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 Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:48 am
EXTRA! EXTRA!
(read all about it) In cleaning out the garage this past weekend, I found a cache of newspaper clippings from our local newspaper, all about cannabis. Apparently my Da has been following every agonizing twist of the medical marijuana saga. XD But I thought to post some here, and realized how many Press-Enterprise stories I've tossed up for reading... well, I don't like clutter, so they'll all be here.
Is there a practical purpose to all this? Sure. Those of you who're pushing and petitioning for medical cannabis laws in your state, this might (hopefully) give some insight into what you could reasonably expect, especially in a suburbian community sort of setting. For example, individual cities, afraid of federal retribution, have been passing moritoriums lately around here that ban dispensaries from the city, essentially. Needless to say, it's very frustrating.
Newest article will always be in the OP, older ones down the thread as they come in. Ah, and comment posting is fine. ^_~ The Press-Enterprise First marijuana clinic in Riverside to open Thursday
10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, January 15, 2008
An 80-year-old great-grandmother from Temecula could be the first person to get a legal recommendation in the city of Riverside to use marijuana for medicinal reasons.
Iris Berger said she plans to use the drug to ease the pain of arthritis in her hands and back. She is scheduled to be the first patient at a medical marijuana clinic opening Thursday at 647 N. Main St., in northern Riverside.
"It seems to help," said Berger, whose son and daughter-in-law are longtime medical marijuana users and advocates. The couple won a three-year legal battle in late 2003 after being arrested for growing marijuana to treat their chronic illnesses.
The clinic will mean that Inland patients seeking a marijuana recommendation will no longer have to travel to the Coachella Valley, Los Angeles or Orange County to get one. A Rancho Mirage doctor has been the only person in Riverside or San Bernardino counties who could provide a recommendation for the drug, said Lanny Swerdlow, a registered nurse and longtime advocate for medical marijuana.
No marijuana will be dispensed at the clinic, said Swerdlow, who will operate the clinic under the auspices of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation. The nonprofit group operates medical marijuana clinics in Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington state.
Ingrid Wyatt, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County district attorney's office, has said that the clinic would not be against the law as long as no marijuana was provided there.
California voters approved decriminalizing the medicinal use of marijuana in 1996. State law allows people suffering from AIDS-related complications, cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and other ailments to use cannabis to relieve pain. They must first get a doctor's recommendation.
Marijuana use is a federal crime. Authorities have raided or shut down dispensaries in Palm Desert, Corona, Perris, Riverside and Norco last year.
One doctor -- Paul Ironside, retired cardiothoracic surgeon from Bermuda Dunes -- will write recommendations at the clinic. Ironside said he will recommend marijuana only for people with serious illnesses, and he is not concerned about any law enforcement scrutiny.
"It's not to be used as a recreational" drug, he said. "As far as I'm concerned, law enforcement is invited in."
Berger's son, Martin Victor, said he is proud that his mother will be the clinic's first patient.
Victor, 55, uses marijuana to soothe cluster headaches he suffers as a result of a progressive eye disease and fibromyalgia. His wife, La Vonne, 52, uses the drug because of her multiple sclerosis, emphysema, panic attacks and compressed vertebrae in her back.
The couple was originally charged with felony counts of cultivation and distribution. Their case ended after Martin Victor pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of providing less than an ounce of pot to a roommate, who Victor said took it without his knowledge or consent.
Berger said it is understandable that some people remain opposed to medical marijuana.
"We just can't change people's minds that don't want to be changed," she said.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:54 am
This actually directly affected us -- the Collective mentioned near the end, Healing Nations, is where my sister worked. xd The Press-Enterprise More medical marijuana hearings wanted
RIVERSIDE COUNTY: A senior staffer asks for the Planning Commission to reconsider the issue.
Monday, August 21, 2006A proposal to regulate medical marijuana cooperatives in Riverside County could be heading back to the Planning Commission for an overhaul.
Michael Harrod, a senior planner for the county, said he would ask the Board of Supervisors next Tuesday to return the proposal to the Planning Commission.
If the supervisors agree, Harrod said the commission would re-open a public hearing Sept. 13 in La Quinta to "allow for full public participation."
The commission in July unanimously endorsed the proposal, which would allow cooperatives to operate with a special permit in commercial office and retail zones.
Medical marijuana advocates later blasted the county plan saying it was poorly researched.
They said it would wrongly prohibit the sale of edible marijuana products and prohibit growing marijuana at cooperatives, which they contend is allowed under state law.
They say county planners have confused a cooperative with a dispensary, which is a location where patients may safely purchase medical marijuana.
Medical marijuana advocates such as Lanny Swerdlow, of Palm Springs, also point to language in the proposed ordinance that requires patients to have a "prescription" as evidence the plan was ill-conceived.
Doctors may write only recommendations for the use of medical marijuana.
Planning Commissioner John Snell said Monday that he was not surprised the rules could come back for more debate.
"We are going to work out something that is fair for everybody, which means nobody gets everything they want," Snell said.
Dorothy Carlson, 45, of Riverside, said officials need to stop looking at marijuana patients as "pot heads looking for loopholes in the law."
"I have always taken a strong stance against drugs. That's why I understand where the Board of Supervisors is coming from. What they don't understand is there is a big difference between recreational and medicinal use," Carlson said.
Carlson said she uses small amounts of marijuana to relieve nerve pain from a back injury that was caused by a drunken driver.
Officials in cities across the county also have been wrestling with ways to regulate or restrict the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries.
Last week a Riverside Superior Court Commissioner tossed out a request from the city of Corona to issue a temporary restraining order against the Healing Nations Collective, a dispensary.
In December, the Riverside County health department began processing applications for state-issued medical marijuana identification cards.
The cards are optional, but could protect patients and caregivers from arrest and prosecution by identifying them to law enforcement officials.
Patients and caregivers still may be prosecuted under federal laws, however.
About 250 cards have been issued to qualified patients in Riverside County.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:56 am
The Press-Enterprise Editorial: Legal smoke
Sunday, Devember 10, 2006Three California counties' loss in court last week should end a publicly funded challenge to the state's medical marijuana laws. Spending taxpayers' money trying to overturn the voters' will is insulting and wasteful.
San Diego Superior Court Judge William Nevitt Jr. last week rejected the counties' arguments that California's medical marijuana laws violate federal law. The judge said the state provisions merely protect medical marijuana users from prosecution under state law, and do not affect the federal ban on marijuana. So state and federal law can legally coexist. The decision closely follows the judge's tentative ruling last month.
San Diego and San Bernardino counties sued the state in February, rather than comply with a 2003 state law requiring counties to issue identification cards to legal marijuana users. Merced County joined the case in June. State voters legalized marijuana for medical use by passing Prop. 215 in 1996.
The counties say they might appeal Nevitt's ruling. But officials should drop that idea. Pushing ahead with this case would be a triumph of political posturing over civic duty.
County officials may not like the law, but voters' wishes take priority. And fiscal responsibility dictates that county officials spend public money in better ways than attacking the public's decisions.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:01 am
Another Healing Nations story...The Press-Enterprise Ruling mixed for medical marijuana store
CORONA: The dispensary could keep operating for months while appealing an order to close.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006A Riverside Superior Court ruling Wednesday granted Corona a preliminary injunction needed to close a medical marijuana dispensary in the city, but the collective will remain open pending an appeal.
Riverside Superior Court Commissioner Joan F. Burgess ruled in favor of the city and granted a court order mandating the closure of Healing Nations Collective.
She then issued a stay to allow attorneys for the dispensary's owner, Ronald Naulls, a chance to appeal her ruling, citing the need for an appellate court review.
Both sides said they see the ruling as "a victory."
"We are very pleased with the judge's ruling," said Jeffrey V. Dunn, an attorney with Best Best & Krieger, the city's law firm.
Dunn said the ruling supported Corona's view that a business license alone doesn't mean the applicant "can do business anywhere you want."
Attorney James Anthony, representing Naulls, said the ruling will allow Healing Nations to remain open not only for the 70 days granted to file the appeal, but also through the trial, which could take as long as 18 months.
"I feel that the judge bent over backwards to stay her own injunction," Anthony said. "She gave the city a token victory but really, she gave us a substantial victory."
Corona is one of several Inland cities that have banned medical marijuana dispensaries; others are Temecula, Norco and Lake Elsinore.
A state judge recently upheld California law allowing the use of cannabis for medical purposes by throwing out a lawsuit challenging the statute that voters passed in 1996. San Diego County filed the lawsuit, and San Bernardino and Merced counties joined the case.
Marijuana's use remains illegal under federal law.
City Fights Dispensary
Naulls opened his Grand Boulevard dispensary in May.
The city called for the closure of the collective and issued a 45-day moratorium in June that was extended until June 2007.
In August, Burgess denied a temporary restraining order that the city sought to stop the dispensary from operating, and she called for a hearing on a preliminary injunction.
A cluster of supporters for the collective, some in wheelchairs, attended the hearing in Department 6.
The court order followed about 45 minutes of discussion among the attorneys and Burgess.
In the city's case, Dunn argued that Naulls did not disclose on his license application that his intended business was a medical marijuana dispensary and that the collective should be shut down because it is not a permitted use under Corona's zoning and land-use codes.
Anthony and fellow attorney Richard D. Ackerman countered that Naulls had contacted a city planner regarding his plan to open a dispensary and, after consulting an attorney and learning the city did not yet have a ban or any regulations related to the businesses, exercised his right under state law to open one.
Permitted Use Is Issue
Burgess said Wednesday that she agreed with Corona that Naulls concealed from the city that his business was a medical marijuana dispensary, but the judge called the business license issue a "red herring."
The real issue in this case is use, she said.
The city argued that if a business is not a listed permitted use in the code, then it is not allowed and a Planning Commission hearing is required to make any exceptions.
Naulls' representatives argued the opposite: that because the city didn't have anything about medical marijuana dispensaries in its codes, it was allowed.
Burgess said because the issue of permitted use is unclear, she based her ruling on the declaration of former Corona planning director Peggy Temple, that the collective was a nonconforming use that was not permitted.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:03 am
The Press-Enterprise Marijuana outlet, Norco squaring off
DISPENSARY: The city says it violates land-use ordinances; the owners plan to fight the ruling.
Thursday, December 28, 2006NORCO - Owners of a medical marijuana collective have vowed to keep the dispensary open despite a legal challenge from the city.
 Collective Solution opened Dec. 1 on a stretch of Sixth Street known for veterinary clinics and animal feed stores. Owner Ken Andersen said he and his partners opened the dispensary after a 45-day moratorium on the businesses ended.
"When the moratorium expired, we rented this building, applied for a business license and started signing up patients," Andersen said.
City Manager Jeff Allred said Norco denied Andersen's application for a business license on the grounds that a medical marijuana dispensary violated land-use provisions for the area.
"Basically, they thumbed their noses at the city of Norco and opened it anyway," he said.
The city has since sent the collective a cease-and-desist order.
Andersen and his partners say they hope to work with city officials to keep the collective open in the community.
"We have every intention to address the council in a respectful manner," Andersen said. "We are putting together our presentation to the city."
Andersen said the group has consulted with lawyers who specialize in land-use issues related to medical marijuana.
State and federal laws differ on the legality of the use and distribution of medical marijuana, complicating the issue for local governments.
In October, Riverside County supervisors approved a ban on marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas, joining San Bernardino, Merced and San Diego in challenging California's medical marijuana laws.
On Dec. 13 a Riverside County Superior Court ruling granted the city of Corona a preliminary injunction needed to close a medical marijuana dispensary that had opened in the city in May. The collective remains open pending an appeal.
California voters passed Prop. 215 in 1996 to decriminalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Andersen and his partners say the collective provides a safe place for ailing patients to obtain medical marijuana.
"The alternative to safe access is to do it the illicit way, that is your back alleys and everything else," Andersen said. "Can you imagine sending your grandma out to who knows where?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:05 am
The Press-Enterprise 3 from pot store facing charges
MEDICAL MARIJUANA: The dispensary workers are accused of felonies, a first in Riverside County.
Friday, January 5, 2007INDIO - The Riverside County district attorney's office has filed felony drug charges against the owner and two employees of an embattled Palm Desert medical marijuana dispensary.
Ingrid Wyatt, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said the case against Cannahelp shop owner Stacy Hochanadel and his employees, James Campbell and John Reynolds, could be precedent-setting because it is the first time in Riverside County that anyone associated with a storefront marijuana dispensary has been prosecuted.
Hochanadel, Campbell and Reynolds are charged with the same three felony drug counts: one of unlawful possession; one of sales, furnishing and transporting; and one of maintaining a place for the purpose of selling a controlled substance. If convicted, they face up to three years in state prison.
Wyatt said arrest warrants have been issued for all three and that Hochanadel has indicated that he plans to surrender to authorities Monday.
None of the defendants was available for comment Friday, and Hochanadel's San Diego-based attorney did not return a telephone call.
California's 10-year-old medical marijuana law allows patients with prescriptions from a doctor to grow and use marijuana, but not to sell it for profit. Federal law prohibits any cultivation, sale or use of marijuana.
"We're not targeting individuals who have a prescription and are in need of marijuana for medicinal purposes," Wyatt said. "We're targeting people who are using the guise of medicinal marijuana to actually sell marijuana. We believe there are people out there selling marijuana (illegally) for profitable purposes."
Wyatt said individuals with medical prescriptions may possess 8 ounces of dry marijuana or six mature plants or 12 small plants.
"If you have more than that, we believe it's a prosecutable case," she said.
Wyatt said authorized caregivers may dispense legally prescribed medicinal marijuana.
"It's not just anybody who can do this," she said. "You have to be a designated caregiver for the person who has the prescription. There is a process to this whole medicinal-marijuana thing."
The Palm Desert business stayed open even after the city revoked its license Dec. 18. In a letter to Cannahelp, City Attorney David Erwin said the business failed to comply with conditions of an agreement that came out of a hearing before the City Council on Feb. 23.
"Because of your failure to comply with the agreement of April 10, 2006, your license is hereby revoked and your operation must cease immediately," Erwin wrote.
City officials have said undercover authorities were able to purchase marijuana from Cannahelp without proper credentials.
Riverside County supervisors on Oct. 3 banned marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas and joined other counties that are challenging state medical-marijuana laws.
The board stopped short of an outright prohibition on marijuana-growing cooperatives but banned the distribution of marijuana to caregivers, qualified patients or patients with a state identification card even at marijuana-growing co-ops, which are legal under state law.
Then-District Attorney Grover Trask said he would not prosecute patients who use marijuana in accordance with state laws. His successor, Rod Pacheco, agreed that the district attorney's office has no authority to prosecute patients who are following state laws.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:07 am
The Press-Enterprise Legal move by Inland town targets medical pot facility
Town takes action to close dispensary
Tuesday, January 30, 2007NORCO - The city has asked a judge to immediately close a medical marijuana dispensary in Old Town.
 The city's legal counsel contends the dispensary, Collective Solution, operates in the city illegally, and he filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in Riverside County Superior Court last week.
"A marijuana dispensary is inconsistent with the city of Norco's values and those of the community," City Manager Jeff Allred said.
The city's action is the latest legal move by an Inland Empire city against medical marijuana dispensaries.
Cities have cited conflicting state and federal laws as the chief reason they have moved to ban collectives, which came about after California voters approved the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, allowing those with a doctor's recommendation to obtain medicinal marijuana.
A court hearing is set for March 1, in which Norco will await a ruling from the judge on the preliminary injunction, said the city's attorney, William Litvak.
Litvak cited the city's moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries and the dispensary's lack of proper permits as the main grounds for a preliminary injunction.
Dispensary owner Ken Andersen said he expected the city to take legal action.
"It is easier for them to ban it than deal with it," he said.
Andersen said he hoped the city would work with medical marijuana dispensaries and regulate the businesses.
He said Tuesday that he plans to meet with his attorneys today to discuss possible legal filings. Until the injunction hearing, Andersen plans to continue operating the collective.
Collective Solution opened in early December along a stretch of Sixth Street best known for animal feed stores and horse trails. The marijuana collective treats about 100 patients a week, Andersen said.
While the city is taking a legal step toward shutting down the dispensary, some in the community have taken the issue to the streets.
On Saturday, a handful of protesters stood outside the dispensary, displaying signs with such slogans as "Out drug dealers" and "Prayer not Pot."
Norco resident Lois Loock, 79, led the 10-person protest outside Collective Solution.
Loock is no stranger to protests, having voiced her disapproval of a tattoo parlor operating at the same Sixth Street location, as well as a fortune-teller and The Maverick steakhouse.
One of her signs was even recycled from a Maverick protest, with an anti-marijuana phrase in front, and an anti-biker phrase in the back.
"When something incites me, I'm like a volcano," she said, while sitting in her wheelchair and waving to passing cars.
Others held up signs supporting the dispensary. A young woman stepped out of Collective Solution and placed a sign along the fence, reading "Protesting Sick People is Sick"
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:09 am
The Press-Enterprise State lessens, postpones medical marijuana fee hike
Thursday, March 1, 2007 Medical marijuana users in Riverside County can relax: The cost of a card identifying them as legal users will not double this summer.
That's because state health officials -- in an effort to enroll more counties in the program -- have cut by more than 50 percent an increase in the amount counties must pay.
The California Department of Health Services had planned to raise that fee from $13 to $142, starting today.
Instead, the department now plans to raise it $66, and to put off that hike until April 1.
The hope is that more counties will join the 24 currently enrolled in the medical marijuana program, said Michelle Mussuto, a spokeswoman for the state health department.
Under California law, the medical marijuana card program must pay for itself.
Mussuto said officials think enough new cardholders will join the program for it to do just that.
"It's what we think we can work with and keep the program going," she said of the $66 fee.
Riverside County had planned to raise the cost for card-holders as of July 1 from $100 to $220 to offset the increased state fee.
Victoria Jauregui-Burns, who runs Riverside County's card program, said she learned of the lower-than-expected state fee this morning. She said she does not know how much cardholders will be charged starting this summer.
"I haven't even had time to evaluate that," she said. "It will drop from $220, but I can't tell you what it will be."
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:10 am
The Press-Enterprise Fontana staff: Ban pot dispensaries, for now
Wednesday, March 21, 2007Saying there's a local need, medical-marijuana advocates recently approached Fontana's Department of Community Development with questions about what city codes said concerning the operation of dispensaries.
The answer from the staff was simple: nothing.
But the inquiry spurred department officials to ask that the City Council consider an urgency ordinance that would temporarily prevent dispensaries from opening in the city while the city's staff studies whether they should be allowed.
"We want to come up with the best public policy we can," said Don Williams, the city's community development director.
While California voters approved use of the drug for medicinal purposes a decade ago, federal law still makes marijuana a substance illegal to use or possess.
"We need to study what the implications are of supporting the state law when clearly the federal law does not allow (that)," Williams said. "There are some issues that need to be contemplated before we allow them."
Helping Hands
Shawn Tizabi, of Helping Hands Collective Caregivers, approached the city in early February with his sister and business partner, Shermin Tizabi.
Both said they want to work with the city to open a dispensary and were surprised at talk of a moratorium.
"If you look within the Inland Empire, there is not one operating legally," Shawn Tizabi said, though Fontana has a high number of patients with marijuana prescriptions.
He and his sister want to run a dispensary by the book, he said, adding, "We will not open our doors unless we get the support of the city."
Williams has asked the City Council to enact a 45-day moratorium on dispensaries. The council must approve the ordinance with a four-fifths vote for it to take effect immediately. Normally, an ordinance takes effect 30 days after council approval.
"We'd like to have some time to discuss this dispassionately and then make a recommendation to the council" whether the dispensaries should be allowed, Williams said.
Police Chief Larry Clark said the situation needs serious study, and his department won't make a recommendation on a permanent ordinance until that study is done.
'A Rock and a Hard Place'
As law enforcement, "you're caught between a rock and a hard place" regarding medical marijuana, Clark said. "You open (a dispensary), and the feds come in and shut it down."
The discrepancy between state and federal law opens up other problems. For example, Clark said, if an officer arrests someone for possessing marijuana, the judge could find that person had the drug legally under California law and order the officer to return the marijuana to the defendant.
"If you look at the law, the judge is asking the officer to commit a felony" under federal law, Clark said.
If Fontana bans dispensaries, it would force patients with marijuana prescriptions to buy and use the drug illegally, Shawn Tizabi said.
"We're providing a safe facility for patients of medical marijuana," he said.
If the city OKs the dispensary, Shawn Tizabi said, each patient would get marijuana only with a prescription and only under the supervision of Shermin Tizabi, a registered nurse.
"At that point, we take their prescription and call the doctor. If we can't contact their doctor, they don't get their prescription filled -- and that's each visit," he said.
The Tizabis said they helped run a cooperative in northern Santa Barbara County until their partnership with other parties dissolved last fall.
Corona, Temecula, Norco and Lake Elsinore have banned dispensaries.
In early February, Desert Hot Springs enacted a temporary moratorium similar to the one Fontana has proposed.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:12 am
The Press-Enterprise City strengthens its pot-dispensary ban
Thursday, April 5, 2007 Corona's City Council on Wednesday night voted 5-0 to approve a zone-text amendment to the municipal code that defines medical marijuana dispensaries and prohibits their establishment in the city.
In December, a Riverside Superior Court commissioner granted the city a preliminary injunction to shutter Healing Nations, Corona's lone dispensary. However, the commissioner also ruled that the Grand Boulevard business could stay open while the owner appealed.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:13 am
The Press-Enterprise Norco mulls marijuana dispensary options
Tuesday, April 10, 2007Norco may join cities such as Whittier, Visalia and San Jose in regulating the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries.
Potential regulations or ordinances would be presented to the Planning Commission and City Council in mid-June, according to a report by the community development department.
Collective Solution, a medical marijuana dispensary operating in Norco, was shut down March 1 after a Riverside County Superior Court judge granted the city's injunction against the collective.
The collective's owners have agreed not to take further legal action if the city studies the issue and drafts regulations allowing for the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries, said Jim Daniels, community development director.
The Planning Commission meets tonight at City Hall and will discuss the issue but not make any decision.
"In the next 60 days we're going to give the Planning Commission two courses of action," Daniels said. "Adopt rules and regulations for this type of facility in the city or draft an ordinance prohibiting them."
Collective Solution co-owner Chris Yap, a real estate professional in his 40s, said he is hopeful that the city will consider regulating and licensing the businesses.
"We want to be upstanding, and to do that we need a license and we need to be zoned," he said. "This is something that makes sense and it will be something we can all be proud of, and it will be with the city's permission."
Yap and his partners in Collective Solution held an open house Tuesday evening for city officials and law enforcement officials, who toured the facility and asked questions about the medical marijuana dispensary.
Yap said there are 200,000 medical marijuana patients in the state, including cancer and multiple sclerosis sufferers.
Yap said he assured the officials that patients would be not allowed in the facility without a doctor's recommendation and a valid identification card.
"If a doctor has prescribed this treatment to you, who are we to judge what another human being wants to do as an alternative medication?" Yap said.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:17 am
The Press-Enterprise Pot farms take root inside Inland homess
Saturday, May 5, 2007 An indoor marijuana crop that authorities valued at $8.5 million was uncovered Friday in Norco, the latest in a fast-moving flood of suburban homes-turned-illegal greenhouses that began in Canada and spread to the Inland area last year.
Law enforcement up and down the West Coast have been busting these home-grown operations in record numbers over the past year with several high-profile seizures in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. State authorities believe many of the operations are tied to Asian gangs.
The number of indoor plants seized between 2004 and 2006 by law officers in California nearly quadrupled to 196,000 from 54,000, federal records show.
 The Norco greenhouse and a smaller one discovered Monday in Riverside appear to be the only cases this year in Riverside County, said Riverside County Sheriff's Department spokesman Gerald Franchville. He called Friday's seizure the largest and most valuable in at least eight years.
San Bernardino County narcotics officers were averaging about two home-based marijuana-grower raids per month until about six weeks ago, the commander of the narcotics division estimated, adding that deputies have raided seven or eight in the past six weeks.
"They're usually part of multiple houses belonging to a single drug-trafficking organization," said Ron Brooks, president of the West Covina-based National Narcotics Officers Association Coalition. "Primarily, Asian organized crime ... has operated these."
Franchville declined to comment on whether Riverside County sheriff's investigators believe the Norco operation is connected to a larger organization, citing their ongoing investigation.
Illegal growers customarily buy homes in upscale residential neighborhoods and immediately remodel each room to grow, dry or package pot plants, officials said.
The growing equipment in each house can cost up to $77,000. Each plant can produce a pound of potent marijuana worth as much as $4,000.
Friday's Raid
In many ways, the Norco house exemplified the recent wave of suburban pot farms. But if the idea was to blend into a quiet, affluent neighborhood, neighbors said the growers blew their cover from the start.
At least 10 neighbors said the five-bedroom two-story house had been conspicuous since it was sold in January. Why anyone would buy a $720,000 home and then let the lawn turn brown and die, they wondered?
It made perfect sense when they learned that that the interior was lush and green -- with 1,447 marijuana plants.
Lin Jie, 40, of Chicago, and Han Wan Cheng, 45, of New York, were arrested about 2 a.m. Friday at the residence in the 400 block of Mount Shasta Drive. They were booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on suspicion of cultivating marijuana and other drug-related offenses, Franchville said.
He called the operation "sophisticated," noting that it included 70, 1,000-watt heat lamps, 12 industrial-size air purifiers, and a drip-irrigation and water- recycling system.
About $5,500 a month in stolen electricity ran through circuits rigged to bypass the meter, Franchville said.
Neighbors said the house never looked occupied, and Franchville confirmed that it was unlivable, with plants and equipment filling every room but the master bedroom.
The furnished bedroom lay behind the only unshuttered window, he said, probably to make the house look lived in.
Mario Torres said he and his wife, Yvonne, had been talking about the house since January, when their new neighbors raised suspicions.
"They moved in late at night with a U-Haul truck," Torres recalled.
After that, he never saw anyone at the house. Occasionally, a Mercedes SUV with Texas license plates would be parked in front of the house, he said.
An anonymous tip led authorities to the house. Franchville said he could not reveal whether the tip came from a neighbor.
The raid is the second of its kind in the region this week. On Monday, a Riverside man was arrested in connection with a similar house-based operation in the 18300 block of Van Buren Boulevard in Riverside. That operation was about half the size, with 675 plants and three-dozen heat lamps. Like the Norco marijuana farm, it depended upon stolen electricity.
From Canada to California
Although indoor pot farms have been around for decades, the trend in high-dollar crops that produce extremely potent marijuana can be traced to British Columbia, says Gordon Taylor, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Sacramento.
"The situation has gotten so bad that the main power company (in British Columbia) estimates there are between 15,000 and 21,000 indoor marijuana farms within that province," Taylor said.
Vietnamese and other Asian organized-crime groups control most of those pot farms, he said.
Apparent copycats borrowed the idea and transplanted it to the Bay Area and Sacramento region, Taylor said.
Neighbors tipped off Elk Grove police to some of the Sacramento area's first indoor pot farms nearly a year ago. The DEA joined that investigation, which turned up 21 homes where marijuana was being grown, all in upscale subdivisions, Taylor said.
Two weeks later, in September 2006, Stockton police spotted 20 more houses-turned-pot farms, bring the total to 41.
And during the first two months of this year, nine more pot operations were discovered in Tracy, Modesto and Lathrop, boosting the total to 50 homes.
"Each of our houses had $33,000 to $77,000 in hydroponic (growing) equipment so it takes quite a bit of money to start up one of these," Taylor said.
All were being operated by an Asian crime group based in the Bay Area, he said. The annual combined value of the crops would have totaled $94 million, he estimates.
'Seven or Eight in Six Weeks'
In Southern California, sophisticated indoor pot farms began cropping up this year, primarily in the past three months, Taylor said.
A San Bernardino County sheriff's official agrees.
"We were averaging a couple of (indoor-pot-farm seizures) a month," said Lt. Greg Garland, commander of the department's narcotics division. "Then we've had this run of ... seven or eight in six weeks."
He recalls at least three finds in Phelan and one each in Chino Hills, Yucaipa, Rancho Cucamonga and the Victor Valley.
"We're scratching the surface," he said. "There's no common denominator. We've seen it in areas where homes are selling for $180,000 to Chino Hills, where the house was $850,000."
Typically, one room will contain starter plants that are 1 or 2 inches tall, Garland said. Another room will have plants 1 to 3 feet tall. And a third room will have full-grown plants, ranging from 3 to 8 feet tall.
Marijuana is dried and packaged in other rooms, he said.
The growers come from various backgrounds, ranging from members of Asian organized-crime groups to Mexican nationals and Caucasians with no known gang affiliations, he said.
The electricity can cost $1,500 to $2,000 or more a month -- unless they steal it.
But "bootlegging" electricity is dangerous if the wiring job is done wrong. That's what happened at a Chino Hills house that caught fire, attracting the attention of a neighbor who called the cops, Garland said.
But the profits apparently are worth the risk to many people.
The price of marijuana in San Bernardino County has quadrupled in the past seven to 10 years, Garland said, who estimated the price for a pound of indoor-grown pot at $3,500.
"It's lucrative," he said.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:19 am
The Press-Enterprise Another pot bust in Norco
Tuesday, May 8, 2007For the second time in a week, a high-value marijuana operation was uncovered in a family-oriented Norco nieghborhood.
Early Monday evening, deputies found 1,700 pounds of marajuana in cellophane-wrapped bales in the garage of a ranch-style house on Corona Avenue, said Riverside County Sheriff Sgt. Glenn Williams. The estimated value of the stash was $850,000. The drugs, ready for distribution, probably originated in Mexico, Williams said.
Three Mexican nationals were arrested at the house on charges of possession of marijuana for sale, said Sheriff's spokesman Gerald Franchville. Their names were not immediately released because the department was waiting to see if the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration would open a separate investigation, he said.
Friday morning, 1,447 marijuana plants worth $8.5 million were seized from a Norco home a few miles away.
The cases appear unrelated, but authorities said that the suspects in both cases seemed to believe that they were operating under the cloak of anonimity.
In the most recent case, the suspects rented a home on about an acre of land, set back from the street and surrounded by horse stables, Williams said.
The indoor marijuana farm discovered last week thrived behind the shuttered windows of a two-story, five bedroom home in one of the city's newer subdivisions.
Gordon Taylor, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Sacramento, said 50 similar house-based growing schemes uncovered in Northern California had also sat in new subdivisions, neighborhoods with little sense of community or history where growers apparently thought they would be unnoticed.
"There's more anonymity (in a new subdivision)...you go into a well established neighborhood, people tend to know each other," said Taylor.
But neither Norco drug house espaced the notice of neighbors, no coincidence in the community-oriented Horsetown USA, some said.
In Monday's bust, neighbors had called deputies because they saw nightime traffic and people they didn't know frequenting the house, Williams said.
In the case of Friday's indoor-farm raid, an anonymous tipster alerted deputies to operation, and many nieghbors of the house said they had been suspicious because they never saw anyone home, and noone maintained the yard.
Norco Councilwomen Kathy Azevedo said that in a city where so may share a common love of horses and country-living, its hard to remain anonymous.
"People know their neighbors here," she said. "I think anytime someone moved into the community and kept to themselves and didn't have animals, neighbors would wonder."
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:38 am
The Press-Enterprise Authorities raid suburban homes for pot
Friday, May 18, 2007 Authorities raided pot farms in the Inland area Friday morning, including three in the Corona area, seizing millions of dollars worth of plants but making no arrests.
The marijuana busts follow several similar raids on operations in Norco, Riverside and San Bernardino County.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department's West County Narcotics Taskforce led the raids, which included homes in the 14100 block of Sugarcreek Circle in Eastvale and the 1900 block of Eureka Street.
The Corona Fire Department's hazardous materials teams responded. Corona officials said the team also aided authorities at another raid in the 2400 block of Simon Circle in Corona.
Raids were also conducted in neighboring counties, authorities said.
Investigator Juan Zamora, a Sheriff's Department spokesman, said he didn't have any information on the Simon Circle raid. No one was home at the other houses searched. Law enforcement is still trying to determine who owns the houses.
Zamora said the street value was still being calculated, but he estimated that the plants seized were worth several million dollars.
A seizure earlier this month in Norco netted 1,447 plants valued at $8.5 million. About 1,000 plants were seized at the house on Eureka and several hundred were taken at the Sugarcreek residence, authorities said.
 Zamora said he couldn't say if the houses recently raided were connected, but that is being investigated.
"One of the most important things to come out of these warrants is that there's going to be less marijuana on the streets," he said. "Our communities are going to be a little bit safer."
The houses raided Friday were similar to other recent pot-farm busts at suburban homes tucked away on quiet, tree-lined streets.
The home on Eureka is part of a subdivision of mostly earth-toned houses with manicured lawns and flowers in bloom.
Sgt. Don Sharp, part of the county's narcotics task force, said most of the rooms in the four-bedroom house were converted to grow the plants. Police arrived about 9:30 a.m. to serve the search warrant. When they found no one home, they went in, Sharp said.
Zamora said the Eastvale home on Sugarcreek Circle also was filled with plants. The owners had installed an elaborate irrigation and lighting system. They also had tapped into Edison power lines, stealing about $50,000 to $70,000 worth of electricity, he said.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:49 am
The Press-Enterprise Riverside police raid pot dispensary
Wednesday, May 23, 2007Riverside police raided a medical marijuana dispensary Tuesday that was filled with prepackaged pot stored in a 6-foot-high safe with humidity control.
 The business also sold tea cakes, truffles and cookies with "proprietary spices." Some had "double strength" stickers. All said "medical cannabis."
Riverside police officials said it was the first medical marijuana dispensary found within the city limits.
Prop 215, approved by the state's voters in 1996, decriminalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. But the sale and use of marijuana is illegal under federal law.
Follow-up state legislation in 2003 allows for nonprofit farming cooperatives and requires identification cards for patients using marijuana for medical purposes.
This operation did not fit that model, according to police.
Sales for profit are not allowed under either state law, said county Deputy District Attorney Mike Quesnel. Police did not arrest anyone at the site Tuesday, but operators could face charges of posessing and selling marijuana.
In January, the district attorney's office filed felony charges against three men in connection with a Palm Desert dispensary.
Police watched the Riverside business and discovered it served 20 to 30 cusotmers in an hour, said Lt. John Carpenter.
"We haven't discovered any dispensaries operating legally in the county," Carpenter said.
The store, at 7201 Arlington Ave., had a business license for unclassified retail registered under ET Investment Corp. of Riverside. It operated as California Caregivers Association -- Riverside or C.C.A.R. Paperwork indicates the business tried to have customers designate the store as a caregiver that then would be legally allowed to provide medical marijuana.
Clerks asked customers for written recommendations from doctors or identification cards, said Steven Frasher, police spokesman. If a patron did not have that, the store had a list of doctors prospecitve pot patients could see.
A board inside the storefront operation listed the type of marijuana for sale, including Trainwreck, Orange Crush and Maui Wowie.
Display cases held spice bottles full of dried marijuana as well as paraphernalia such as glass pipes and bongs.
Narcotics investigators counted 120 labeled and full pill bottles discovered in one of the white coolers.
The office had a ventilation system, small marijuana plants under grow lights and scales.
One flag stated, "A spliff a day keeps the doctor away."
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