cannabisnews.com: Police Close Down Medical Marijuana Provider





Police Close Down Medical Marijuana Provider
Posted by FoM on April 19, 2000 at 15:54:53 PT
By Joe Hughes & Kelly Thornton, Union-Tribune
Source: Union-Tribune
San Diego police shut down the county's only large-scale dispenser of medical marijuana yesterday, reigniting the debate that repeatedly leaves growers, law enforcers and patients frustrated and confused.Authorities raided the California Alternative Medicinal Center on Fourth Avenue in Hillcrest, saying it has been operating as a for-profit business in violation of the state's 1996 voter-approved proposition that allows medicinal use of pot.
Detectives seized marijuana, plants and business records at the center and also searched the Pacific Beach home of Steven Rohrer, whom they identified as an operator of the center along with his mother, center president Carolyn Konow, and his girlfriend, Amy Toosley. None of the three could be reached for comment yesterday.The proposition allows people to grow and smoke marijuana with a doctor's consent but provides no standards for how many plants a person can cultivate. The law has been criticized by police and activists as poorly written and vague."I understand the predicament (patients) are left in, but we can't stand by and allow folks to sell marijuana," said Lt. Bob Kanaski of the countywide Narcotics Task Force. "That's not covered by Prop. 215. It was never intended to allow people to make money off those who are sick."Kanaski said a brochure from the center containing price lists indicated that the center charges $28 per gram of marijuana, the equivalent of one or two joints, vs. $5 to $10 on the street.He said he spoke to a patient in front of the center yesterday who indicated he spent most of his Social Security income on medicinal pot.Proposition 215 does not permit marijuana to be sold under any circumstances, Kanaski said. No arrests will be made until the seized evidence is examined.The investigation began last June when the department and the Narcotics Task Force became aware of marijuana sales, Kanaski said. Police officials, including Assistant Police Chief George Saldamando, met with Konow in February when they learned of the sales, Kanaski said."She said (the center) was a for-profit company that sells marijuana to its clients," Kanaski said. Still, she disregarded the warning, he said.In an interview with the Union-Tribune in June, Konow described herself as a conservative Republican businesswoman who has never smoked pot. She is a member of a statewide task force studying medical marijuana organized by Attorney General Bill Lockyer who, unlike his predecessor, has vowed to make Proposition 215 work.During the interview, she said her center had been operating quietly for nearly three years and had 300 to 400 clients. Konow has invited police officials to drop by, she has had information booths at local hospital conferences and at the annual AIDS Walk, and she has met with City Attorney Casey Gwinn to explain her operation.At that time, she said no one hinted they might bust her.Meanwhile, another growing operation, Compassionate Gardens, was shut down by police in July, when police raided the Hillcrest office and seized all plants and growing equipment. The nearby center remained untouched, until now.Members of Compassionate Gardens, who say they do not sell marijuana but share the costs of growing it, were so incensed by what they considered inequitable treatment that they held a demonstration a month later in front of the center. Some of the members believed that the center was gouging the terminally ill.Yesterday's raid left some activists with mixed emotions.Steve McWilliams of Compassionate Gardens, whose prosecution became San Diego's first test case of the medical marijuana law, said he is concerned for patients who have no other place but the street to obtain the drug.But McWilliams, who has been pressing city and county officials to spell out terms of the law so that it can be lawfully implemented, questioned why the center was allowed to operate until now, and why Konow was warned by police in advance of the raid."We had wondered for a very long time how they were able to operate," said McWilliams, who is on probation for distributing marijuana. "We think it's really odd that the police would just ask somebody not to sell pot anymore. I wasn't extended the same courtesy as that."San Diego: Published: April 19, 2000© Copyright 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.Related Article: Petaluma Pair Facing Trial in Pot-Growing Case http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5443.shtmlCannabisnews Archives & Articles On Medical Marijuana & Prop 215:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtmlhttp://google.com/search?lc=&num=10&q=cannabisnews+215+site:cannabisnews.comhttp://google.com/search?lc=&num=10&q=cannabisnews+medical+site:cannabisnews.com
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Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on April 20, 2000 at 19:37:06 PT:
Yes, Kan, they *do* have a name for it.
It's called Marinol, and the pharmaceutical establishment wants deathly ill and poor people to pay in excess of 14 bucks a pill for it. Heavens forbid that the average citizen could grow something in his back yard that would work better and whose only cost would be manure (Fido and Fluffy could help there unless you have hardcopy of McCaffrey's speeches handy) water, and sunshine. But then the pharmaceutical bigwigs wouldn't get their cut... or the sanctity they cloak themselves in for selling legally what is (literally) in essence the same compound that the police lock you up for possessing.Now, who's the pusher in this instance? Roxane Labs, or your friendly neighborhood grower? The only(!) difference is one isn't protected by a monopoly which has the ears of Congress and LEOs.
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Comment #5 posted by Kanabys on April 20, 2000 at 07:09:32 PT
I didn't read enough
I posted the previous without reading all the article. I get carried away sometimes. When he talks about the MMJ establishments gouging the terminally ill, What the hell, then, are the pharmaceutical companies doing?????? Answer me that!!!!!!!! Do they have another 'politically correct' name for it??
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Comment #4 posted by Kanabys on April 20, 2000 at 07:03:06 PT:
Another idiot anti talkin'
>>"I understand the predicament (patients) are left in, but we can't stand by and allow folks to sell marijuana," said Lt. Bob Kanaski of the countywide Narcotics Task Force. "That's not covered by Prop. 215. It was never intended to allow people to make money off those who are sick."Does this a__hole really understand? I think not, I'll bet he's not ill (yet)!! And another thing, do ya think the "sick" people would be willing to pay a little for relief of their pain? I certainly would!!
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Comment #3 posted by dddd on April 20, 2000 at 01:43:19 PT
Disturbing Indeed
No one really knows what to do because of the nebulous legalities,of something that is illegal to be legal. One can only hope that if it is legal to be illegal..etc,,that we will finally end this entire idiotic prohibition alltogether. As a Californian,I'm still upset and disgusted by the incompetance of whoever is in charge.I voted for prop 215,yet our vote was somehow negated by the big brother factor. And people wonder why voter turnout is so low.........dddd
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on April 19, 2000 at 16:55:12 PT
This Shouldn't Be Happening!
Hi Mark, Do you ever rest! You are so busy! All the activity in California boggles my mind and I get some issues mixed up but I try not too. Each one of your counties are bigger then many of our cities I bet!Peace, FoM!PS: When it was raining so heavily in Arcata my husband and I thought of you and hoped your weren't going to float away like it looked could happen a while ago. It really is a small world with the Internet and that is so cool!
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Comment #1 posted by Mark Tide on April 19, 2000 at 16:42:41 PT:
A Very Disturbing Case
What a mess!!! This is the result of severe advocacy failure. Why doesn't the City of San Diego adopt an implmentation ordinance (hopefully, a proper and workable one)? Does the City even understand what to do (or want to)? Arcata, Oakland and now Santa Cruz have adopted implementation law for P215. Please visit the ezine associated with this comment to obtain further and specific information on these subjects. Also, please refer anyone who needs such help as well.
Arcata Journal
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