California lawmakers are tip-toeing toward giving cities, counties and school districts broad new authority to ask voters those questions.

The guard at Truly Green on Federal Boulevard in the Ridgeview/Webster neighborhood thought the gun was fake, so he activated the alarm and told the gunman what he had done.

In order to purchase marijuana from a dispensary all one needs is a doctor’s referral, but some people may feel more comfortable with a state-issued I.D. card.

On Saturday, Oct. 16, Cypress Hill's SmokeOut Festival, a presentation by Guerilla Union, will be held at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino. Two hours away from San Diego, this music festival is well worth the straight, simple drive on Interstate 215.

Three stages will house several excellent headliners.

A bill signed Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reduces the crime from a misdemeanor to an infraction, meaning that those caught smoking merely need to pay a $100 fine, won't have to appear in court and won't have a criminal record.

The San Diego Union-Tribune says Jovan Jackson was convicted Tuesday of three counts of illegal possession and sale. Prosecutors said he sold pot for non-medical reasons at now-defunct Answerdam Alternative Care in Kearny Mesa.

Prop 19 proponents argue that the most nervous observers are the Mexican drug cartels, whose operations could be undercut by legal marijuana in the Golden State.

Politically, it will be a tough one.

Polling now suggests that, if the vote were taken today, the Proposition 19 legalization ballot initiative would pass--Field Research shows 49 - 42 percent support, while Public Policy Polling shows Prop. 19 passing 47 - 38 percent--and pressure is already mounting on the White House to sue California if it does, just as Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department is now suing Arizona over its controversial SB 1070 immigration law.

Lance Rogers worked on a variety of criminal cases before finding a niche in one area. Michael Cindrich used to work for the District Attorney’s Office before quitting to start his own practice. And after graduating from law school in 2008, Kimberly Simms set up her new law practice determined to focus on one emerging area of law.

The San Diego City Council has recently voted to place tighter regulations on medical marijuana dispensary locations and their zoning restrictions. The proposed zoning restrictions would require the dispensaries to be at least 1,000 feet away from schools, parks, libraries and churches in San Diego county. Colleges and universities will not be included in the zoning restrictions.

“It raises many health and safety issues,” Supervisor Ron Roberts said.

County supervisors recently passed an ordinance regulation how and where medical marijuana exchanges can operate, and the city is considering a similar set of rules.

The San Diego City Council voted 6-1 to direct the City Attorney's office to develop a zoning ordinance for medical marijuana collectives in the city.

“It raises many health and safety issues,” Supervisor Ron Roberts said.

County supervisors recently passed an ordinance regulation how and where medical marijuana exchanges can operate, and the city is considering a similar set of rules.

As a medical marijuana user in California, I am on the fence about Proposition 19, as not all the issues have been addressed for me satisfactorily.

The robbery occurred about 6:48 p.m. at San Diego Holistic Center on 30th Street near Monroe Avenue. A man displayed a handgun and took cash from the dispensary and from two customers who were in the dispensary, said San Diego police Officer David Stafford. No one was injured.

Last December, a jury acquitted Jackson on charges of illegal possession and sales of marijuana in connection with July, 2008 medical pot purchases from an undercover officer who signed up at the Answerdam dispensary using a false name.

It was the third robbery at a cannabis dispensary in the city since early July.

The latest robbery was reported at 9:48 p.m. Thursday at San Diego Medical Collective on Camino del Rio South, near Mission Center Road, said San Diego police Officer David Stafford. It was still being investigated, and it was not immediately known if marijuana also was taken. The initial description of the suspects was only that they were white males.

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A medical marijuana patient himself, he joined with a small group of others to start a marijuana collective called Answerdam Alternative Care. He served as manager. It was a legal venture, he believed, made possible under California law.

After a work accident in 1994, Bendula, of Tracy, is now one of about 400,000 Californians who have medical marijuana cards. For Bendula, he smokes between 3 and 5 grams of pot a day to help alleviate his pain.

It doesn't, however, change the difficulty of finding a job where drug tests and screenings are required.

From nuclear subs to other naval ships, one man charged with making sure they ran at their peak was John Moore, a technician for Clarus Technologies in San Diego.

A non-profit patient advocacy group and three medical marijuana patients filed the lawsuit, which aims to prevent the city from enforcing a medical marijuana ban. Now that the motion has been denied, both sides say they are moving forward.

As one Obama administration official told the Los Angeles Times in March:

"If you are operating a medical marijuana clinic that is actually a front, we'll come after you. But if you are operating within the law, we are not going to prioritize our resources to go after them."

An employee at a hotel on Grape Street and Pacific Highway called 911 about 12:35 p.m. to report a fight next door, police said.

Two robbers fought with the clerk at Tri City Holistic medical marijuana collective and then told him to fill duffel bags with product and cash. The duo then ran away and later escaped in a dark gray Chevy Camaro-type car.

In addition to owning the Green Kross Collective in Mission Beach and the Downtown Kush Lounge in the Gaslamp District, authorities believe Joshua John Hester, 29, operated a large grow operation in a vacant $2 million Rancho Santa Fe residence that he had his then-girlfriend, Kelsey Wiedenhoefer, purchase for him as a straw buyer in 2007.

Stacy operated a medical pot shop, called "Movement in Action," in Vista. He was charged with federal counts of illegally manufacturing and distributing marijuana after a series of undercover buys by a San Diego County sheriff's detective and subsequent raids by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officers on his home and business.

Agents say one suspect was the owner of two medical marijuana collectives, and used the collectives to profit. The charges will be ammunition for medical marijuana opponents.

And the city is close to proposing its own rules to regulate collectives, the U-T reported, so this really couldn’t come at a worse time.

That suspect, Joshua Hester, was arrested by agents in a spacious West Hollywood home he was renting. In court papers, agents said Hester, 29, distributed 3,000 pounds of marijuana he purchased from a major Los Angeles dealer in 2007 and 2008.

The grand jury, which issued its report last month, recommended that the city adopt “cost-neutral” zoning and land-use ordinances as a way to effectively license, regulate and inspect dispensaries. The cost-neutral approach provides that the city couldn’t charge dispensaries more than its costs to regulate them.

The county supervisors approved the first reading and introduction of the regulatory ordinance June 23 and the second reading and adoption June 30. Both votes were by 4-1 margins with Supervisor Ron Roberts in opposition. A Zoning Ordinance amendment does not require a second reading and takes effect immediately, and the zoning component was approved June 30 on the 4-1 vote. The regulatory ordinance will take effect July 30.

The school is Jefferson Elementary, near the corner of Utah Street and University Avenue in North Park. Right around the corner, a medical marijuana collective is opening up shop. Residents are concerned for the safety of the children, and the neighborhood.

“You’ve got to fight the next fight.” —Mike Brey

“It is coming, and it’s going to come hard!” Jeffrey Lake is preaching to the choir this day, but the lanky, buttoned-down Downtown attorney sounds uncertain that his message is getting through. San Diego city leaders intend to pick off medical-cannabis collectives one by one, he intones, and without a unified effort to fight back, the battle will be even more uphill.

"This could get very expensive," said Emmett Reistroffer of Sioux Falls, chairman of the campaign committee Yes for Compassion, Yes on 13!

U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Battaglia set bond for each of the defendants, ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. They face charges of conspiracy to distribute and manufacture marijuana and money laundering.

The complaint alleges that the ring sold hundreds of pounds of marijuana from at least May 2009 to now. Much of the drug was sold via the Green Kross Collective in Pacific Beach and the Downtown Kush Lounge in San Diego, according to a statement of facts signed by an agent with the Narcotics Task Force attached to the complaint.

The robbers walked into the SuperCanna medical marijuana office on Adams Avenue near 32nd Street and ordered the lone employee to the ground, San Diego police Lt. Andra Brown said. They told him if he did not cooperate they would hurt his mother, Brown said.

The employee called police at 11:35 a.m. and said he waited about 15 minutes before notifying authorities because he was afraid the men would come back.

The owner says the gunmen threatened to kill him if he didn't cooperate.

Pot activists said the rules were too strict, while government officials wanted an all-out ban on medical marijuana.

It's an odd position for folks charged with enforcing the law to take.

And yet we the voters have only ourselves to blame, as we continue to re-elect Bill Horn, Dianne Jacob, Ron Roberts and Pam Slater-Price to office every four years, despite their proven track record of refusing to abide by the voter-approved medical marijuana law.

The Board of Supervisors on Wednesday ruled that dispensaries in unincorporated county areas must be located at least 1,000 feet from homes, schools, playgrounds and churches. Officials say that leaves 16 available sites.

Last October, the number of local pot clubs could be counted on one hand. Now, medical marijuana collectives have sprung up in every part of the city—some more legit than others. One web directory currently lists almost 70 San Jose–based medical marijuana dispensaries.

Council members voted unanimously to authorize the city to shut down dispensaries within 500 feet of schools, day care centers and homes. The move will immediately affect a handful of the city's 60 clubs, which will have to close within a month.

The regulations would keep the marijuana collectives at least 1,000 feet away from homes, schools, playground, churches and other similar businesses.

In restricting dispensaries to an estimated 16 sites in unincorporated parts of the county, supervisors ignored a plea from one speaker who wanted a ban and many who complained the regulations amounted to one.

On Tuesday, members of the board will decide whether to award a contract of $300 million-plus to remodel and expand the Las Colinas Women's Detention Facility in Santee.

The fee would cover what officials say is the 60 hours per week required for a deputy and licensing specialist to assure compliance with ordinance regulations.

The organization, which helps people open up their own medical marijuana dispensaries for the ill, believe a dope shop can really improve a neighborhood.

The citizen panel said medical marijuana dispensaries should be regulated. The report urges municipalities to approve clear rules that decide where and how many storefronts can operate. The report suggests there should be a ban on new medical marijuana storefronts until a city can pass those rules.

President of her early-’70s graduating class at Mission Bay High School, Beckett went on to a career as a research physiologist at San Diego’s prestigious Naval Health Research Center, focusing her studies on the physical rigors of life in the Navy.

The 3-1 vote is latest step in an attempt by the city to push out the shops, which have cropped up since late last year.

Tuesday's vote comes less than a month after the commission heard nearly two and a half hours of public input concerning the proposed and contentious ordinance.

One outcome of the stoppage was September's establishment of a medical marijuana task force to help the City Council develop guidelines for addressing one of the murkiest issues in the California: How to give people access to a substance the state says they can have, but the federal government says they cannot.

Lambert's case is the third of three medical marijuana prosecutions pursued by San Diego County district attorney Bonnie Dumanis's office in the wake of Operation Green Rx, a multi-agency sweep of San Diego collectives dating back to 2008. Defendants in the other cases — Jovan Jackson and Eugene Davidovich — were acquitted.

During the emotionally charged meeting, 30 citizens appealed to council members. Opponents argued that the storefronts attract crime and expose children to the drugs. Advocates countered that marijuana is legal for medical use and patients need safe access.

City officials said the crackdown is prompted by a recent spike in community complaints lodged against 117 marijuana storefronts.

Blue Heaven set up shop in Moss Beach in July 2009 before licenses were required, but two months later the county established new regulations for dispensaries. Although Blue Heaven is threatened with closure because it doesn’t follow the new ordinance, the dispensary is putting up a fight.

The proposed guidelines would require background checks on all medical marijuana dispensary employees; mandate that the collectives operate as nonprofit organizations; restrict access to those under 18; and prohibit consultations by physicians on site.

The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee passed about a dozen rules for regulating the dispensaries.

The legal cannabis institute in Mira Mesa prepares it’s students for jobs in San Diego’s thriving medical marijuana industry.

The Planning Commission’s 5-0 vote May 14, with Commissioners Michael Beck and Adam Day absent, restricts medical marijuana dispensaries to industrial-zoned areas and prohibits them from being within 500 feet of a residential area, 600 feet of a school, church, or public park, or 1,000 feet from another dispensary. A separate 4-1 vote, with Beck and Day absent and Leon Brooks in opposition, recommended that such facilities be

required to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

Here's a look at what's on the agenda.

City officials are in the midst of a lengthy and contentious effort to regulate the medical pot industry in town, but some have derided their efforts as ineffective in preventing criminal activity and misuse of medicinal cannabis.

Penny Jenkins of the advocacy group, "Santa Barbara Fighting Back" says, "It is a drug and it does affect kids."

"They took him right to jail," said a medical marijuana activist who was in the downtown courtroom to support Nunes.

"Joe, we won't forget you," exclaimed an emotional Donna Lambert after United States District Court judge Larry A. Burns delivered Nunes's sentence.

The latest violation of the law at the hands of law enforcement came a couple of weeks ago when the county ordered three microbrewery tasting rooms closed, including one in San Marcos. Accused the tasting rooms of flouting county health ordinances. Told them to shut down immediately or else.

Paul Levikow, spokesman for DA Bonnie Dumanis, responded Wednesday with a terse "no" in response to an e-mail request for comment on the report by 10News.

In the old days congressmen would ask Allan St. Pierre about males developing breasts as a result of smoking marijuana— a la the government propaganda movie "Reefer Madness." Now St. Pierre has legislators calling him to help write bills.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said the search warrants served at dispensaries and some homes Wednesday “has nothing to do with legitimate medical marijuana patients or their caregivers.”

Eugene Davidovich, who made waves in the local medical marijuana community when his home was raided and four charges were brought against him, claims the DA’s office’s refusal to return his possessions are political.

But there is a grain or two of truth there. Last week a jury in downtown San Diego acquitted San Diego medical marijuana activist and collective owner Eugene Davidovich of drug sales and possession charges.

Under a proposed county ordinance released for public review earlier this month, medical marijuana dispensaries, or collectives, would be prohibited within 1,000 feet of residential parcels, schools, playgrounds, parks, churches, recreational centers and other marijuana dispensaries.

A City Council committee voted 3-1 Wednesday to create a slew of land-use regulations that will provide direction to police and code-compliance officers as they try to regulate the businesses.

On the docket for the day: whether the committee should direct staff to compose an ordinance that would regulate pot shops.

If anyone needs to know what is happening in his trial, currently unfolding in a San Diego court room, the 29-year-old Naval veteran is ready with video, text and whatever relevant web links you may need.

Davidovich, a cannabis patients rights advocate, is a key defendant in an on-going San Diego County crackdown on pot dispensaries and services. He is charged with illegally selling marijuana and possessing weed in operating a medical marijuana home-delivery service.

Stacy had argued that President Obama, when he was Candidate Obama, had basically said he wouldn't prosecute medical marijuana providers who were complying with state law, and that Stacy had relied on that -- and later statements by Attorney General Eric Holder -- to launch his business.

But Dr. Igor Grant, MD, who directs the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UCSD, is quick to separate the CMCR’s findings from the push to legalize pot.

“It’s not my call to make,” he says, “but I hope that whatever social policy is developed will be informed by the medical evidence, which provides some decent evidence that benefit comes from medical marijuana.”

The study, actually five small ones with two more under way, found that smoking modest amounts of the drug can alleviate pain and muscle spasms linked to multiple sclerosis and several other conditions. It confirmed popular wisdom that pot eases physical discomfort - the prime argument of the medical marijuana movement.

The study, actually five small ones with two more under way, found that smoking modest amounts of the drug can alleviate pain and muscle spasms linked to multiple sclerosis and several other conditions. It confirmed popular wisdom that pot eases physical discomfort - the prime argument of the medical marijuana movement.

Source: Counterpunch: High Times or Not? | NBC San Diego

The California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee passed AB 390, the Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act, on a 4-3 vote, marking the first time in U.S. history that a state legislature has passed a proposal to legalize the drug.

Jovan Christian Jackson, 31, was placed on probation for three years for possessing the drug Ecstasy, and for having Xanax without a prescription. Last month, a jury acquitted Jackson of five charges of possessing and selling marijuana illegally — the major counts — in a case that stirred activists within the medical marijuana community.

Jovan Jackson was charged with illegal sales of marijuana. He fought the charges, saying he was distributing the drug for medical use, and a jury this week found him not guilty. Following the trial, jurors say they found the law so confusing they couldn't find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis says the law needs to be rewritten.

The jury rightly cited the vagueness of current laws as a reason not to convict Jackson of illegally possessing and selling marijuana.

Bob Riedel, co-founder of Mother Earth's Alternative Healing Cooperative Inc., said last week he joined the chamber for the same reasons other members join: It's a good way to get involved in the community and to network. The co-op has already signed up as one of the sponsors for Fallbrook's Dec. 5 Christmas parade, for example.

Legal experts say the state appeals court ruling will change how medical-pot trials are handled, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Monday.

Bay Park resident Erika Schinler has 4-year-old daughter and is a self-described soccer mom in the making.

James Pitts’ testimony came during a trial for Jovan Jackson, 31, whom prosecutors say was the manager of Answerdam Alternative Care Collective, where drugs were sold for profit, a violation of the state’s medical marijuana laws.

A clerk in the facility on University Avenue near Cartegena Drive was hit in the head with a weapon during the robbery, which was reported at 10:11 a.m., said police Officer Brad Ruff.

The robbers fled in a vehicle, which crashed on Malcolm Drive near Cartegena. Two people ran into a backyard and were arrested. A third was found by police in the area, Ruff said.

The robbers, at least one of whom displayed a handgun, entered The Giving Tree at 6186 University Ave. shortly after 10 a.m., San Diego police Detective Gary Hassen said.

Jovan Jackson, 31, was arrested after a pair of raids at “Answerdam Alternative Care” on Convoy Court in Kearny Mesa last year. Jackson is charged with selling marijuana, possession for sale of marijuana and possession of ecstasy. Deputy District Attorney Chris Lindberg told jurors in his opening statement that the case against Jackson was not about medical marijuana.

Jovan Jackson, an eight-year Navy veteran, was arrested after a pair of raids at "Answerdam Critical Care" on Convoy Court in Kearny Mesa.

On Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney James Pitts confirmed his membership in the now defunct Amsterdam Alternative Care. The collective was one of several shut down after being raided last September.

It involves the case of Jovan Jackson, the manager of a local medical marijuana collective charged with illegally selling the drug to an undercover officer.

However, for San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, the prosecution of Jovan Jackson is not just any medical marijuana case. 10News has learned that along with Jackson, a deputy district attorney was a patient at the collective where Jackson got his medical marijuana.

At least two complaints have been filed with the official body that investigates local government on behalf of citizens, and CityBeat has confirmed the jury has called at least one medical-cannabis supporter in for an interview. Badge-bearing jury members reportedly have been spotted in the audience at the city of San Diego’s Medical Marijuana Task Force meetings.

Competitive Edge Research and Communication conducted the survey of more than 500 adults in the City of San Diego. It showed that 77 percent agreed that the city should ensure convenient access to medical marijuana.

Of those, 37 percent favor heavy regulations and 27 percent desire only a few regulations.

Nine percent want the city to ban dispensaries altogether.

The homeowner is charged with cultivation and possession with intent to sell, but the eight co-op claimants each would like a million bucks recompense for plants they say were theirs, not the defendant's.

All involved have state-issued medical marijuana-user cards.

“I have attended about 200 hours of POST Certified classroom training hosted by the California Narcotics Officers Association, during the 200 hours I think I had about an hour in the operation of medical marijuana laws.” - Detective Scott Henderson, SDPD, July 13, 2009, Undercover Detective part of Operation Endless Summer.

According to eight search-warrant affidavits filed in Superior Court and two filed in Federal District Court, law enforcement learned that, yes, if a client has a valid medical-cannabis recommendation from a doctor, he can gain access to a private room where he can purchase marijuana.

Claim No.1: The dispensaries “were operating under the guise of selling marijuana and marijuana-laced products for medicinal purposes.”

With, perhaps, two exceptions — James Stacy and Joseph Nunes.

Stacy and Nunes are former providers of medical marijuana now facing federal charges for illegally selling the drug from storefront businesses they owned in Vista and San Diego.

Local law enforcement officials estimate there are at least 40 delivery services, with more appearing after raids and crackdowns on storefront dispensaries.

Several have created colorful Web sites with menus offering “edibles” such as marijuana brownies and cookies. Botanicure Collective and Delivery even has a page on Yelp, a reader-review Web site.

Because through their defiance of the voters' decision to allow marijuana to be sold for medical purposes, California's political and legal leaders have changed the conversation about legalizing pot. The question is no longer whether legalizing marijuana is sound public policy, but instead what it will take to get elected and hired government officials to understand they work for us.

If all goes according to plan, two high-ranking San Diego Police Department honchos will offer their take on the subject at the task force’s meeting next Friday (9-11 a.m., 12th floor, City Hall, 202 C St.). Popcorn will not be provided, but it should pretty riveting stuff nonetheless. Scheduled to appear are Assistant Police Chief Cesar Solis and Paul Cooper, counsel to Chief William Lansdowne.

The Medical Marijuana Task Force will review guidelines for medical marijuana patients and caregivers, the operation of dispensaries and growing cooperatives and the ground rules for police enforcement.

Some of the local establishments that have been authorized to dispense marijuana for medical reasons may have been dispensing marijuana to individuals who may have partaken of the substance for non-medical reasons. Worse, the establishments may have dispensed the aforementioned substance with full knowledge, or at least, a pretty damn good idea that their customers intended to go straight home and crank up “Dark Side of the Moon,” and don’t even pretend that you don’t know what I mean.

Police raided 14 medical cannabis centers September 9 in San Diego, California, one of which was Hillcrest Compassion Care, a rapidly expanding collective that grants members safe access to their medicine.

The City Council voted 6-1 to establish the 11-member committee, which will be comprised of medical marijuana patients, social service providers and dispensary operators, along with a legal professional, a physician, a community planner, a small business owner, someone from law enforcement and a land use professional.

Named San Diego Holistic Healing, the new facility is at 5544 La Jolla Blvd. where Bird Rock Surf shop used to be and next door to Capricorn boutique.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said the search warrants served at dispensaries and some homes Wednesday “has nothing to do with legitimate medical marijuana patients or their caregivers.”

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis (doo-'MAN-is) said Thursday that she supports marijuana use for medical purposes—as allowed under California law—but that the distributors may have been operating stores to sell drugs illegally.

The District Attorney's Office, which is leading the multiagency operation, declined to give further details, saying more information would be released today.

“We were going to be the first local cooperative to run television ads,” said employee Sara Sanders as she stood on the sidewalk waiting for San Diego police to finish seizing evidence upstairs in the University Avenue establishment.

San Diego police officials say personnel from federal, state and local departments served warrants at an undisclosed number of storefronts across the county, targeting dispensaries in beach communities.

However, City Council members made it clear at a meeting Wednesday that if they decide to or are required by law to allow dispensaries, they want to be prepared with regulations.

Supervisors are expected to approve a staff recommendation that the county wait at least 45 days before any dispensaries are permitted in unincorporated parts of the county.

Chula Vista and National City have passed 45-day moratoriums that prohibit the licensing of marijuana dispensaries. Chula Vista city councilman Steve Castaneda says he believes the majority of his council is willing to allow the dispensaries. But they want to make sure they understand the state law and can be sure the businesses will follow the law. Castaneda says the city's power to license and permit allows it to regulate medical marijuana distribution.

The Santee City Council voted this week to place a 45-day ban on business licenses and permits for medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, in response to what officials described as an emerging interest in opening the facilities.

The City Council voted 4-0 to enact a 45-day moratorium Tuesday night to formulate a policy to regulate the businesses or to decide whether marijuana cooperatives should operate at all.

Councilman Steve Castaneda said the businesses "have to operate in a manner and a form that do not create public safety issues."

Weedmaps is a founder of The Dispensary Defense Group, headed by Richard Cowan, former Director of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday that prohibits any new business that sells or provides medical marijuana from opening in National City.

The City Council voted 4-0 to enact a 45-day moratorium Tuesday night, saying it needed more information before deciding whether to allow medical marijuana cooperatives to operate.

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-07-21/news/clamping-down-on-san-diego%E2%80%99s-marijuana#ixzz0LvBXsuV9

But experts say the prohibitions might face constitutional questions or other issues.

July 7th, 2009 Detective Mike Mendez from the San Diego Police Department’s Narcotics team went to Dr. Clark’s office in San Diego, lied about his identity, symptoms, condition, and obtained under the name of Pierre Tiberius Uggla a valid Physician’s Statement and Recommendation for the medical use of marijuana.

Judge John Thompson ruled there was enough evidence to try Eugene Zhenya Davidovich on charges of selling marijuana, possessing marijuana for sale and transporting marijuana. San Diego police investigators testified that Davidovich sold seven grams of marijuana to an undercover detective last November, and had 11 baggies containing a combined 34.10 grams of the drug in his car when they served a search warrant in April at his Rancho Mission Road residence.

Resident Stephen Wheeler, 56, applied in June for a license to operate a nonprofit collective that would deliver medical marijuana to members in inland North County.

The City Council voted 4-0 this week to adopt an urgency ordinance that places a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. The council can extend the moratorium for up to a year and pass another yearlong ordinance after that if it chooses.

The San Diego Air Pollution Control District has not identified which neighborhood fleets are a priority.

But the county's Barrio Logan neighborhood with 14 schools has been identified as an area with toxic air pollutant concerns. Also, agencies note that 41 public schools in San Diego County are within 1,500 feet of major interstates used by trucks emitting large amounts of toxic diesel fumes.

Last year, California Attorney General Jerry Brown issued long-awaited guidelines aimed at clarifying the state's laws on medicinal marijuana. In February, the Obama Administration made it clear that medicinal marijuana users are not a priority for federal law enforcement agencies when Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department would no longer prosecute medicinal marijuana cases in federal court.

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-07-08/lifestyle/pro-legalizing-marijuana-ad-to-air-wednesday-but-local-pollster-finds-it%E2%80%99s-a-gateway-drug#ixzz0MacodORp

San Diego County officials set aside a special wing in the Rosecrans Avenue office of the Health and Human Services Agency to accommodate applicants, but at midday yesterday, the information and records clerks were all but sitting idle.

"I'm very much concerned for my freedom and for the consequences," said Davidovich.

Diagnosed with severe anxiety and severe depression, Davidovich's doctor prescribed marijuana to help treat his symptoms.

County officials set aside a special wing in the Rosecrans Avenue office of the Health and Human Services Agency to accommodate applicants, but at mid-day today the information and records clerks were all but sitting idle.

“We wanted to be ready for them if they showed up en masse,” said Adrienne Yancey, an assistant deputy director for public health services.

Many sick and dying San Diegans are one step closer to using medical marijuana without the fear of arrest.

The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave the nod to issuing the cards on July 6 for a $166 processing fee, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-06-24/news/local-county-news/medical-marijuana-id-cards-to-be-issued-in-july#ixzz0JTHfUZeF&D

“This is an important step toward protecting our community from illegal drugs,” Supervisor Bill Horn said.

The board of supervisors voted Tuesday to allow state-issued ID cards, starting July 6. It will take about 30 days to process the applications. Then, applications will be taken at the health department on Rosecrans Street.

"A person needs to get the application, bring it in in person. They need to have seen a physician saying they have a serious medical problem for which marijuana would benefit their condition," said County Public Health Officer Doctor Wilma Wooten.

At their meeting, supervisors Dianne Jacob and Bill Horn proposed asking the county's attorney, John Sansone, to draft an ordinance making for-profit, medical marijuana dispensaries illegal in the unincorporated areas of the county.

It's the first step by county officials to embrace medical marijuana since a court ruled that the county cannot ignore the state's voter-approved medical marijuana initiative.

In 2002, at the end of the third class petty officer’s service — which garnered him 10 medals — Davidovich’s doctor prescribed him various drugs and anti-depressants.

Though the drugs treated his initial symptoms, they caused him to experience worse side effects.

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-06-03/news/politics-city-county-government/operation-endless-summer-nets-medical-marijuana-patients#ixzz0MVTjoCNn

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-06-02/news/politics-city-county-government/medical-marijuana-id-cards-no-longer-a-pipe-dream#ixzz0MVijjQd8

Law enforcement officials found “a sophisticated clandestine indoor marijuana cultivation operation” at two homes owned by Shaun Michael Fitch, according to court documents.

67% of San Diegans support medicinal cannabis.

Prop. 215 is supposed to provide seriously ill people access to marijuana to help relieve their pain but a 10News investigation discovered just about anyone can get pot legally if they want.

More than 160 people attended Tuesday's presentation, organized by the Fallbrook Citizens' Crime Prevention Committee.

Several said they were pleased to have an inside look at the DEA, an agency whose work is often shrouded in secrecy.

DEA officials detailed the many investigative teams within the local San Diego Field Division, which includes a North County office, in Carlsbad.

Selling glass pipes and water bongs is perfectly legal in the state, so long as their intended use is for smoking tobacco and not pot. That difference in intent may seem like a fine line, but it can mean the difference between making a buck and being totally screwed. Just ask the owners of the seven East County smoke shops whose businesses were raided last week by police and sheriff’s deputies.

Few things get us as riled as a blatant waste of taxpayer money; especially when it is used to fight the will of the people. And it seems all the more senseless at a time when state and local governments are cash-poor.

The county is asking the nation's highest court to overturn a state appellate court's July decision upholding the voter-approved law legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes.

County supervisors voted for the filing after the California Supreme Court rejected the county's long-running legal fight to avoid implementing state marijuana laws.

County supervisors voted for the filing after the California Supreme Court rejected the county's long-running legal fight to avoid implementing state marijuana laws.

According to the petition, filed with San Bernardino County on Monday, California counties cannot be forced to issue ID cards to patients because marijuana is still illegal under federal law.

That argument was rejected by a state trial court and a state appellate court before the California Supreme Court declined to consider the suit last year.

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to accept or reject the case this year. –J.M.

They seized thousands of pipes and other smoking materials that authorities said are blatant drug paraphernalia.

Shopkeepers and owners at some of the shops were cited for misdemeanor drug charges, mostly for selling paraphernalia, but more charges could be filed as the investigation continues, said Damon Mosler, a deputy district attorney who heads the office's narcotics unit.

“This is a resounding victory for seriously ill Californians and for California voters,” said Adam Wolf of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is co-defending the case along with the state Attorney General's Office and the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access.

San Diego, Merced and San Bernardino counties sued the state in February 2006, claiming federal laws banning marijuana use and possession supercedes Proposition 215, a state measure approved by voters in 1996 that allows pot dispensaries to sell the drug to people who have a doctor's prescription.

A spokesman for San Bernardino County said it will have to review its legal options. An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union said it was time for the counties to stop their campaign and adhere to the act, approved by the state Legislature in 2003 as a way to regulate the medical marijuana law approved by California voters in 1996.

Dr. Alfonso Jimenez, a licensed osteopath, is accusing the San Diego and Laguna Beach police departments, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, and others of conspiring to entrap him in violation of a federal injunction against investigating doctors who recommend medical marijuana "based on a sincere medical judgment."

The businesses were allegedly not selling the drug within the limits of state Proposition 215, the 1996 initiative legalizing the sale of marijuana by prescription to seriously ill people, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Drug Enforcement Administration and county Narcotics Task Force agents served warrants Tuesday at Answerdam on Convoy Court, Plan B Coastal Care Group on Adams Avenue, Chronic Care Providers on Daggett Street and Safe California Access on Murphy Canyon Road, DEA spokeswoman Eileen Zeidler told the Union- Tribune.

"Neuropathy is a chronic and significant problem in HIV patients as there are few existing treatments that offer adequate pain management," researcher Ronald J. Ellis, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, says in a news release.

Cannabis reduced neuropathic pain intensity from "strong" to "mild to moderate" on average, reported Ron Ellis, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of California San Diego, and colleagues online in Neuropsychopharmacology.

The number needed to treat to achieve a clinically meaningful 30% reduction in pain was comparable to other treatments for painful distal, sensory predominant polyneuropathy (3.5 versus 5.4 for lamotrigine [Lamictal] and 3.8 for gabapentin [Gabarone, Neurontin]).

Federal authorities said the businesses were not selling the drug within the limits of state Proposition 215, a 1996 initiative legalizing the sale of marijuana by prescription to seriously ill patients.

Federal authorities said the businesses were not selling the drug within the limits of state Proposition 215, a 1996 initiative legalizing the sale of marijuana by prescription to seriously ill patients.

Drug Enforcement Administration and county Narcotics Task Force agents served search warrants at Answerdam on Convoy Court in Clairemont; Plan B Coastal Care Group on Adams Avenue; and Chronic Care Providers on Daggett Street and Safe California Access on Murphy Canyon Road, both in Kearny Mesa.

The board voted 4-1 Tuesday, with Supervisor Ron Roberts opposing, to ask the California Supreme Court to review its lawsuit challenging the state requirement that counties issue government identification to qualified medical marijuana patients.

San Diego and San Bernardino counties had argued that issuing identification cards to eligible users, as required by the 1996 state law, would violate federal law, which does not recognize the state measure.

In a 39-page ruling yesterday, the 4th District Court of Appeal said San Diego and San Bernardino counties have no legal authority to resist the identification card program.

San Diego and San Bernardino counties had argued that issuing identification cards to eligible users, as required by the 1996 state law, would violate federal law, which does not recognize the state measure.

A three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that federal law does not pre-empt California's medical marijuana law. The state law also requires counties to establish programs to regulate eligibility for the ID cards.

The purpose of the federal law "is to combat recreational drug use, not to regulate a state's medical practices," wrote the 4th District Court of Appeals Associate Justice Alex McDonald.

In a 39-page ruling issued Thursday afternoon, the Fourth District Court of Appeal said San Diego and San Bernardino counties have no legal authority to resist the identification card program.

The three fields were raided Thursday, the DEA said Friday. The plants ranged from 3 feet to 7 feet tall, and the trafficker's campsite included a tent, food and a shower area, the DEA said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration says more than 7,200 marijuana plants, some up to seven feet tall, were confiscated in last week's raids.

The fields, in the Cleveland National Forest, were searched Thursday, Drug Enforcement Administration officials said.

Authorities seized plants that were 3 to 7 feet tall, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Monday.

In addition to the marijuana fields, agents found an encampment used by traffickers, including a tent, food, a shower area, and other personal items.

The three fields were raided Thursday, according to a DEA announcement made Friday. The plants ranged from 3 to 7 feet tall, and the trafficker's campsite included a tent, food and a shower area, the DEA said.

Thomas Vernon Swift, and Kevin Dean Kennedy, both 48, agreed to forfeit the house at 16201 Swartz Canyon Road as part of the plea agreements with the U.S. Attorney’s office. Jorge Morales, 23, was arrested at the Ramona house on April 14 and lived there.

Defendants face a minimum of 10 years in prison when sentenced in September, prosecutors said.

Thomas Swift, Kevin D. Kennedy and Robert Rocco, all 48, Steven Zufall, 22, Lewis Jimenez, 26, Jorge Morales, 23, Jose Rodriguez-Parra, 40, and Randy Kennedy, 51, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana plants.

The eight and three other defendants were arrested in April following raids at homes and grow locations in Vista, Fallbrook, Ramona and Valley Center. The homes had sophisticated equipment to grow the plants indoors.

Appearing at a hearing Tuesday in San Diego, attorneys for San Diego and San Bernardino counties squared off with lawyers representing the American Civil Liberties Union, state attorney general's office and medical marijuana patients.

Attorneys for patients, the American Civil Liberties Union and the state attorney general's office disagreed, saying the California law does not conflict with federal drug laws because patients do not intend to use the drug illegally.

Representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans for Safe Access, along with the California Attorney General's Office, were scheduled to appear before the 4th District Court of Appeal at 9 a.m.

The county argues that it should not have to issue identification cards to legitimate medical marijuana users, even though a state law requires it.

Attorneys for San Diego and San Bernardino counties told the Fourth District Court of Appeal judges that counties should not be forced to issue identification cards to qualified medical marijuana patients.

In a case being watched closely by counties around the state, oral arguments are scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday in a 4th District Court of Appeal courtroom in downtown San Diego.

On Thursday morning, agents said they discovered nearly 100 pounds of marijuana packed inside a Honda Accord being driven across the U.S.-Mexico border by a Mexican national.

Only two – Joseph Foster (1906-1928) and David Bird (1941-1964) – will have held office longer.

Anthony Foglio Jr., associate pastor at Sonrise Community Church, was one of 15 people to receive a pardon this week, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Those facts are well known.

But much less is known about marijuana, the nation's most widely used and socially accepted illicit drug. Our knowledge of marijuana is often based on personal experience, observation or anecdotes, despite a growing collection of scientific studies on the topic.

Court documents filed Friday urged the Fourth District Court of Appeal to throw out a lower court ruling because local governments shouldn't be bound to uphold state laws that are weaker than federal guidelines on marijuana.

The documents urge the Fourth District Court of Appeal to throw out a San Diego Superior Court ruling upholding the state law that requires counties to issue identification cards to qualified medical marijuana patients.

Court documents filed Friday urge the Fourth District Court of Appeal to throw out a lower court ruling because local governments shouldn't be bound to uphold state laws that are weaker than federal guidelines on marijuana.

Larry Roger Kristich, 65, who returned from Costa Rica last summer after being indicted, pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to one count of maintaining drug-involved premises and one count of promotional money laundering. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Kristich also agreed to forfeit more than $1.2 million cash generated by sales at his stores.

The proper acronym is AVM, Anytime Vending Machine. L.A. is now home to two 24-hour pot AVMs, one on Melrose and another on La Cienega. But don't head for the 5 just yet. You're still required to jump through all the regulatory hoops -- the doc's OK, namely. The AVM attendant then approves your prescription, takes your fingerprints and hands you a prepaid credit card that stores your dosage allowance and flavor of choice.

The Drug Enforcement Administration declined to provide the locations of the raids, citing the ongoing investigation, DEA spokeswoman Eileen Zeidler said. At least one of the raids reportedly was in Encinitas.

Three adults arrested face state charges on suspicion of possessing and growing marijuana, said Eileen Zeidler, a special agent and spokeswoman for the DEA.

A total of 440 pot plants and two vehicles were seized. The weight of the plants is not known, she said. Authorities said the search warrants, which were ordered sealed by a judge, are part of an ongoing investigation.

Lawyers from the City Attorney’s Office last week filed their brief in the lawsuit between San Diego County and the state Department of Justice.

County supervisors hope a panel of appellate judges will relieve them of their obligation under state law to issue identification cards to qualified patients.

California voters approved marijuana for medical use back in 1996 with Proposition 215. The ID cards are a way for police to determine whose legally eligible for medical marijuana and whose not.

Lawyers from the City Attorney's Office have filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit between San Diego County and the state Department of Justice.

County supervisors hope a panel of appellate judges will relieve them of their obligation under state law to issue identification cards to qualified patients.

The county of San Diego and California are at odds because the county wants to be relieved of its duty under state law to provide identification cards for medical marijuana users.

County officials have said it forces them to violate federal laws, which ban pot for any reason.

The county board of supervisors is challenging a decade-old law supported by California voters permitting use of the substance. The board said that federal law couldn't be overturned by state votes.

In response, the city has requested the state appeals court to confirm that medicinal marijuana is legal and that local governments should issue identification cards to qualified patients.

The county is appealing a ruling made last December, when a judge found that officials wouldn't be breaking federal anti-drug laws if they comply with state orders to produce identification cards for registered medical-marijuana users.

San Bernardino is also appealing.

In February 2006, San Diego County filed a lawsuit challenging the state requirement to implement an identification card program for qualified medical marijuana patients and their primary caregivers.

Officials have sent out about 200 cease-and-desist notices to business and property owners on Nov. 15 telling them they must pull the drug paraphernalia from store shelves.

In the days just before Thanksgiving, Aguirre, via the Drug Abatement Response Team (DART), sent out 200 letters to 52 smoke shops citywide, informing them that they must, by Nov. 30, stop selling anything that is considered drug paraphernalia by California law. Specifically, that means all the glass pipes, all the water pipes, all the little baggies, all the scales—all that stuff must go. Disobedience can be punished with a year in jail or a $1,000 fine per type of illegal equipment on display, which for some shop owners could work out to tens of thousands of dollars and an unpalatable chunk of jail time.