws.
Haag's other targets had been within 1,000 feet of schools, parks or playgrounds. In announcing the action against Harborside, she cited not its location but the size of its operations, which serve 108,000 patients. The larger the dispensary, "the greater the likelihood that there will be abuse of the state's medical marijuana law," she said.
Oakland's lawsuit said the closure would damage the city, which expects to collect more than $1.4 million this year in business taxes from Harborside and three other city-licensed pot dispensaries, and would force patients to resort to buying marijuana from illegal and unregulated street dealers.
Presidential promises
The city also argued that it relied on promises by President Obama and his Justice Department, which said in public statements, congressional testimony and a 2009 memo that federal authorities would not prosecute marijuana suppliers who complied with state laws. Federal judges have rejected similar arguments by dispensary operators, finding that the government made no binding promises to them.
But Oakland's principal argument is based on a 1998 case titled United States vs. $515,060.42 in U.S. Currency. That's the amount the government claimed in a forfeiture suit against the operators of bingo games in Knoxville, Tenn., where a purportedly charitable enterprise was used as a front for profit-skimming.
The suit was filed after federal agents seized the money in March 1994. The FBI and the Internal Revenue Service had been investigating the operation since 1988, and an IRS agent testified she knew by the fall of 1988 that proprietors were running an illegal gambling business and storing the proceeds in their homes.
Under the statute of limitations, said the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, the government had five years to seek forfeiture from the time it knew, or should have known, that the crime was being committed - a deadline it missed by six months.
Continued lawbreaking?
Government lawyers argued that the crime was an ongoing offense, and that every day of continued lawbreaking started a new five-year timetable. The court disagreed, saying the deadline runs from the date the crime is first discovered.
The same law and the same arguments apply to the Harborside case, said Cedric Chao, a lawyer for Oakland. Although the 1998 ruling is not binding on federal courts in California, he said, it provides strong authority for the city's position.
Harborside and the other city-licensed dispensaries, Chao said, operate "right out in the open. They want people to know what they're doing."
Harborside raid missed deadline, city says
When the federal government tried to confiscate more than $500,000 from the operators of illegal bingo games in Tennessee in 1994, a federal appeals court ruled that the seizure was too late because government agents had known about the lawbreaking more than five years earlier.
That's the case the city of Oakland is relying on as it tries to stop the Justice Department from shutting down Harborside Health Center, the nation's largest supplier of marijuana to medical patients.
Like the fund-skimming at the Tennessee bingo parlors, Oakland says the federal government was well aware that Harborside was distributing marijuana from the time the dispensary opened in 2006 - the date that triggered a strict five-year deadline for any government attempt to seize the property.
The city's lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, challenged U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag's forfeiture action in July against the dispensary at 1840 Embarcadero, along the Oakland Estuary.
It was the latest of hundreds of medical marijuana outlets that California's four regional U.S. attorneys have sought to close since October 2011 by suing or threatening to sue their landlords for violating federal drug laws.
Haag's other targets had been within 1,000 feet of schools, parks or playgrounds. In announcing the action against Harborside, she cited not its location but the size of its operations, which serve 108,000 patients. The larger the dispensary, "the greater the likelihood that there will be abuse of the state's medical marijuana law," she said.
Oakland's lawsuit said the closure would damage the city, which expects to collect more than $1.4 million this year in business taxes from Harborside and three other city-licensed pot dispensaries, and would force patients to resort to buying marijuana from illegal and unregulated street dealers.
Presidential promises
The city also argued that it relied on promises by President Obama and his Justice Department, which said in public statements, congressional testimony and a 2009 memo that federal authorities would not prosecute marijuana suppliers who complied with state laws. Federal judges have rejected similar arguments by dispensary operators, finding that the government made no binding promises to them.
But Oakland's principal argument is based on a 1998 case titled United States vs. $515,060.42 in U.S. Currency. That's the amount the government claimed in a forfeiture suit against the operators of bingo games in Knoxville, Tenn., where a purportedly charitable enterprise was used as a front for profit-skimming.
The suit was filed after federal agents seized the money in March 1994. The FBI and the Internal Revenue Service had been investigating the operation since 1988, and an IRS agent testified she knew by the fall of 1988 that proprietors were running an illegal gambling business and storing the proceeds in their homes.
Under the statute of limitations, said the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, the government had five years to seek forfeiture from the time it knew, or should have known, that the crime was being committed - a deadline it missed by six months.
Continued lawbreaking?
Government lawyers argued that the crime was an ongoing offense, and that every day of continued lawbreaking started a new five-year timetable. The court disagreed, saying the deadline runs from the date the crime is first discovered.
The same law and the same arguments apply to the Harborside case, said Cedric Chao, a lawyer for Oakland. Although the 1998 ruling is not binding on federal courts in California, he said, it provides strong authority for the city's position.
Harborside and the other city-licensed dispensaries, Chao said, operate "right out in the open. They want people to know what they're doing."
couple friends of friends got compliance checks last week right around harvest time....they were 2 seperate grows at two seperate houses but they were nextdoor neighbors, sherrifs said they were investigating to see if the grows were connected...one had 50 plants the other had 60...but both had scripts covering @ 6 plants per script. no search warrants, just counted scripts, tried to enter house but were denied....took IDs and info, but no plants chopped and no arrests made...this was in the butte county flatlands near oroville.
Pot town pushes back against industrial growers
Pot town pushes back against industrial growers
ARCATA, Calif. (AP) — Happily isolated on California's remote Humboldt County coast, Arcata has long made room in its heart for marijuana, whether grown illegally in the back woods by refugees of the Summer of Love, or legally in the back rooms of homes by medical pot patients.
But the mellow days are coming to an end. Even Arcata residents who support legalization of marijuana have become fed up with high-volume indoor growing operations that take over much-needed housing and take advantage of the state's loosely written medical marijuana law.
The neighbors of these clandestine pot farms — operated behind curtains, shutters and alarm systems — complain of the skunk-like stink of cannabis, fire hazards, rising rents, vicious guard dogs, caches of guns, illegal pesticides, roadside dumping of unwanted growing gear, and late-night visits from shady characters.
Rather than throw more cops at the problem, the City Council is fighting back in a way befitting this liberal outpost that would rather be known for its pioneering community forest and sewage treatment marsh than marijuana.
Measure I on next week's ballot would impose a 45 percent electricity tax on households — with medical and other exceptions — that use three times the amount of power a typical family home does. The measure takes aim at commercial growers who maximize production by packing homes full of high intensity lights and irrigation systems that gobble electricity and sometimes cause fires from overloaded circuits.
"Our hope is to drive the large-scale growing operations out of town," said Shane Brinton, a city councilman and vice mayor who has pushed the novel idea.
"I don't view it as anti-marijuana," said Brinton. "It's a land-use issue, a public safety issue, and environmental issue as well."
If it passes, it would be the first measure of its kind in the nation aimed at marijuana growers, said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
The amount of electricity that would subject a resident to the tax amounts to a $700 per month bill, and is equivalent to the power used by a big chain drug store. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. reports that 633 homes — one in 15— are using that much juice, indicating they are raising pot rather than families.
If that many growers decide to absorb the tax instead of getting out of town, the tax would generate $1.2 million, or nearly 4 percent of the city's $31.7 million budget.
Located on the rainy coast 280 miles north of San Francisco, Arcata is a city of 17,000 that dates to the days when mule trains carried goods from the shipping port to the Gold Rush Country. The lumber and fishing industry here have fallen on hard times, but Humboldt State University is a foundation of the local economy, with contributions from niche manufacturers of gourmet cookies, kayaking gear and goat cheese.
Since the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s, marijuana has been creeping into the culture and economy, and now permeates it, said Tony Silvaggio, a Humboldt State sociologist and a founder of the Humboldt Institute of Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research.
"This is the center of marijuana culture in the universe," he said. "One of the reasons is we have a very tolerant attitude toward marijuana. Word gets around, and people come here with the sole purpose to grow marijuana indoors..."
Unlike some other states' medical marijuana laws, California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996 sets no limits on plants or processed marijuana, does not prohibit the sale of excess medical marijuana to other patients or dispensaries, does not require patients or growers to register, and does not lay out which diseases or conditions can be treated with marijuana. When growers get busted, they often claim they are growing for patients.
Based on interviews with hundreds of growers, Silvaggio said even medical marijuana growers usually sell their extra, so the two markets cannot be separated. "Part of the problem with the marijuana economy is it is unregulatable," he said.
Several years ago, people here began realizing that whole blocks of houses had been taken over by illegal growers, said Kevin Hoover, editor of the irreverent weekly newspaper The Arcata Eye.
"We came to realize we weren't really dealing with hippies and the Zig Zag man. It was this industry," said Hoover. "More than the dangers, it was this loss of neighborhood community. You can't have your neighbor take in the paper when you're on vacation. You can't borrow a cup of sugar."
To get their neighborhoods back, more and more people are informing on their neighbors, said Police Chief Tom Chapman.
Police are making progress, but still hardly making a dent.
In 2010 Arcata police served search warrants on six houses and in 2011 that rose to 14. So far this year, police investigated 48 houses, and got warrants to search 17. But only nine produced enough evidence for criminal prosecution. Police had to buy two huge shipping containers to haul off growing equipment.
Driving an unmarked SUV with his guitar in the back seat — he plays in a classic rock band — Chapman points out house after house. One bust produced 750 plants and 13 pounds of processed marijuana. Another was a half block from a grassy playground where kids and dogs romped.
"This is Small Town USA," he said. "The people who live here are a bunch of working folks, salt of the earth, people just trying to get by."
A typical grower, the chief said, is a 20- or 30-something from outside the area, who has moved into a house with an absentee landlord. They pay their rent on time with cash that stinks of marijuana.
"Most of the landlords claim ignorance," he said.
Marnin Robbins has seen a half-dozen houses in his neighborhood raided by police.
"I don't have a problem with marijuana," he said. "But I do have a problem with people turning their houses into factories and bringing a violent element into our neighborhood."
Measure I has no organized opposition. But Mark Sailors, who drives a pedal cab downtown and grows medical marijuana for himself, his wife and his mother, has long felt city attempts to control medicinal cannabis are hypocritical.
"This is just another in a long line of what I call Arcata's medical marijuana Jim Crow laws," Sailors said. "They pay a lot of lip service to being pro-Compassionate Use Act. But all their actions are trying to limit people and discourage the use" of medical marijuana.
Pot town pushes back against industrial growers
ARCATA, Calif. (AP) — Happily isolated on California's remote Humboldt County coast, Arcata has long made room in its heart for marijuana, whether grown illegally in the back woods by refugees of the Summer of Love, or legally in the back rooms of homes by medical pot patients.
But the mellow days are coming to an end. Even Arcata residents who support legalization of marijuana have become fed up with high-volume indoor growing operations that take over much-needed housing and take advantage of the state's loosely written medical marijuana law.
The neighbors of these clandestine pot farms — operated behind curtains, shutters and alarm systems — complain of the skunk-like stink of cannabis, fire hazards, rising rents, vicious guard dogs, caches of guns, illegal pesticides, roadside dumping of unwanted growing gear, and late-night visits from shady characters.
Rather than throw more cops at the problem, the City Council is fighting back in a way befitting this liberal outpost that would rather be known for its pioneering community forest and sewage treatment marsh than marijuana.
Measure I on next week's ballot would impose a 45 percent electricity tax on households — with medical and other exceptions — that use three times the amount of power a typical family home does. The measure takes aim at commercial growers who maximize production by packing homes full of high intensity lights and irrigation systems that gobble electricity and sometimes cause fires from overloaded circuits.
"Our hope is to drive the large-scale growing operations out of town," said Shane Brinton, a city councilman and vice mayor who has pushed the novel idea.
"I don't view it as anti-marijuana," said Brinton. "It's a land-use issue, a public safety issue, and environmental issue as well."
If it passes, it would be the first measure of its kind in the nation aimed at marijuana growers, said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
The amount of electricity that would subject a resident to the tax amounts to a $700 per month bill, and is equivalent to the power used by a big chain drug store. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. reports that 633 homes — one in 15— are using that much juice, indicating they are raising pot rather than families.
If that many growers decide to absorb the tax instead of getting out of town, the tax would generate $1.2 million, or nearly 4 percent of the city's $31.7 million budget.
Located on the rainy coast 280 miles north of San Francisco, Arcata is a city of 17,000 that dates to the days when mule trains carried goods from the shipping port to the Gold Rush Country. The lumber and fishing industry here have fallen on hard times, but Humboldt State University is a foundation of the local economy, with contributions from niche manufacturers of gourmet cookies, kayaking gear and goat cheese.
Since the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s, marijuana has been creeping into the culture and economy, and now permeates it, said Tony Silvaggio, a Humboldt State sociologist and a founder of the Humboldt Institute of Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research.
"This is the center of marijuana culture in the universe," he said. "One of the reasons is we have a very tolerant attitude toward marijuana. Word gets around, and people come here with the sole purpose to grow marijuana indoors..."
Unlike some other states' medical marijuana laws, California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996 sets no limits on plants or processed marijuana, does not prohibit the sale of excess medical marijuana to other patients or dispensaries, does not require patients or growers to register, and does not lay out which diseases or conditions can be treated with marijuana. When growers get busted, they often claim they are growing for patients.
Based on interviews with hundreds of growers, Silvaggio said even medical marijuana growers usually sell their extra, so the two markets cannot be separated. "Part of the problem with the marijuana economy is it is unregulatable," he said.
Several years ago, people here began realizing that whole blocks of houses had been taken over by illegal growers, said Kevin Hoover, editor of the irreverent weekly newspaper The Arcata Eye.
"We came to realize we weren't really dealing with hippies and the Zig Zag man. It was this industry," said Hoover. "More than the dangers, it was this loss of neighborhood community. You can't have your neighbor take in the paper when you're on vacation. You can't borrow a cup of sugar."
To get their neighborhoods back, more and more people are informing on their neighbors, said Police Chief Tom Chapman.
Police are making progress, but still hardly making a dent.
In 2010 Arcata police served search warrants on six houses and in 2011 that rose to 14. So far this year, police investigated 48 houses, and got warrants to search 17. But only nine produced enough evidence for criminal prosecution. Police had to buy two huge shipping containers to haul off growing equipment.
Driving an unmarked SUV with his guitar in the back seat — he plays in a classic rock band — Chapman points out house after house. One bust produced 750 plants and 13 pounds of processed marijuana. Another was a half block from a grassy playground where kids and dogs romped.
"This is Small Town USA," he said. "The people who live here are a bunch of working folks, salt of the earth, people just trying to get by."
A typical grower, the chief said, is a 20- or 30-something from outside the area, who has moved into a house with an absentee landlord. They pay their rent on time with cash that stinks of marijuana.
"Most of the landlords claim ignorance," he said.
Marnin Robbins has seen a half-dozen houses in his neighborhood raided by police.
"I don't have a problem with marijuana," he said. "But I do have a problem with people turning their houses into factories and bringing a violent element into our neighborhood."
Measure I has no organized opposition. But Mark Sailors, who drives a pedal cab downtown and grows medical marijuana for himself, his wife and his mother, has long felt city attempts to control medicinal cannabis are hypocritical.
"This is just another in a long line of what I call Arcata's medical marijuana Jim Crow laws," Sailors said. "They pay a lot of lip service to being pro-Compassionate Use Act. But all their actions are trying to limit people and discourage the use" of medical marijuana.
M
mr.shiva
Measure I passed by almost 2/3 ... Arcata is an Eco nazi nimby paradise, they can have it. I think I'm done shopping or eating in arcata; I am so freaking glad I don't live there!
burns1n209
Member
i wonder how many other city's are gonna try the same thing next election or hold a special election. I bet they see a bunch of moving vans rolling though neighborhoods pretty soon, no one is gonna pay an extra 45%
