cannabisnews.com: Officials Impound Medical Pot Crop





Officials Impound Medical Pot Crop
Posted by FoM on June 07, 2000 at 10:13:51 PT
Police tipped off by cascading water
Source: Oakland Tribune
For the second time in recent weeks, police have seized a sizable amount of marijuana from someone claiming to be a member of the Cannabis Club who was growing the weed for medicinal purposes. A running water hose led authorities to their latest seizure Saturday night, an 806-plant plot of pot being grown at an East Oakland loft allegedly by Frank Townsend, 60, of Crockett. 
Townsend pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges of felony cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale. On May 2, officers seized 41 plants from an East 9th Street location, where they said they found evidence the grower had the ability to cultivate at least twice as much more. Two men are being prosecuted in that case. Vice Squad commander Lt. Rick Hart said Tuesday just because someone claims to be a member of the Cannabis Club "doesn't give them carte blanche to grow and possess any amount they want. "They have to abide by the regulations," he said. "If they have 800 plants they're going to jail." Hart acknowledged the City Council has placed a low priority on police investigating medicinal marijuana-related cases. But Hart said if police receive complaints from citizens or tips from reliable informants on where "large, sophisticated grows" of marijuana are, officers will investigate. If there are "extenuating circumstances" where an officer has some doubt if the marijuana should be seized and someone arrested, they will call a supervisor who will make the final decision, Hart said. In a policy adopted in 1998, the City Council set 144 plants and 11/2 of cultivated marijuana as the amount a person can have in their possession for medicinal purposes. But a prosecutor said no matter what city policy is, the District Attorney's Office decides whether to charge such cases based on state law, which in the case of medicinal marijuana is Proposition 215. "We look at the cases on a case-by-case basis," the prosecutor said. "Any (city) policy is superseded by state law." Police also warned of the dangers of having large amounts of marijuana on one's premises. One investigator said it could result in home invasion-style robberies. Jeff Jones, executive director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, confirmed Townsend was a current club member. Jones said members qualify with a doctor's written or verbal recommendation, which is followed up by a volunteer nurse who verifies the note with the doctor and the doctor with a state board. Proposition 215, known as The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 in the California Health and Safety Code, doesn't limit the number of marijuana plants patients suffering from AIDS, cancer, anorexia, glaucoma and arthritis can have. "Prop. 215 is vague in the number count that it gives," Jones said. "It gives the right and the ability for the patient to (grow) for his own medical needs. The current interpretation is that collective gardens are legal and if a patient wanted to possess 5,000 plants in an open space he could." Oakland attorney William G. Panzer, who co-authored Prop. 215, is representing Townsend. He said Townsend's case is "definitely" medically related. "Mr. Townsend is not going to allege that the entire scope of the cultivation was for personal use," Panzer said. "People are allowed to grow for other patients as caregivers. Whether a person can grow for distribution to others is still up in the air." Panzer said collective growers operate discreetly, and he could only recall two medical marijuana thefts in the past two years: one in Alameda County, the other in Sonoma County. "Nobody wants to get ripped-off," Panzer said. "When you buy your wife a big diamond ring, you don't put a note in the paper saying there's a $10,000 ring at your house." Saturday's seizure started about 7 p.m. in the 1400 block of 14th Avenue. When firefighters responded they found the floor where the water was running full of marijuana plants and they immediately called police. Sgt. Jeff Van Sloten said "it was a pretty elaborate system. He had lamps on motorized tracks and the plants were in pots in different areas depending on their size." He said the plants ranged in size from seedlings to 6-footers. The only thing the suspected grower did not have was a remote controlled "drip system," Van Sloten said, apparently choosing to water the plants himself. On May 2, acting on a tip, police obtained a search warrant and raided a warehouse space in the 3600 block of East 9th Street rented by a motorcycle customizer where they found a sophisticated "indoor grow" of 41 marijuana plants and evidence more had been grown there. The plants, two to three feet high, were in one room. Also found was a growers certificate in the name of one of the suspects from the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative and a California Compassionate Use Act of 1996 physicians statement in the suspect's name, police said. Oakland, Calif.By Harry Harris and Mike Martinez, Staff WritersPublished: June 7, 2000© 2000 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG NewspapersCalifornians for Compassionate Usehttp://www.marijuana.org/Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperativehttp://www.rxcbc.org/index.htmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by Dr. Ganj on June 07, 2000 at 21:46:48 PT
215 Guidelines
This is quite a surprise considering these busts occurred in lenient Oakland, California. As to the 806 plant garden, Mr. Townsend make a costly error by leaving the water running. However, since it was obviously a medical garden, the police should not have confiscated the plants. There are countless large gardens in the Bay Area that are supplying various cannabis clubs their much needed herbal medicine. As long as Mr. Townsend could prove it were being used for legitimate medical reasons, no further action should have been taken.Now, the other bust is far more disturbing, as 41 plants are clearly within the Oakland city council guidelines for cultivation of medical cannabis. This is certainly a huge mistake on the part of the Oakland police, as they recognize immediately valid medical recommendations, and growers' certificates issued by the cannabis clubs.The Oakland police so far have been very understanding about the cultivation and use of medical cannabis. Let's hope they learn quickly to leave medical marijuana gardens alone, so the medicine can get to the people who are in need. 
http://www.kubby.com/AMMA.html
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