Santa Cruz County | CalPotNews.com

Skuba convicted of pot robbery, murder in Santa Cruz

Dec 172011

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 [...]

Masked men rob Santa Cruz County dispensary

Crime

Dec 172011

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 [...]

Tip leads to marijuana in Watsonville warehouse; 2 arrested

Crime

Nov 212011

SANTA CRUZ — The Sheriff’s Office seized more than 130 pounds of marijuana and $67,000 in cash from a warehouse in Watsonville on Wednesday afternoon after an anonymous tip. It’s being described as one of the biggest pot busts the office has seen in recent years, Jessica M. Pasko reports in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Members of the narcotics enforcement team executed a search warrant at a warehouse on the 600 block of Rodriguez Street, where they found a high-level marijuana-growing operation. Dozens of bags of marijuana were recovered, all packaged in 1-, 2- and [...]

Santa Cruz County may re-examine dispensary rules

Dispensaries

Nov 012011

Santa Cruz County may alter — or even suspend — its groundbreaking medical marijuana regulations after a recent state court ruling stuck down one local law, a decision that came amid a federal crackdown on state-sanctioned pot clubs. Lawyers for the county are expected to present an analysis of the decision, which struck down Long Beach’s medical marijuana regulations because of the conflict with federal drug laws, and present the board with a list of options. Those could include slamming the brakes on dispensary permits and potentially stopping new dispensaries from opening, Jason Hoppin reports [...]

Santa Cruz weighs fed impact on local cannabis laws

Ordinances

Oct 132011

SANTA CRUZ — The county has yet to issue a permit under a new set of regulations aimed at medical marijuana operations, and already the law has been thrown into doubt. A state appeals court in Los Angeles last week handed down a decision that raises questions about any local effort to regulate the medical marijuana trade, saying federal drug laws invalidate any licensing of dispensaries and collectives — something many Bay Area governments have tentatively started to do. Local attorney Ben Rice, who represents several marijuana collectives, said he doesn’t expect any immediate impact [...]

Videos of Soquel dispensary vandals released

Dispensaries

May 032011

SOQUEL — Surveillance images were released Monday of a marijuana collective whose lobby was torched by two men with a Molotov cocktail. A security video shot just outside the Capitola Healing Collective at 3088 Winkle Ave. showed two men in hooded sweatshirts and bandannas over their faces approach the shop about 2:15 a.m., the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office reported. Related: Santa Cruz County supervisors OK dispensary regulations. One man who wore a dark sweatshirt shattered a glass door with a hammer, Deputy April Skalland told the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The other man — who wore [...]

Sentinel editorial: Santa Cruz dispensary rules needed

Media, Opinion, Ordinances

Feb 112011

Bud’s note: I managed to write a few editorials in my time as a newspaper dude, but as the Prop. 19 campaign proved it’s something of a dying art. Today’s Santa Cruz Sentinel editorial on proposed dispensary regulations is notable by its mere existence, but the author takes it up a notch with spare language and clear logic. Newspapers still serve a purpose … who knew? ================ The county Board of Supervisors should heed recommendations by the county Planning Commission regulating medical marijuana dispensaries. If anything, supervisors could strengthen some of the principles adopted by [...]

Santa Cruz County planners OK medical cannabis rules

Dispensaries, Ordinances

Feb 102011

SANTA CRUZ — The county’s Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend the Board of Supervisors pass new regulations on medicinal marijuana dispensaries, requiring them to seek a development permit and operate as nonprofit collectives only within commercial and medical office zones. Commissioners also said pot shops should be required to remain at least 600 feet away from all schools and 800 feet away from other dispensaries, J.M. Brown reports in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Applicants for opening a dispensary within 300 feet of a residential area must demonstrate the collective won’t be disruptive to [...]

Santa Cruz County delays action on revised medipot rules

Dispensaries, Marijuana News

Jan 272011

SANTA CRUZ — The county Planning Commission voted Wednesday to table until Feb. 9 a proposed ordinance restricting medical marijuana dispensaries to study expanding the permitted kinds of zoning. County staff also will review increasing the distance dispensaries must remain away from schools and other pot shops. Regulations also may be added to mandate dispensaries test the safety of their product, J.M. Brown reports in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Many who spoke during 90 minutes of public testimony urged the commission to allow pot shops in zones for medical offices and pharmacies. They argued the [...]

Soquel artist puts his brand on medical cannabis sodas

Business, Medical marijuana

Jan 242011

SOQUEL — How strange is the emerging world of medical-marijuana entrepreneurship? Consider Clay Butler, who may soon be marketing a food product that he’s never tasted, and that he would never buy. The product is called Canna Cola, and it’s a soft drink that contains THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, aimed at medical marijuana dispensaries. “I don’t do drugs,” said the Soquel-based commercial artist. “Never have. I never drank, never smoked. I’m a clean-living guy. I’ve had two beers in my whole life, and I remember them both too. No marijuana, I’ve never smoked [...]