Kern County has changed the way it enforces a controversial ordinance limiting the cultivation of medical marijuana after a judge raised concerns about its tactics. The law, passed in August, was challenged in court by attorney Phil Ganong on behalf of several medical marijuana collectives and advocates, James Burger reports in the Bakersfield Californian. Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe refused Ganong’s request to block implementation of the ordinance limiting grows to 12 plants on a single parcel while the law was being litigated. But Lampe threw in a twist by also saying he [...]
Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe has refused to issue a preliminary injunction against an ordinance that limits the number of marijuana plants that can be grown on a single parcel of land to 12. That’s a victory for Kern County in its ongoing battle with medical marijuana advocates, James Burger reports in the Bakersfield Californian. But the judge’s ruling, on Monday, may have thrown a wrench into the sheriff department’s campaign to eradicate medical marijuana grown in violation of the 12-plant limit created by the county law passed on Aug. 9. Chief Deputy [...]
It may be distantly related to pot, but industrial hemp most definitely is not, say supporters of a California Senate Bill aimed at legalizing cultivation of the cannabis cousin in four counties, including Kern. Senate Bill 676 or the California Industrial Hemp Farming Act — which is on the governor’s desk for signing by Oct. 9 — would create an eight-year pilot program permitting farmers in Imperial, Kern, Kings and San Joaquin counties to grow industrial hemp for sale of its seed, oil and fiber to manufacturers. After six years, the Attorney General would report [...]
Federal law enforcement officials are the wild card in the regulation of medical marijuana in California. Sometimes they play the trump. Sometimes they’re not even in the game. When storefront shops selling medical marijuana first appeared in Kern County, the Drug Enforcement Administration aggressively raided them and federal prosecutors filed charges against the operators. Then federal intervention slacked under a new administration and the burden of hefty law enforcement costs, James Burger reports in the Bakersfield Californian. Now, U.S. Attorneys’ offices are warning California cities and counties that they could face criminal or civil action [...]
Facing two difficult options — repealing their ban on storefront medical marijuana collectives or sending the issue to the voters — Kern County supervisors chose to do nothing Tuesday. County lawyers said the board will, eventually, have to make a decision, James Burger reports in the Bakersfield Californian. So why delay? Supervisor Mike Maggard said the board was hoping the county would get more clarity from the U.S. Department of Justice about whether supervisors can regulate medical marijuana without exposing the county and its employees to federal prosecution. A DOJ letter to the county has [...]
Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe played his cards close to the vest Friday as lawyers for medical marijuana collectives and the county of Kern tried to sway him to their side of the debate over the county’s 12-plant limit on medical pot cultivation. He didn’t issue a tentative ruling or speak about which way he planned to rule, James Burger reports in the Bakersfield Californian. Lampe heard arguments from Chief Deputy County Counsel Mark Nations and medical marijuana collective attorney Phil Ganong and told them his ruling on a preliminary injunction would be [...]
Opponents of a Kern County ban on storefront medical marijuana collectives temporarily blocked the law from taking effect Friday morning. Activists with the Kern Citizens For Patient Rights turned in 26,335 signatures to Kathleen Krause, the clerk of the Board of Supervisors, at about 4 p.m. Thursday — an hour before they were due. They needed to turn in at least 17,350 signatures to stop the ordinance, James Burger reports in the Bakersfield Californian. By 5:15 p.m., elections workers had confirmed the number of signatures turned in and were preparing for the long task of [...]
Members of a local political action committee said Thursday they have gathered 14,731 “verified” petition signatures — or about 85 percent of their goal — to force a county referendum on storefront medical marijuana collectives and the sale of edible pot products. “It’s looking good,” said the group’s lawyer, Phil Ganong. “We’ve done well.” Kern Citizens for Patient Rights has until Sept. 8 to gather a total of 17,350 signatures, John Cox reports in the Bakersfield Californian, though they plan to exceed that total to have a buffer in case some signatures are discounted. If [...]
Given the subject I was covering, wearing green khakis to work was an inspired choice, Jason Kotowski writes in the Bakersfield Californian. The Kern County Sheriff’s Department invited several reporters on Tuesday to watch as they served search warrants at two marijuana grows in east Bakersfield. The grows, near each other off Fairfax Road north of Brundage Lane, contained a total of 376 plants. It was already sunny and warm at 8:15 a.m. when we pulled into a grassy area just south of the grows. One was mazelike and being examined by deputies, so we [...]
Two local men and their medical marijuana cooperatives have filed a lawsuit challenging the Kern County Board of Supervisors’ vote limiting the growth of medical marijuana in unincorporated Kern County. The county passed an emergency ordinance last week to ban the cultivation of more than 12 plants on one legal parcel of land, even by those who have a recommendation from a doctor to use marijuana for medical treatment. That ordinance went into effect immediately, Courtenay Edelhart reports in the Bakersfield Californian. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Kern County Superior Court seeks a temporary restraining [...]
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