Mendocino County Sheriff Press Release: On 02/06/12 COMMET (County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team)went to 2310 Road K, Redwood Valley CA., to conduct followup on an ongoing investigation.

  Deputies discovered that the residence was being used to process marijuana and the residence was secured and a search warrant was obtained.

  Located at the residence were Karen Spencer, Dakota Nesbitt, James Shook, Bogdan Cristea, Jordan Williams and Mia Miller.  A subsequent search of the residence revealed approx. 144 pounds of marijuana drying in a detached garage, 89 pounds of processed bud marijuana packaged for sale, 17 pounds of untrimmed marijuana, scales, packaging material, records, less than a gram of MDMA and $164,456 in US Currency.

  Spencer, Newbitt, Shook, Cristea and Williams were arrested and booked into the Mendocino County jail.  Mia Miller was released and charges are being submitted to the DA’s Office against her. Megan Champion was determined to be the person living/renting the property and charges are being submitted to the DA’s Office against her.

  The investigation is continuing and additional arrests are expected.

It’s 2012 and once again marijuana is jockeying with other subjects for political attention. Four possible initiatives to legalize marijuana are already hustling to be on California’s ballot this fall. But there is another possible initiative about cannabis that has strong backing.  The Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Tax Act (MMRCTA), however, is not about legalizing marijuana for everyone.  It’s about regulating medical marijuana. That alone should make it more palatable than the other four initiatives to those growers and businesspeople around here that fear legalization might negatively affect the local economy.

One of the main ideas behind the proposal is that firming up California’s rules on medical marijuana might temper the recent crackdown by the federal government. Colorado, they believe, with its standardization of regulation across the state has avoided most of the problems that California has had.  Each city and county in the golden state has its own rules which can run counter to each other.

The Emerald Growers Association (a cooperative organization between Mendo Grown and the Humboldt Grower’s Association (HGA))is part of a coalition behind the initiative that includes Americans for Safe Access, National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which is a powerful organization that recently began organizing cannabis workers.

According to Alison Sterling Nichols, now Executive Director at Emerald Growers Association but formerly just with HGA, “When I went to Colorado, I saw how Colorado laws forced industry indoors. I knew people working on this initiative were adopting Colorado language. We [HGA] met with them.  We were concerned that outdoor would get legislated out of the process.  We wanted to be sure full light spectrum outdoor medical cannabis was available to patients.”

MORE →

Photo of the band from High Grade Allstars website

UPDATE 4:50 P.M. 1/25: Here is a booking photo of Billy Norbury arrested January 14th for public intoxication of alcohol.

Mendocino reggae artist Jamal Andrews, age 30, died of a gunshot wound late last night, January 24th.  Andrews was a member of High Grade Allstars.  The band had played at Reggae Rising and had Humboldt as well as Mendocino friends and fans. The suspect is Billy Norbury, age 33 and a neighbor of Andrews.

Below is a track, “Smoke Weed Every Day,” from the band’s album.

Smoke Weed Every Day

Mendocino County Sheriff Press Release:

On 1-24-2012 at approximately 2157 the Mendocino County Sheriffs Office received a 911 telephone call regarding a shooting incident in the 1700 Block of Road B in Redwood Valley,CA.

Mendocino County Sheriffs Deputies along with Redwood Valley Fire and other medical personnel responded to the location and found the victim outside of his residence had succumbed to a gunshot injury at the hands of another.

Deputies spoke with the victim’s girlfriend and learned that a possible suspect had fled towards his residence on an atv.

Mendocino County Sheriffs Deputies learned the suspect lived in close proximity of the victim.

Deputies proceeded to the possible suspect’s residence to contact him regarding the incident. During their contact at his residence, they observed in plain sight items that appeared to link the suspect directly to the shooting incident.

The suspect was placed under arrest and booked into the Mendocino County Jail on the listed charge.

Mendocino County Sheriffs Detectives arrived at the scene and are currently conducting further investigation into the incident.

A forensic autopsy will be conducted in the coming days and further information will be released as it develops.

Photo of ziptie by reader

Yesterday, both Humboldt and Mendocino Boards of Supervisors blinked in the face of Federal push back.  According to the Times Standard (read the whole article here,)

Staff with the [Humboldt] county counsel’s office said the moratorium is the safest legal course of action in an atmosphere where it’s still unclear whether cities and counties can regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. Deputy County Counsel Davina Smith said all eyes are now on the California Supreme Court, which agreed last week to review whether federal law pre-empts local jurisdictions.

Pack versus Superior Court of Los Angeles is the case referred to by Smith. There are several issues involved in that case but one is that Long Beach “required dispensaries to have their cannabis tested, which mean that it mandated them to break federal law.” {Tip of the hat to Michael Myer whose comments on this blog I quoted}) According to the Times Standard again,

Smith said a decision is expected within the next 12 to 18 months. In the meantime, she said, the county is vulnerable to legal action.

Humboldt County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes said the county is working to make progress on an ordinance that would govern outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana for personal use. Smith-Hanes said the board directed county staff to create an ordinance similar to one used in Mendocino County…. He said both Mendocino and Humboldt counties are now looking at a registration-based ordinance, similar to one used in Tehama County.

”It seems like the Tehama County ordinance would stand up to legal scrutiny,” Smith-Hanes said.

The Mendocino Supervisors decided to back down on the “zip-tie” ordinance yesterday also. According to the Ukiah Daily Journal,

“They were threatening to file an injunction against our ordinance and try to throw it out in court, and also threatening to individually go after county officials who were supporting these laws, which they believed to be in violation of federal law,” 5th District Supervisor Dan Hamburg said after the vote.

Hamburg and 1st District Supervisor Carre Brown supported Nadel’s recommendation, worried that the federal government would withhold money that comes to Mendocino County for its social service and other programs.

The Mendocino meeting had “a steady stream of speakers” urging the Mendocino Board to fight the Federal government.  The UDJ offers details on suggestions by the speakers. The article is well worth the read.

______________________

Hat tip to Emerald Triangle News for Headline idea.

The Ukiah Daily Journal is reporting that today the Mendocino County supervisors

voted 4-1 to eliminate the county’s medical marijuana permit program Tuesday after more than an hour of public comment.

Third District Supervisor John Pinches dissented, saying the county should repeal its medical marijuana ordinance, County Code 9.31, completely and calling marijuana law “confusing.”

Responding to a threat of legal action from Melinda Haag of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mendocino County Counsel Jeanine Nadel proposed that the Board of Supervisors remove from the ordinance all language referring to a program that allows collectives to grow up to 99 plants per parcel with a permit.

“They were threatening to file an injunction against our ordinance and try to throw it out in court, and also threatening to individually go after county officials who were supporting these laws, which they believed to be in violation of federal law,” 5th District Supervisor Dan Hamburg said after the vote.

Hamburg and 1st District Supervisor Carre Brown supported Nadel’s recommendation, worried that the federal government would withhold money that comes to Mendocino County for its social service and other programs.

Second District Supervisor John McCowen argued that removing the permitting program would boost black market prices for marijuana and make it more readily available to children.

The permitting program allows collectives an exemption to the county’s 25-plant-per-parcel plant limit if they get a permit and follow a set of

rules. Nadel’s revised ordinance returns to the 25-plant limit for all growers.

For more on the story go here.