While looking to arrest the landowners associated with a massive marijuana growing operation busted in October near Mad River, police uncovered an entire McKinleyville apartment complex dedicated to growing pot. The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office served a search warrant Oct. 26 in a remote area of eastern Humboldt County that resulted in more than 40 arrests, the seizure of almost 2,000 growing plants, more than 1,450 pounds of dried marijuana and 240 pounds of processed marijuana buds. Most of those arrested at the scene were trimmers hired to process the dried marijuana into a [...]
Alice Long, a “patient member” of the Magnolia Wellness Center, came to the medical marijuana store one last time Friday to pick up a gram of “Lemon Wreck” for her headaches and a dark chocolate cannabis bar to help her relax. Boasting what was perhaps Sacramento County’s largest registry of medical marijuana users, the Orangevale dispensary was closing with a flourish, Peter Hecht reports in the Sacramento Bee. Throughout the day, it offered specials that included free grams of marijuana and discounts on “top shelf” cannabis strains. The only-in-California business closing had customers lined up [...]
SANTA CRUZ – A jury found Stewart Skuba, 34, guilty of murder for the 2009 death of Elias Sorokin on Friday. The former Westside hairdresser was accused of robbing, kidnapping and killing 29-year-old Sorokin on July 21, 2009 in a Felix Street garage and dumping the body off a North Coast cliff. His body has never been found but his burned truck was discovered in the Santa Cruz Mountains several days after he was reported missing. Jurors returned with guilty verdicts on the murder and robbery charges, but was unable to reach a verdict on [...]
PLEASURE POINT – About $1,000 and 10 pounds of marijuana was stolen from Herbal Cruz marijuana dispensary Thursday night, and Santa Cruz sheriff’s deputies said they are searching for three suspects. Two men wearing black hooded sweatshirts, gloves and “carnival” masks with black eyes and red lips entered the store about 8 p.m., said deputy April Skalland. At least one man had a handgun and demanded cash from the register, Skalland said. Deputies said the men left with cash and plastic bins with marijuana in them, Stephen Baxter reports in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. They [...]
The director of the local chapter of a nonprofit organization seeking to reform California’s marijuana laws has been booted for his angry outburst during Tuesday’s meeting of the Shasta County Board of Supervisors after they banned medical marijuana dispensaries in the county’s unincorporated areas. Russ Belville, the Portland-based outreach coordinator for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said in an apology issued to the supervisors that James Benno of Redding is no longer a representative of NORML. The chapter also is under suspension, Jim Schultz reports in the Record Searchlight. “They [...]
When marijuana growers suggested ordinances Yuba County could use to regulate medical marijuana, and anti-pot Supervisor Andy Vasquez said he appreciated the input on an issue here to stay, it could be taken as a sign of progress in the Yuba-Sutter area’s weed wars. With supervisors holding a workshop Tuesday to discuss a possible medical marijuana ordinance, the prevailing theory among both the board and more than a dozen speakers seemed to be: Mend it, don’t end it. “We want to work with you. We want to get an ordinance drafted,” said Eric Salerno, spokesman [...]
Yuba City residents who grow medical marijuana will have to navigate tight controls or get banned from doing so. Three Yuba City City Council members on Tuesday night said growing medical marijuana endangers and annoys residents. They told city staff to bring back an ordinance in January that tightly controls marijuana grows or bans them all together, Jonathan Edwards reports in the Appeal-Democrat. “They will do anything to get at that gold,” Councilman John Dukes said of thieves trying to steal marijuana plants. “They will do whatever’s necessary.” Dukes echoed about a dozen residents who [...]
No new medical marijuana dispensaries will be permitted in Humboldt County for at least 45 days after the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to approve a temporary moratorium. Assistant Humboldt County Counsel Carolyn Ruth said the county is awaiting more information from the Pack vs. Superior Court case to see whether local governments can regulate marijuana dispensaries. In the Long Beach case, the 2nd District Court of Appeal concluded that federal law — which deems marijuana an illegal substance — pre-empted the city’s right to regulate marijuana, Megan Hansen reports in the Eureka [...]
LONG BEACH — The fate of medical cannabis in Long Beach will continue to be uncertain for at least a few more weeks after the City Council on Tuesday put off a decision to ban marijuana collectives. The council voted 6-2 to push the matter to its Jan. 10 meeting following more than three hours of public comment and debate. Prior to the delaying vote, members deadlocked 4-4 on approving the ban. The continuance approved by the council was proposed by Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal. She cited the absence of Councilman Robert Garcia, who has [...]
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted an ordinance Tuesday banning medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated parts of the county and narrowly passed a second law hours later regulating pot growth for county residents. “I am convinced based on the testimony today of the legal sufficiency of our actions, and I also believe, while inconvenient, there’s a certain amount of reasonableness associated” with banning dispensaries, said Supervisor David Kehoe. But dozens of medical pot advocates at Tuesday’s meeting didn’t see it that way, Alayna Shulman reports in the Record Searchlight. James Benno of Redding [...]
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