Okee dokee. Be sure to stay away from them Snicker's bars. :D

Is National Guard needed for Mendocino pot violence?
 

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...-pot-violence-

Fed up with armed marijuana growers taking over public lands, a group of Mendocino County residents on Tuesday asked the board of supervisors to declare a state of emergency and bring in the National Guard.



“They're everywhere, they are destroying the forest,” said Chris Brennan, a Laytonville rancher and federal trapper.

“It's out of control,” said Paul Trouette, a county Fish and Game commissioner.

Supervisors directed the county attorney to investigate what a state of emergency would entail and the potential repercussions.

The request comes one week after a sheriff's deputy shot to death a man that the sheriff's office said leveled a firearm at him in a large marijuana garden in the Mendocino National Forest east of Covelo.

Public lands have long been favorite locations for large-scale illegal marijuana gardens. But the problem has worsened, something state and federal drug enforcement officials blame on Mexican drug cartels.

This year, about 440,000 pot plants have been eradicated from the Mendocino National Forest alone, said Michael Gaston, assistant special agent in charge with the U.S. Forest Service.

Large-scale illegal cultivators are shooting and poisoning wildlife, dumping pesticides into streams, diverting streams and taking pot shots at people who attempt to use the forest between the spring and fall, Brennan said.

“I've been shot at,” he said.

A half dozen other people at the board meeting, held in Covelo for the first time in many years, said they'd also had warning shots fired in their direction while on public lands

“There are pieces of the county we don't go in now,” said Peter Bauer, a fifth generation Covelo cattle rancher. He said he won't be using some of the grazing permits he has for public lands because of marijuana gardens. “My livelihood is threatened by this,” he said.

Paula Fugman no longer rides horses on federal forest trails. “It's really scary,” she said.

One Covelo resident called the pot operations “an armed foreign invasion.”

Gaston said the U.S. Forest Service has boosted its enforcement manpower and is working with local and state officers. Efforts are focused on apprehending “queen bees” that run the operations, not just the workers who toil in and protect the pot, he said.

The department also is boosting its post-eradication cleanup, which includes destroying miles of black irrigation tubing and other pot-growing infrastructure and hauling out pesticides left behind.

North county residents say more must be done.

“We've already lost the war,” said Cory Miller, who lives five miles from the remote area where the shooting took place.

Supervisor John McCowen said the efforts will fail until the federal government decriminalizes marijuana, thus critically reducing its profitability.

Checkpoints at the entrances to forest land would greatly discourage pot growers from entering, she said.

“There are only a few roads in,” said Virginia Spivey, a teacher at the Round Valley High School in Covelo.

The point is not to decriminalize every law we do not like, but to get rid of laws that don't work. Even more important is to get rid of laws that make problems worse instead of better. The laws against marijuana are based on moral hysteria, just like the old, abandoned laws against alcohol. The laws against marijuana are what are creating the calls for the national guard and a state of emergency.

Supervisor John McCowen was right when he said that decriminalizing marijuana will get rid of the problem by destroying its black market profitibality.

But notice, the people creating a problem growing the stuff are illegal immigrants. Why aren't the people who are calling for a state of emergency and the national guard not calling for a crackdown on illegal immigrants? You would think that the first thing they would be screaming for is Arizona's 1070, but I guess even the "conservatives" in Mendocino gots to have there leaf blower monkeys.

Vote Yes on Proposition 19 this November.

^ There's alot of Conservatives in the area, Mendo/Humboldt/ect. but there's also a large population of Progressives that will basically bend-over backward for the illegals as well.
The radio stations in those parts are constantly having fundraisers for the illegals, operations, cars, and all sort of stuff to assist Them, although it's the Cartel/illegals that have brought down the community.
You should see Ukiah, it's really become a barrio.

Another Grower killed..
 

Lake County deputy shoots, kills armed man at marijuana garden

A Lake County sheriff’s deputy Wednesday shot and killed a man who leveled a rifle at officers investigating a large, illegal marijuana garden on public land between Cobb and Middletown, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The man was armed with a rifle when deputies and federal Bureau of Land Management agents confronted him around 6:30 a.m. in an area planted with thousands of pot plants off Socrates Mine Road, authorities said.

Deputies ordered him to drop his weapon, but he raised it toward them and was shot, Sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Martin said. The man, who was not identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.

He is the third person to be shot and killed in the last five weeks on the North Coast by officers investigating cultivation of pot during what’s become an especially violent marijuana enforcement season.

Armed guards pose an increasing threat for people in the region’s public lands as well as for officers airlifted into rugged terrain where clandestine gardens often are found, said Bob Nishiyama, who commands the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force.

“Last year, we recovered more guns in gardens than any year prior,” Nishiyama said.

Task force officers seized 105 weapons in 2009, compared to 39 in 2007. The figures include marijuana garden raids and other missions, according to the unit’s annual reports.

This year, agents with the task force, which runs as many as three raids a week, often hear gunshots as they’re lowered by helicopter into illegal gardens, he said.

Informants have said the gardens’ guards now are told by their employers, many of whom are thought to be connected to Mexican drug cartels, to stay and fight or they won’t get paid, he said.

“We’d assume they were shooting to slow us down as they try to escape,” Nishiyama said. “But now we have to rethink that.”

In Napa County, a Fresno man was fatally shot June 30 in a garden raid near Lake Berryessa when he drew his handgun and refused orders by Napa Special Investigations Bureau officers to put it down.

In Mendocino County, a deputy on July 27 shot and killed a man who leveled a rifle at authorities raiding a garden in the northeastern part of the county near Tehama County, officials said.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman has declined to release the deputy’s name, saying it would be made public at the end of an internal investigation.

But other law enforcement sources said the deputy is Sgt. Bruce Smith, who heads the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team, COMMET.

Allman said he would “neither confirm nor deny” that the deputy was Smith. But he previously said the deputy had been involved in a shooting in “about 1989.”

Smith shot an armed suspect in 1990 during a routine traffic stop near Leggett, the only officer-involved shooting for which news records could be found during that time frame.

Six bullets were fired at Smith but Smith was not hurt, investigators said at the time. The District Attorney’s Office ruled the shooting self defense.

On July 21, a suspect was shot by a Santa Clara County deputy during a raid in the hills between Santa Clara and Alameda counties.

The Lake County incident occurred on Bureau of Land Management property between Socrates Mine and Ford Flat roads, about half a mile from Socrates Mine Road, Martin said.

Although it would be typical for more than one person to tend and guard a grow of that size, no other suspects were seen by officers. The garden of immature plants included some that measured 6 feet tall, Martin said.

The name of the deputy who shot the suspect and the number of times the suspect was shot were not released.

The deputy remained on duty Wednesday but may be put on administrative leave pending an investigation into the shooting by the District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office, Martin said.

“We’d assume they were shooting to slow us down as they try to escape,” Nishiyama said. “But now we have to rethink that.”

In Napa County, a Fresno man was fatally shot June 30 in a garden raid near Lake Berryessa when he drew his handgun and refused orders by Napa Special Investigations Bureau officers to put it down.

In Mendocino County, a deputy on July 27 shot and killed a man who leveled a rifle at authorities raiding a garden in the northeastern part of the county near Tehama County, officials said.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman has declined to release the deputy’s name, saying it would be made public at the end of an internal investigation.

But other law enforcement sources said the deputy is Sgt. Bruce Smith, who heads the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team, COMMET.

Allman said he would “neither confirm nor deny” that the deputy was Smith. But he previously said the deputy had been involved in a shooting in “about 1989.”

Smith shot an armed suspect in 1990 during a routine traffic stop near Leggett, the only officer-involved shooting for which news records could be found during that time frame.

Six bullets were fired at Smith but Smith was not hurt, investigators said at the time. The District Attorney’s Office ruled the shooting self defense.

On July 21, a suspect was shot by a Santa Clara County deputy during a raid in the hills between Santa Clara and Alameda counties.

The Lake County incident occurred on Bureau of Land Management property between Socrates Mine and Ford Flat roads, about half a mile from Socrates Mine Road, Martin said.
Although it would be typical for more than one person to tend and guard a grow of that size, no other suspects were seen by officers. The garden of immature plants included some that measured 6 feet tall, Martin said.

The name of the deputy who shot the suspect and the number of times the suspect was shot were not released.

The deputy remained on duty Wednesday but may be put on administrative leave pending an investigation into the shooting by the District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office, Martin said.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...news?p=1&tc=pg

'It's an armed invasion'
 

Mendocino County residents determined to take land back from large-scale pot growers..

Looks like a few Counties/State Agencies are teaming-up without Federal assistance...a good read.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...1350?p=1&tc=pg


I thought this was a silly comment:
A governor's spokesman said he has never heard of an emergency being declared over pot.

But there is still not even the mention of the actual problem: Illegal immigration. This is where the crackdown needs to be, along with property and land use violations. The war on marijuana is what has created the grow operations. Illicit grows were started in Mendo by citizens, not illegals. Now illegals have taken the whole thing to the next level. And why wouldn't they? It is the illegals who are in charge of the trade in marijuana. If they grow it in Mexico or grow it in Mendocino, the money still moves south. And the whole process is born and regulated from Mexico through the cartels who have clearly set up shop in the US.

If we can remove marijuana from the black market, the illegals will still be in Mendocino and they will still be plying criminal enterprises to make up for the revenue they lose from the decriminalization of marijuana.

As long as we refuse to hunt down and throw out illegal immigrants, they are going to continue to cause problems like this.

But it is most important that we strike a blow against their handlers and enablers based in Mexico by voting yes on Proposition 19. Illegal immigration is a criminal enterprise that works hand in hand with organized crime based outside of the US. Take food out of their mouths by taking away their black markets and we strike a blow against illegal immigration.

Sonoma County residents root out pot gardens
 

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...ut-pot-gardens

One retired teacher is so angry about the dammed streams, booby-trapped trails and garbage dumped in the woods by marijuana growers that on Sunday she risked confrontation to hunt down a pot garden she suspected was on her land.

“I have a hot Italian temper,” said Carol Vellutini, 68, of Santa Rosa. “I'm furious when people dump garbage in pristine places.”

On Sunday, Vellutini led a group of friends armed with shotguns into her rugged and and remote property that spans 300 acres about 25 miles northwest of Santa Rosa...

Hmm, what I don't get is that They only plants that were 6"-8" tall, by this time of the season they should have been at least 4'-8' tall.
Something just does'nt seem right here to Me, perhaps the Growers knew that they've been spotted, and cut a few branches off some of the weaker plants, cloned 'em basically, and left this patch to be dicovered, rather than Their main crop, perhaps on an adjacent property
That would explain the size of the plant They found on Her property.
or They were really, really bad at growing...?

Yes, an important way to confront these illicit grows is for property owners to keep better track of their property. This doesn't work as well for public property or wilderness areas.

There are ideal planting times for any crop, but for a plant as hardy as cannabis, any time will work

^Actually, for cannabis, it's very important to get 'em in the ground early so that the Grower gets alot of long days, and blue sunlight spectrum, then when the days get shorter, and the sun emits more red/yellow in it's spectrum, they start to flower/bud.
Indoor growers force the plants for the 1st month with up to 24 hrs of metal halide lights (blue/white) then force them with 12-0n/12-off with high pressure sodium lights ( red/yellow) for 2 months,.
That's how they get what's called '3 month-miracles", but 4 months is usual for maximum yield.
These Imps of plants are'nt going to be anywhere near marketable by late fall, unless that area gets unusually warm/dry weather in october/nov.
And wet weather will make a crop worthless as well, rain will ruin a crop after flowering, and fog will create "bud-rot, and powdery mildew.

To Me, it seems these were almost a "plant"...meant to be found.

This is an LA Times article in the 8-13 10 AA section page 3,Business Group to fight Prop 19.







http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,3183676.story

Yeah, I read that a few days ago.
So much for a "drug-free workplace".
I wonder if this'll effect requirements on Folks that drive HazMat, or heavy equiptment Operators?...those rules are pretty strict.
I can see a potential Employer asking/not hiring an Applicant if They have a Dr's recommendation for cannabis.
I'd fire an Employee that was drunk on the job in an instant, pot deffinately does have an effect on a few things, dept perception is one that would make a stoned Employee lose his/Her fingers in my kitchen.
I can see alot of 'discriminatory" lawsuits over not getting hired, and also suits on job accidents, and Workers comp. on this decision.

That's just nuts. Legalization will not mean employers will be required to let people smoke pot on the job any more than it means they have to let people drink on the job.

The current problem is that people do get high at the work place and in addition, people deal drugs at the workplace. And if you think dealing drugs at school is a problem, it is even more of a threat to the workplace. When organized crime gets a toehold into a workplace, then all kinds of criminal activity directed against the company and its property loom dramatically.

With legalization, pot smokers can come out of the closet and dope dealers will be caught in the spotlight. The pot smokers will get their pot at the 7-11, the employers will tell them they better not catch them lighting up on the job and the dope dealers will have nobody to turn to. They will have to give it up.

Medical marijuana users also have no business insisting on being able to get high on the job. Unless they can show a prescription, and none of them have a prescription, just a license, they have no cause to tell an employer that they have to get high to confront a medical problem.

But of course with legalization, "medical marijuana" will go away pretty quick.

I'm surprised I missed this thread.

I'm only going to post on this once, and I don't have time for running endless arguments anymore.

I'm in favor of backyard growing only, no commercial production at all.

Trafficking, smuggling, and large scale possession off one's immediate premises should have much larger consequences than they do now. And the plants should match possession. 200 lbs from two plants? Go to jail for a long, long time.


The cartels will only take their massive profits to buy into and dominate the legalized and taxed marijuana business. It will just be a case of reduced profit, albeit a much less risky profit. And, they will have a laundering and logistic base for their other illicit enterprises (including sex slavery) - which won't reduce the killing.

There will be no reduction in consumption of pot, no matter how many laws we pass to criminalize the practice, so we must do what's practical to hurt the cartels, stop the killing, and save our forests.

Pot was in the schools in the 60's and seventies. As well, locally, the man I knew who most consistently had the very best "Christmas tree" pot in town for personal use about fifteen years ago was a junior high school janitor WHO BOUGHT IT FROM KIDS ON THE CAMPUS WHERE HE WORKED

I'm not going suggest how anyone should vote concerning pot laws except that they should follow their own convictions and consiounce

This situation seems to be; We're damned if we do, and damned if we don't. But what is a fact is; What we're doing now isn't working.

I don't know that we're doing anything now. It's more like we're not doing anything

It is most important to really grasp what is we have now to appreciate what a dramatic improvement decriminalization will make.

I agree that legalization is not necessary. But it's too late to worry about legalization. We already have a kind of legalization in the dispensaries. The "medical marijuana" dispensaries are a real boon to the cartels. There are no rigorous accounts or policing at a statewide or national level as to where the stuff is coming from and where the money is going. And when you think about everything that most go into policing this and what the "medical marijuana" dispensaries are really all about, you realize that legalization is really the end game for confronting this. With commercial legalization comes the end of the "medical marijuana" dispensaries and their black market prices.

Decriminalization for personal grows and possession was something that should have happened twenty or more years ago, but instead we got the dispensaries.

If you are opposed to legalization, you must be opposed to the dispensaries, unless you are in the dispensary business and have seen the writing on the wall as to what legalization means to your future profits. And, in fact, the dispensaries are opposed to Proposition 19, they are issuing all kinds of propoganda designed to instill fear in their happy consumers about how the quality and diversity of the available pot is going to go down hill. About how it is all going to be run by huge corporations. It's all nonsense.

If you are opposed to Proposition 19 and you are not in the dispensary business, then you must be opposed to the dispensaries. And you must have a plan for getting rid of them. But nobody, and especially the dispensaries themselves, have any such plan for getting rid of "medical marijuana".

It really is time to clean up this mess once and for all. Vote yes on Proposition 19. Starve the Cartels, shut down the "medical marijuana" dispensaries. Take marijuana off the streets and out of the schools and put in the hands of those who think they will still care about it when it is no longer a forbidden vice and takes it's place along side beer and cigarettes.

I said I was only going to post once...

Truck accidents have a number of causes:

The brain dead driver of a Honda car full of children who cuts off trucks is one of them.

Rarely is a truck allowed by car drivers to merge or change lanes. If there is room to move over, 98% of the time a car in the desired lane will move up in order to prevent lane change ("can't have a truck in front of me!!!). Then, if the truck driver forces his way over in turn and there is a "snitch sticker" on the back of the truck, the car driver will call in with some story about how the truck driver tried to commit premeditated vehicular murder across every lane the roadway has. Maybe not satisfied, the car driver might later write a letter to the editor stating the belief that truck drivers "think they own the road".

Since deregulation, there is little money in driving trucks anymore, and owner operator Mexican nationals and Armenian imports (as well as other clannish foreigners who pool resources and live 48 to a single family dwelling) have largely driven even that down. To make money at all, a truck has to have a paying load and be on the road all the time.

Tired drivers, overloaded trucks, deferred or neglected maintenance, and falsified logs.

As well as knucklehead car drivers who think 60,000 lbs can stop on a dime.

What do you think of "medical marijuana" and the legal marijuana dispensaries?

Right. You seriously believed that those campaigning for "medical marijuana" were actually ever concerned about using the drug for whatever medical purposes it is supposed to have? You never considered that morphine is also used for medical purposes, but you cannot get a doctor's license to purchase it whenever you want? Did you know that morphine is just what you use to make heroine? You can't even get a prescription for morphine, it is always dispensed only under direct supervision.

So now you regret your decision for supporting the "medical marijuana" dispensaries.

What do you think should be done about the "medical marijuana" dispensaries?

As a 501(c)3 we can not "tell" others how to vote. So let it be known that SaveOurState does not officially promote Proposition 19, nor do we oppose it. The statements are only the posters opinion.

All of the questions or comments that I make are my own and in no way express views of Save Our State.

I'm just expressing a personal opinion, just like everyone else contributing to this thread.

And I'm also just asking another poster their opinion, but I'll make it a general question to anyone:

If you are opposed to Proposition 19, then what do you think should be done about the "medical marijuana" dispensaries?

I agree with you Rimo. After being married so someone with this vice and a few others, there's no way anyone can convince me that this is a good idea.

Mendocino supervisors say no to marijuana 'state of emergency'
 

Mendocino County supervisors won't be declaring a state of emergency in response to the massive marijuana gardens being grown on public lands, a tactic requested by county residents fed up with being unable to safely use forest land.

Instead, they will invite five other counties to participate in a December symposium aimed at creating a regional effort to to eradicate marijuana in the Mendocino National Forest...
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...-of-emergency-

December???...gee that's only 2 months AFTER harvest...what a bunch of Idiots.

CommanderBunny,

I think we need to kick the canaries in your cage :D

December's a perfect time for this....in The new banana republic

Maybe they're not so stupid. Put the pressure on and the prices go up. At least for the local growers, not so much for the cartels. Still a lot of citizens into this racket and they pay taxes ... lot's and lot's of taxes ... some of them under the table.

Vote yes on Proposition 19 and end the rot.

Hunters threatened by armed men in Cow Mountain rec area
 

Federal officials have issued a public alert after deer hunters in the South Cow Mountain Recreational Area outside Ukiah were confronted by armed men in an area near a campground where evidence suggests marijuana was being grown.



The Bureau of Land Management frequently finds cannabis gardens in the area, but with Sunday's encounter warned the public to beware.

“The Bureau of Land Management is investigating the incident,” Rich Burns, BLM Ukiah Field Office manager said in a press statement. “In the meantime, anyone visiting the area should be aware of their surroundings and leave the area if they notice anything unusual.”

The Cow Mountain Recreational Area, a rugged, 52,000-acre expanse east of Ukiah in the hills between Highways 20 and 175, is used for hiking, mountain biking, hunting and, in its southern portion, off-road vehicles.

BLM personnel said the five hunters were on Trail 8 near the Red Mountain Campground on South Cow Mountain's west side when they noticed drip irrigation tubing of the kind often used in pot gardens and were confronted by two armed Latino men.

The hunters turned back but were confronted by a third armed man.

As they drove from the area, they encountered yet a fourth man in a pickup truck who warned them to stay out of the area, authorities said.

The men related the incident to the BLM on Monday, spokesman David Christy said, and authorities are looking for a marijuana grow based on their report.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...n-Cow-Mountain

Man killed by deputies at Mendocino County marijuana garden identified
 

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...t-garden-ID-d-
Another upstanding Anderson Valley/Boonville "resident" shot...



Mendocino County authorities have identified the man shot and killed Wednesday by sheriff's deputies as Mariano Lopez Fernandez, 31.

Fernandez, previously a Boonville resident, was a transient growing marijuana in Laytonville when drug agents raiding a large property west of town early Wednesday encountered him in a pot garden, sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb said.

Authorities described Fernandez as an “armed guard,” one of several armed suspects tending to the garden, and said he was shot by three of five deputies at the site when he brandished a rifle.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

Authorities have not made public how many times he was shot or by how many deputies.

They have not identified the deputies, either.

An autopsy was conducted Thursday, but Smallcomb said officials will not be releasing results until all medical and toxicology tests are complete - a process that usually takes several weeks.

Fernandez was in one of two gardens on a larger property at which a contingent of 60 county and federal agents were serving search warrants.

There was also gunfire at the second garden, where, officials said, four armed suspects fired upon drug agents who returned fire.

The suspects then fled, and it remained unknown if any were struck or injured.

No officers were hit in that exchange.

At least 2,400 marijuana plants were seized in the operation, as well as firearms and other narcotic paraphernalia, authorities said.

Four people were arrested at a residence on the property as well.

Here's a good one:
http://www.myphl17.com/news/nationwo...,2073537.story

RED BLUFF, Calif. (AP) — California wildlife officials say two men are in custody after a group of marijuana growers started to toss bags full of pot into a pickup truck belonging to game wardens they mistook for their suppliers.

State Department of Fish and Game spokesman Pat Foy says two wardens in Tehama County were looking for deer poachers Monday night in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest when they heard footsteps behind them.

They turned and saw five men hauling large military-style duffel bags and sleeping bags. Foy said the men approached the wardens' truck as if to toss the bags in the bed.

The wardens began shouting commands at the group and managed to handcuff two, one of whom was carrying a shotgun. Three others escaped into the forest.

The wardens recovered 127 pounds of processed marijuana.

Wow, they see a truck show up and figure it must be a pickup. That's how routine this all must be. It's a very well oiled machine. Too bad the wardens missed the other three, I guess they just weren't ready for that.

I heard about this on the local news talk and was going to post it... Its pretty telling that either they were very tired or are so accustomed to this routine that it was perfectly natural to toss their goods in back of a truck when they were ready.

Or they are used to people in government being in on crime

Local rules hazy for pot measure

James Rufus Koren
09/18/2010

Carry it, grow it, but don't expect to buy it.

A Nov. 2 ballot measure could legalize marijuana in California, but even if it passes, Inland Empire residents likely won't to be able to buy a dime bag at their local 7-11.

Proposition 19, if passed, would make it legal for any California age 21 or older to grow marijuana and carry up to one ounce of it. It would also allow local jurisdictions to regulate and tax the sale of pot. Local leaders say that won't happen.

"It's not anything we want for our community," said Redlands Mayor Pat Gilbreath. "I know that would never happen in my community if I had anything to say about it."

While Prop. 19 supporters say permitting and taxing marijuana sales would be an income source for cash-strapped cities and counties, local leaders say the disagreement between state and federal marijuana laws, the costs of regulating marijuana sales and their personal beliefs that marijuana is bad for communities are all reasons not to allow pot to be bought and sold locally.

"Why would I put this whole mechanism in place to regulate marijuana sales when I'm not going to get anything from it?" said Fontana Mayor Frank Scialdone. "We're going to have to put in resources to monitor this. Where are those resources going to come from?"

Claremont Mayor Linda Elderkin said local governments have been walking on egg shells for years as they try to stay in line with federal law - which says marijuana is illegal for everyone - and state law - which says its OK for people with a prescription. That won't change if California law opens up marijuana for recreational users.

"On medical marijuana, cities have found themselves squarely between the state and federal governments, and (Prop. 19) is likely to have the same impact on us," Elderkin said. "If it passes, all cities will have to be looking at how to negotiate the deep waters of conflict between state and federal law."

But beyond their hesitance to allow pot to be bought and sold - something Prop. 19 allows but does not demand - some local leaders are against the notion of letting people carry marijuana and grow it locally - something Prop. 19 would make mandatory.

"If they have it in their backyard, I'm not sure we can zone that out," Gilbreath said. "But I'd certainly like to try to find a way to do it."

That, says Prop. 19 supporter Lanny Swerdlow, medical director of a medical marijuana clinic in Riverside, is dangerous talk that hearkens back to the ongoing fight between local governments and medical marijuana advocates.

"There's no doubt in my mind that if Prop. 19 passes, law enforcement is going to be as ferocious and tenacious in opposing it as they have been in opposing Prop. 215," Swerdlow said, referring to the 1996 ballot measure that legalized medical marijuana. "If the mayor is saying she will work to undermine to vote of the people of California, I think people should have a problem with that."

Though Prop. 215 has been on the books for 14 years, medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives are banned in San Bernardino, Fontana, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Redlands and other local cities.

Swerdlow said medical marijuana advocates weren't well-organized after Prop. 215 passed, allowing local governments to freely set up rules that have become the subject of a protracted legal battle.

This time, he said, that won't be the case.

"With 215 we did nothing," he said. "With 19, we've learned from our mistakes. ... We're going to take the offensive and see to it that it's enforced."

And despite local leaders' stance, Swerdlow said he thinks many local cities will allow marijuana to be produced and sold if Prop. 19 passes.

"If Los Angeles allows it, within a few weeks, (local leaders) will notice the tens of thousands of residents going to L.A. to buy marijuana legally," he said. "They'll be spending millions and the county of San Bernardino won't be making a dime. ... I don't think they'll let that money go simply because they're as pure as the driven snow."

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_16111292

Madera County pot bust nets illegals

Sep. 17, 2010
By Jim Guy / The Fresno Bee

Three men that Madera County Sheriff John Anderson says have ties to drug-trafficking organizations were arrested Thursday near Chowchilla on charges of possessing firearms. Also, the 175 marijuana plants they were tending were seized.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Erica Stuart said the three had medical marijuana cards but they are undocumented aliens. The sheriff said undocumented aliens are not allowed to possess firearms. Stuart said they would be sent back to Mexico.

Stuart also said the department seized the plants because once the suspects were in custody, there was no one on the property with medical permission to grow the plants.

"That play bought each of them a one-way pass back to Mexico," Anderson said.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/09/17/...-illegals.html