Educators are concerned that drug prevention programs in schools could lose credibility with students if voters next month approve a statewide initiative to legalize marijuana. “It’s starting to have an effect already — the kids are giving that back to us now,” said Betty Allen, who teaches drug prevention classes at the Center for Human Services in Modesto. Many of her teenage students were referred to the center after violating campus drug and alcohol policies, Ken Carlson reports in the Modesto Bee. They seem less convinced that marijuana is harmful if it is about to [...]
Gang and narcotics investigators on Tuesday arrested seven people after they found them at a south Modesto home with 23 pounds of marijuana, thousands in cash and several guns, including a loaded AK-47 assault rifle, a police spokesman said today. The Modesto police investigators arrested Cirilo Alvarez, 32, of Modesto who is suspected to be the leader of the marijuana distribution ring, said police Sgt. Rick Armendariz. Alvarez was arrested on suspicion of marijuana cultivation, possession of cocaine for sale, possession of marijuana for sale, possession of a loaded firearm, being a felon in possession [...]
Oct 062010
Mike Harden is Modesto’s chief of police; Adam Christianson is Stanislaus County’s sheriff; Birgit Fladager is the county’s district attorney; Jerry Powers is the county’s chief probation officer. Their guest column opposing Prop. 19 appears in the Modesto Bee. ================= In November, California voters will get to decide if they want to regulate, control and tax cannabis. At least that is what the sponsors of Proposition 19 would like you to believe. The law enforcement leaders in Stanislaus County see very serious problems associated with this proposition and urge you to reject it as a [...]
One thing is clear about marijuana in California these days — enforcing the laws around it is getting more complicated. It used to be fairly straightforward, Patty Guerra writes in the Modesto Bee: Marijuana was illegal; using it, growing it, selling it. More than three decades ago, California decriminalized marijuana use and possession; anyone caught with less than an ounce got a misdemeanor citation and a fine. In 1996, voters passed Proposition 215, which legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. On Thursday, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a law reducing possession of less than an ounce of marijuana [...]
A Modesto police officer on routine patrol smelled a suspicious odor Friday that led him and narcotics investigators to two underground chambers used to grow marijuana underneath a backyard shed. Modesto police seized 255 marijuana plants found inside the underground growing rooms, the Modesto Bee reports. Investigators estimate the operation could produce $250,000 to $300,000 worth of marijuana every three months. Modesto police officer Randy Bolinger was on patrol when he caught the strong odor of pot coming from an area near Scenic Drive and Coffee Road, according to a Modesto police news release. Bolinger [...]
Starting a business can be a bureaucratic nightmare. Not for Stephen Boski. His application sailed through Modesto’s City Hall. That is, until city officials realized Boski’s license was for a medical marijuana delivery service. Thirty minutes after Boski walked out of the Planning Department with a business license, he said, the city called to say it had made a mistake and would have to revoke the permit. He returned to City Hall and got a $112 refund, the Modesto Bee reports. Since then he’s been waiting for answers from the city attorney’s office about why [...]
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