Mendocino County Pot Growing Measure Nears Vote

POSTED: 12:29 pm PDT May 31, 2008

WILLITS, Calif. -- Opponents say they, too, want to evict large-scale, criminal operators. But they say Measure B won't address that issue and will instead go after the people who need medical marijuana.Voters in this rugged stretch of Northern California took marijuana laws to new heights in 2000, allowing residents to grow up to 25 marijuana plants for medical, recreational or personal use.

But eight years later, some are campaigning to scale back the law, saying it's time to weed out pot profiteers. "We want to take that welcome mat away," said Ross Liberty, spokesman for Measure B, which goes before Mendocino County voters Tuesday. "What (Measure) B does is redefines who gets arrested and the 'who' will be medical patients that are growing more than six plants," said Laura Hamburg, who became active in the No on B campaign after her medical marijuana garden was raided.

The issue offers a glimpse into the murky world of medical marijuana in California, legal under state law, banned by the feds, and according to some reports, bringing some serious green into the Golden State. Using marijuana for medical purposes has been legal in California since 1996, when voters passed Proposition 215. But that law had only a sketchy mechanism for how marijuana would be produced and dispensed. State lawmakers subsequently allowed counties to issue ID cards to protect medical users from being prosecuted by local authorities. Each cardholder is allowed to have up to a half pound of dried marijuana or six mature marijuana plants, although local governments can set laws exceeding the state's limits. Meanwhile, federal authorities, who never recognized Proposition 215 and deny that marijuana has medicinal properties, have won a number of legal showdowns over the measure.

In 2000, Mendocino County voters approved Measure G, which had a 25-plant limit and permitted personal and recreational use, the latter a symbolic gesture since neither state nor federal laws allow personal pot use. The new law, Measure B, would repeal Measure G and set plant limits at state levels. (It's not entirely clear what that will mean since state guidelines are at issue in a Southern California court case.

The No on B side interprets the case as undermining Measure B. The Yes side disagrees, noting the case is under appeal.) Sheriff Tom Allman says the problem with Measure G is it gave the impression marijuana had been legalized in Mendocino County. "There's this perception that we're just a bunch of Cheech and Chong marijuana growers up here," Allman said. Blessed by ancient redwood groves and bordered by a breathtakingly beautiful coast, Mendocino County has long also been famous as a source of high-grade pot.

Estimates on how much money is generated by marijuana in Mendocino County and statewide vary; officials say it's hard to come up with a definite total since so much of the industry is undercover. Figures from the state's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) show more than 220,000 plants were seized in Mendocino County last year, up from about 136,000 the year before. Statewide, CAMP reported seizures of 2.9 million plants with an estimated wholesale value of $11.6 billion.

Hamburg, the daughter of former Rep. Dan Hamburg, grows medical marijuana for herself, her mother and her sister as well as a neighbor. She was raided last year by deputies who said they found an excessive number of plants. The charges were later dropped, leaving Hamburg determined to "work as hard as I could, as much as I could, so that no one would have to experience what I went through, which was devastating." Hamburg says there's no correlation between state seizure figures and county plant limits, pointing out that CAMP stats show Mendocino County ranked fourth in 2007 seizures. No. 1 was sparsely populated Lake County, which follows the state minimum of six plants, with nearly 483,000 plants seized. She argues that it's not Measure G that spurs marijuana growth in Mendocino County but its climate, topography and the institutional knowledge gleaned from decades of marijuana farming.

But Allman and others say cannabis became a lot less covert here after Measure G passed.
"It's in your face bad," said Allman.

These days, residents complain they can't sit in their backyards because the smell of the next-door marijuana patch is so strong, the sheriff said. In August, said Liberty, "it smells like pot everywhere. It just reeks." On the other side of the Measure B issue are George and Jean Hanamoto. Lavender and other carefully tended shrubs bloom in their attractive front garden on a wooded hillside in Mendocino County. And in the back yard are their marijuana plants, their characteristically spear-tipped leaves turned to the sky. Hanamoto, who is 74 and uses marijuana to relieve glaucoma and for back pain, said cutting plant limits to six would hurt people like him because growing conditions mean he can't always get the maximum out of each plant. Allman says the Hanamotos aren't the kind of people he'll be sending deputies after. He said he will continue to concentrate on large operations. Beyond that, "I want the rest of the state and possibly the nation to say, `Wow, we can't do whatever we want in Mendocino County,"' he said. But the Hanamotos aren't won over by arguments that Measure B will deter criminal operators. "The laws are there already," said Jean Hanamoto. "This is just to squash the little guy."

Copyright 2008 by KTVU.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.

3 held in pot seizure

Ukiah Daily Journal Staff

Article Last Updated: 05/31/2008 08:47:14 AM PDT

The Daily Journal

Three Mendocino County men were arrested and one cited Thursday afternoon after a search of two homes in Redwood Valley revealed 400 growing marijuana plants, according to Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reports.

At 12:20 p.m. Thursday, Sheriff's Deputy Tim Goss drove to a home in the 9000 block of East Road on a complaint from neighbors about a marijuana grow.

According to sheriff's reports, Goss talked to the people living in the house, who told him they were growing marijuana but would not allow Goss into the house to check on their compliance with medical marijuana laws.

Goss got a search warrant for the property and found two houses, one of which had been converted completely into a grow room, according to sheriff's reports.

Deputies found 100 plants on the property as well as evidence of other plants that had been recently removed. Further investigation led officers to a second house on Webb Ranch Road, where deputies found 300 growing marijuana plants as well as drying marijuana.

Aaron Alirez, 21, of Redwood Valley, David Coons, 21, of Willits, and Jason Dominguez, 29, of Redwood Valley, were all arrested on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and providing a place for the manufacture of marijuana and were booked into jail on a $30,000 bond each.

John Rule, 49, of Willits, was cited on the same charges and released at the scene.

National Forest Visitors Advised To Watch Out For Illegal Marijuana Gardens

News Release

US Forest Service
Mendocino National Forest

Public Affairs Officer
Phebe Brown
Phone: (530) 934-1137
Fax: (530) 934-7384
Email: pybrown@fs.fed.us

Willows, May 13, 2008 - Nearly a quarter million illegal marijuana plants were seized on the Mendocino National Forest last year and the prime growing period is now beginning, prompting national forest officials to advise the public to be especially vigilant when visiting the forest.

"We want the public to be aware that this illegal activity and occupation is taking place if they encounter marijuana gardens on the national forest," Tom Contreras, Forest Supervisor, said.

Illegal marijuana growing is an increasing problem on public lands in California. National Forest System lands are becoming increasingly used for growing and harvesting illegal marijuana gardens and these operations can potentially present a safety hazard to forest visitors and employees.

Most of the marijuana gardens are in remote locations. The national forest has vast and mostly uninhabited lands with many areas of rich, fertile soil and a climate that provides the necessary conditions for growing marijuana. Plants are put into the ground between May and June and harvested in late September through November.

"If a private citizen comes upon something suspicious, don't enter the area; just leave and notify local law enforcement authorities immediately," Julie Lombard, Forest Service Law Enforcement Patrol Captain, advised. "Do not enter any garden area."

Last year, law enforcement personnel seized 220,359 marijuana plants from the Mendocino National Forest. In 2006 the law enforcement team eradicated 405,399 marijuana plants from 55 illegal marijuana sites on the forest. More marijuana was taken by this team than any other group anywhere in the Forest Service in 2006.

In addition to the criminal activity associated with the marijuana gardens, there is substantial environmental degradation caused by the illegal growers. Herbicides and pesticides used to remove competing vegetation and gnawing rodents (which are a food source for the northern spotted owls), human waste and garbage, all end up in rivers after winter rains. Also, the irrigation systems dewater small streams needed by fish, and compacts the soil in the gardens, leading to erosion.

The typical marijuana garden has changed from the late 1980s and early 90s. During that time the typical operation had 100 to 1,000 plants. These days, operations are far larger, ranging in size from 1,000 to 30,000 plants, or more. The larger growing operations often have armed individuals tending the gardens, Lombard said.

"Most of the increase can be attributed to the proliferation of foreign Drug Trafficking Organizations," Lombard said.

Forest Service law enforcement officers work with County Sheriff's Departments, California National Guard, and Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) teams. Headed by the Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, CAMP teams were created in 1983 for the primary purpose of eradicating illegal marijuana from public lands in California.

Growers can live in the Forest near these sites for months at a time. Officers have come across these illegal camps with exercise facilities, tree houses, barbed wire fences and numerous firearms, Lombard said. These camps often contain cooking and sleeping areas which are within view of the cultivation site. Some camps have tents, hammocks and sleeping bags on the ground and have been found with large overhanging tarps as cover for the entire campsite.

There are some things to watch for which may indicate marijuana is being grown in an area. They can include:

• Isolated tents in the forest where no recreational activity is present.
• The utilization of trailers with no evidence of recreational activities.
• A pattern of vehicular traffic or a particular vehicle seen in the same isolated area on a regular basis.
• Unusual structures located in remote forested areas, with buckets, garden tools, fertilizer bags, etc.
• Signs of cultivation or soil disturbance in unlikely areas.
• Black piping and trash scattered in forested areas.

For additional information or to notify law enforcement authorities of a suspected garden area in the Mendocino National Forest, please contact Forest Service Law Enforcement at (530) 934-3316.

Just a house in the hills - until the raid

Friday, May 30, 2008

(05-30) 04:00 PDT Calpella, - -- Mendocino CountyThe house looked like any other in the hills overlooking Lake Mendocino: neatly painted blue walls, a redwood deck spreading into a yard of raked dirt and stones, a tidy shed to the side of the driveway.

Then the 12-man major crimes task force kicked in the doors one day earlier this month at twilight, screaming, "Police Department, search warrant!" And it became clear this was no house for living.

It had been gutted and transformed into an indoor farm for at least 270 marijuana plants.

Ranging from 1 to 5 feet high, the plants were arrayed throughout the house beneath 27 heat lamps. A wall-size display of 130-watt fans and air-conditioning engines blasted cold air through hundreds of feet of piping to keep the temperature at 71.4 degrees.

And that didn't count the trailer a few hundred feet up the hill, where a similar arrangement nurtured 250 small starter plants. Or the 50-kilowatt diesel generator in that tidy shed fitted with hidden, insulated walls to muffle its around-the-clock roar.

All told, arresting officers estimated it must have cost at least $100,000 to set up the house. The pot had an estimated street value of at least $1 million.

"Pretty typical for what we see around here," said Robert Nishiyama, commander of the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force, as he surveyed the operation. "It's not really that big."

Authorities destroyed a record 333,000 plants in Mendocino County last year, 100,000 more than the previous year.

Nishiyama and his team hit an operation like this about three times a week. Nishiyama, a special agent with the state Department of Justice, estimates that even if local law enforcement ran raids every day, they would still only get a fraction of the market - and they now seize less than 20 percent.

"It's everywhere," he said. "We don't even bother with the small stuff."

At the raided house, 35-year-old Jason Smith sat morosely on the deck steps, hands cuffed behind his back. He was the only one at the house when it was raided.

"I'm not at liberty to talk about this," he said, gazing up at the deputy guarding him. His eyes hardened.

"I will say this, though," Smith said. "We kill people in other countries for oil, we have pharmaceutical companies abusing people for billions of dollars - and then you have a naturally growing herb that can be used for medicine.

"It doesn't make sense to criminalize it," he said. "No sense at all."

Since local pot regulations were relaxed in 2000, Mendocino County pot cultivation has exploded to new highs - and with it have come new headaches.

Police say there has been a proliferation of home invasion robberies, which they blame on drug dealers ripping off pot growers. In 2000, authorities countywide recorded 1,100 pot-related criminal offenses; last year there were 1,500. Fire officials estimate 40 percent of structure fires are now ignited by super-hot indoor pot-growing lights.

"A decade ago, marijuana was really only grown in the hills," said Ukiah Police Chief Chris Dewey. "Now it's everywhere. We've been arresting growers who came here from Florida, New York, Texas, Chicago - you name it. People are fed up."

-Kevin Fagan

Authorities raid two houses north of Ukiah, Calif., on Wednesday, May 14, 2008, seizing hundreds of marijuana plants and growing equipment worth nearly 100.000. Daily raids are part of the background as Mendocino County residents prepare to decide on controversial Measure B, a proposal to outlaw the growing of more than six medicinal marijuana plants.

Photo by Kim Komenich / San Francisco Chronicle

Pot is burning issue on Mendocino ballot

Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, May 30, 2008

(05-30) 04:00 PDT Mendocino County - --

Marijuana is so ubiquitous here that everyone, from schoolteachers to kids, can tell you when a sinsemilla bud is ripe. From late summer to fall, the county reeks with the skunk-like stench of ready-to-harvest weed. The annual $1.5 billion pot crop constitutes two-thirds of Mendocino County's entire economy.

"You tell people from other parts of the country that folks grow pot all over town, and they think this is just a freak show here," said Ross Liberty, who owns a welding shop in Ukiah. "They're not far off."

Earlier this year, Liberty and others who used to be benign about the issue decided enough was enough. They put Measure B on Tuesday's ballot to repeal the nation's most liberal rules for growing pot, which for eight years have allowed anyone to grow up to 25 plants for personal use. If Measure B is approved by a majority vote, the per-person limit will revert to the statewide limit of six plants.

But then there's the other side.

Opponents of Measure B call it a meat-ax approach to an emotionally volatile issue and say that going after the weed in Mendocino's backyards and spare rooms is wrongheaded at best, cruel at worst. What is really needed, they argue, is a better effort to eradicate large-scale plantations that are hidden in the heavily forested mountains and are guarded by thugs toting assault rifles.

The anti-measure forces are led by an ex-congressman's daughter who was busted and later cleared for growing a medical pot garden.

"We need to harness this gigantic industry, not try to kill it," said Laura Hamburg, whose arrest last fall so infuriated her that she decided to head up the anti-Measure B push. "There's this caricature about this county that we're all hippies sitting around smoking joints, but that's the last thing from reality. Medical users truly need this plant."

The homegrown weed in most of those yards and rooms is medicine to be used by those who grow it, Hamburg said, or sold to the 400 medicinal marijuana clinics in San Francisco, Berkeley and the rest of the state. These grow-farms are not the problem, she insisted - flashy out-of-towners are.

Advocates disagree

But that's a key assertion with which Measure B advocates vehemently disagree. And to illustrate how bad they think neighborhood pot farms have become, they point to a 2004 incident in Ukiah.

That's when a would-be robber leaped the fence of Larry Puterbaugh's back yard and shot and wounded his neighbor, Memo Parker. The man was trying to steal from Parker's pot farm, police said. Puterbaugh had already complained for years about the stench from the hundreds of pot plants over his back fence - but even after the shooting, police did nothing about it. Parker had doctor-signed cards authorizing medicinal growth on the farm.

Parker later pleaded no contest to cultivating too many plants in a separate case. But in 2004, all Puterbaugh could do was fume.

"That's when I began thinking we have to do something," Puterbaugh said. "Why should we be scared in our own neighborhoods, in a quiet town like this?

Measure B backers date the genesis of their troubles to 2000, when 58 percent of the county's voters passed Measure G, which allowed anyone to grow as many as 25 marijuana plants for personal use - far exceeding the state guideline of six plants per person for medicinal use only.

The "personal use" reference, in practice, has meant growing for medical use - but the kicker for critics was that each lot of 25 plants required only a doctor-signed permission card saying the grower would use the pot or that the grower was cultivating it for another patient. Some houses began displaying as many as 12 cards, leading to complaints that the new rule was allowing people to grow commercially for cash, not medicine.

"It's like we kicked the door open and said to the rest of the nation, 'Come on in and grow pot!' " said Mike Sweeney, an environmental activist who is helping direct the Measure B campaign. "Now, what we want to do is slam that door shut. We want people around the country to know that Mendocino has changed its ways."

One who answered Mendocino's siren call is Ukiah Setiva Morrison. After hearing in North Carolina about the area's legendary pot leniency, he changed his name from Ronald Matthews and, in 2005, moved to Ukiah to run a short-lived church called the Hemp Plus Ministry.

"I really believe that cannabis isn't bad for you - stupidity is bad," he said, standing in his garden of 11 outdoor plants in Redwood Valley. Now he is running for county supervisor.

Measure B's proponents and opponents agree on one thing: the necessity for a prohibition on large pot farming operations, some of which sport as many as 500 plants, no matter where they are.

But as for crimping everything back to a six-plant limit? A popular local T-shirt speaks for Measure B opponents. "Let It Grow," it reads below a jaunty pot-leaf drawing.

Hamburg points to her own 39 plants - which were ripped out by police last fall - as an example. They were used as medicine for an intestinal condition as well as for her cancer-survivor mother and two others, and she had doctor-signed growing cards to justify the garden - which the search warrant didn't note, an omission that led a judge to throw out the case in March. It was a typical-size "grow" for the county.

However, Hamburg's political profile was anything but typical, and she thinks that's why she was targeted. Hamburg's father, former Democratic Rep. Dan Hamburg, helped lead the 2000 campaign that liberalized the county's pot laws, and she spearheaded the 2004 drive that passed the nation's first local ban on growing genetically altered food. Hamburg also worked as a reporter at The San Francisco Chronicle in 1997 and 1998.

"I wasn't going to be 'the pot girl,' leading this campaign, but that all changed when 11 deputies tore out my plants and locked me out of my own house," she said. "Now I just want to make sure that never happens to anyone else."

Legalize pot, they say

Hamburg and other Measure B opponents say that instead of limiting pot, Mendocino should be a beacon for the decades-old movement to legalize the $3,000-a-pound weed. The county's liberal guidelines are just that - guidelines tacitly respected by federal officials who still operate elsewhere under U.S. law banning pot of any quantity. But if it were legalized instead of demonized, Hamburg's group maintains, the economically struggling county could tax that $1.5 billion crop and become hugely prosperous.

"This whole fight is like Prohibition," said artist Catherine Magruder, a cancer survivor who says smoking pot erased the pain of chemotherapy. "You can't squish marijuana out of existence, it's too late. So why not figure out, together, how to make it work for all of us? And why not start that movement right here in Mendocino?"

Not surprisingly, considering how firmly pot culture is laced through this county, even Measure B proponents - who include virtually every elected or law enforcement official - say they support medicinal marijuana. The Board of Supervisors and many of those pushing for the rollback supported the lenient rules when they passed in 2000.

But now they say Hamburg and her backers - mainly patients, small-time growers, doctors, the San Francisco office of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law (NORML) and a former county prosecutor - are deluded.

"What really got to me was when I tried to hire some teenagers for my shop and they laughed at me," said Liberty. "They said they make so much money harvesting pot for growers that they don't need my $8-an-hour jobs.

"Look, they can make $30 an hour, and I see them driving $50,000, tricked-up trucks all over town," he said. "I can't compete with that. Nobody can. How in the world can we attract new business when the workforce just wants to grow or harvest pot?"

There's more at stake here than just local regulations.

"This is the only battle going on in the entire country about marijuana cultivation, and anyone who cares about this issue in the United States is watching it very closely," said Dale Gieringer, California director of NORML.

Lots of money

Marijuana has been a significant presence in this county since the 1970s. Though grapes are the big legal crop here, Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties are fabled as the "Emerald Triangle," considered by many to be the premier pot-growing region in the nation.

But at the same time, the area has an outdoorsy charm that draws not just environmental progressives but families hunting the kind of solitude that can be found only in a Rhode Island-sized county with 88,000 residents and four small incorporated communities. With the collapse of the local timber industry, poverty here is slightly worse than the state average, but the restored Victorians and tidy ranch houses in most towns and county roads reflect recovery more than despair.

The only immediate sign to outsiders that there's more going on here than simple rural living is the preponderance of shops selling pot-growing equipment and the occasional sign extolling the virtues of the herb. One of the first sights greeting drivers rolling into Ukiah is the Adopt-A-Highway sign proudly proclaiming cleanups by the "Medical Marijuana Patients Union."

"We definitely go our own way," said longtime resident Randy Bream, leaning against the till at his Mendocino Hobbies shop in Ukiah. "Look, I call myself a conservative, and I don't care who grows pot as long as they don't push it on me or my kids.

"What matters for me is that there are friendly people here. On Memorial Day, the city puts flags up and down the main street. All this fighting over pot? I wish they'd just hurry up and decide whether it's legal so we can stop talking about it."

Inside Uphill battle: Authorities say they manage to seize only 20 percent of Mendocino County's marijuana crop. A8

Info on B

For more information on Measure B:

Text of Measure B: www.yesonbcoalition.org/fullmeasureb.php.

E-mail Kevin Fagan at kfagan@sfchronicle.com.

Brooktrails greenbelt

By Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer

Article Launched: 05/30/2008 12:29:49 PM PDT

Click photo to enlarge

Brooktrails General Manager Mike Chapman surveys the greenbelt damage on... (The Willits News)

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Action was authorized by the Brooktrails Township Board of Directors May 27, to remove the fire hazard created when a resident on Primrose Drive allegedly cut down 37 prime Douglas fir trees in excess of 100 years old. Mitigation of the immediate fire hazard was expected to cost about $10,000. The board also authorized legal action against the resident for cutting the trees within the Brooktrails greenbelt and to recover the costs of the emergency mitigation. The greenbelt is a 2,500-acre forest area within and surrounding Brooktrails which is forbidden for development and managed as a park like refuge for wildlife and residents alike.

In April, neighbors on Primrose Drive called the Brooktrails Fire Department to report a neighbor was cutting large trees. When Fire Chief Daryl Schoeppner arrived at the residence on the 33000 block of Primrose Drive, he found the owner, Peter Godt with chainsaw in hand cutting down a nearly 150-year-old Douglas fir tree over 100-feet high. The owner said he needed more light for his garden, Schoeppner told the Brooktrails board. Godt purchased the home on 2.3 acres in June 2007. The water usage for the residence during much of the growing season was four times the amount typically used by other single-family residences in Brooktrails last year.

According to Brooktrails General Manager Mike Chapman, Godt's garden was apparently being grown within the Brooktrails greenbelt, including the deer resistant fence enclosure. Surveyors brought in by the township during the past weeks determined 15 of the 30 to 32 inch diameter trees were located within the greenbelt, 10 were located on a neighbor's property and 12 were on Godt's property.

The immediate hazard caused by the downed limbs and debris represent an extreme fire danger and must be mitigated before the summer fire season, says Schoeppner, which is the reason an emergency authorization for the removal was approved by the board.

Brooktrails property owners must obtain a tree-cutting permit before removing dead, dying or hazardous trees greater than 6 inches in diameter on their property. Owners may not remove healthy trees unless authorized by the township architect. Homeowners are never permitted to remove healthy trees from the Brooktrails greenbelt.

The Mendocino County sheriff's deputies were called to the incident and have forwarded the case to the Mendocino County district attorney's office, which has launched a supplemental investigation.

The downed trees represent more than 15,000 board feet of lumber and at average 2007 Douglas fir prices represented about $12,000 of timber. The trees were cut in a way, according to Chapman, that make them unusable for lumber. The lost wildlife habitat and impact on the watershed caused by the destruction of these ancient trees are immeasurable. A large tree removes about 50 pounds of carbon dioxide each year from the atmosphere.

Backlash against pot growing in Mendocino County prompts an item on Tuesday's ballot

By Eric Bailey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 31, 2008

Measure B - The measure would repeal a 2000 vote in the county that legalized 25-plant cannabis gardens for recreational users.

SACRAMENTO -- Back in 2000, Mendocino County became an epicenter of the marijuana movement after county voters legalized 25-plant cannabis gardens. High Times magazine, the bible of cannabis culture, celebrated the victory on its front page.

But now a backlash is underway in this liberal corner of California.

A measure on Tuesday's ballot seeks to repeal the 2000 decision, which went beyond California's medical marijuana law by legalizing cultivation even by recreational users.

Backers of Measure B say it's needed to reverse a trend that has brought unwanted crime, environmental trouble and cultural change.

Ross Liberty, a Measure B backer, talks of blocks with so many backyard gardens that the harvest would yield $1 million worth of pot. It is, he maintains, nothing short of a magnet for theft and home-invasion robberies.

Big grows can ruin the backwoods, where streams have been diverted to irrigate robust gardens and diesel fuel has leaked from flimsy tanks.

In town, the culture is far different from when Liberty was growing up here in the 1970s. Today, young entrepreneurs depend on weed to support a slacker lifestyle, "hanging around the house until noon in their slippers, making $150K a year, not paying taxes," he said. "It's nouveau welfare. Everyone is dependent on the marijuana economy."

Laura Hamburg, leader of the push against Measure B, says Liberty and the measure's other supporters are aiming at the wrong target.

The measure would open the door for law enforcement to crack down on small-scale growers -- most of them card-carrying medical marijuana patients -- while avoiding the tougher task of busting the massive backwoods gardens that have imported an unwanted criminal element, she contends.

But those big grows are tough to find and tougher to eradicate. When drug agents show up, the tenders flee. There are no assets to seize, no arrests to be made.

In contrast, a backyard garden or indoor grow operation is easy pickings. And those sorts of busts are increasing, along with the amount of property being seized by the county. In 2005, Mendocino County collected about $100,000 in seized assets from marijuana farmers. Last year, the total was $1.6 million, Hamburg said.

She says the county should accept its unusual cultural and climatic conditions and embrace its marijuana economy -- a $1.6-billion-a-year industry by some estimates.

Hamburg wants to see the county become a new model for how to tax and regulate pot gardens.

"Does it make sense to pretend this giant economy doesn't exist?" she asked, adding: "You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube."

eric.bailey@latimes.com

Marijuana 'grow houses' are creating problems in Arcata, California

By Tim Reiterman and Eric Bailey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
7:15 PM PDT, May 30, 2008

About $55,000 in damage was caused in this rental house in Arcata, Calif., where marijuana was being grown and a piece of equipment started a fire. The owner didn't know how the house was being used.

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Officials estimate as many as 1,000 of the 7,500 homes in town are used for pot, reducing housing stock and creating building-safety problems.

ARCATA -- LaVina Collenberg thought she had ideal tenants for her tidy ranch-style home on the outskirts of this university town nestled in the redwoods of the North Coast. Then the 74-year-old widow received an urgent call last September from a neighbor, who said firefighters had descended on the house she had rented to a pleasant young man from Wisconsin.

Collenberg found her charred and sooty rental filled with growing lights and three-foot-high marijuana plants. Seeds were germinating in the spa. Water from the growing operation had soaked through the carpeting and sub-flooring. Air vents had been cut into the new roof. A fan had fallen over, causing the fire.

"It was the first time I had been in a grow house," Collenberg said. "I had heard about them but never thought I had one. I was completely shocked."

Law enforcement officials estimate that as many as 1,000 of the 7,500 homes in this Humboldt County community are being used to cultivate marijuana, slashing into the housing stock, spreading building-safety problems and sowing neighborhood discord.

Indoor pot farms proliferated in recent years as California communities have implemented Proposition 215, the statewide medical marijuana measure passed overwhelmingly a dozen years ago. A backlash over the effects and abuses of legally sanctioned marijuana growing has emerged in some of the most liberal parts of the state.

For example, in neighboring Mendocino County, a measure on Tuesday's election ballot seeks to repeal a local proposition passed eight years ago that decriminalized cultivation of as many as 25 pot plants.

The experience of Arcata, a bastion of cannabis culture, reveals the unintended consequences of the 1996 Compassionate Use Act, designed to provide relief to AIDS patients, cancer victims and others.

"If the average citizen . . . could see what I see, they probably would vote against it now," Police Chief Randy Mendosa said of Proposition 215. "We are seeing large-scale grow operations where greedy people are taking huge amounts of affordable housing and are using entire houses to grow marijuana. The going rate is $3,000 a pound [wholesale] and they are selling it and making a huge amount of money."

State officials say such problems exist throughout the state, including Southern California, but are particularly prevalent in northwestern counties that have relatively liberal limits on possession and cultivation of medical marijuana.

"People who clearly are in it for profit see it as a loophole and have flooded into these areas from across California and the U.S.," said Kent Shaw, assistant chief of the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. "What comes along with it is criminal elements who want to come and steal marijuana," sometimes through home invasion robberies.

Medical marijuana advocates say problems have been isolated, and they question the validity of attempts to link crime to a medicine. "Law enforcement sensationalizes a lot of the issues around growing and dispensaries," said Kris Hermes of Americans For Safe Access.

A doctor's recommendation is required for a medical marijuana patient to use, grow or acquire cannabis. Activists estimate there are more than 200,000 patients statewide.

In Arcata's leafy neighborhoods, residents and officials say the telltale signs of grow houses are evident: No full-time dwellers, blacked-out windows, scruffy yards, comings and goings at night. Then there's the skunk-like odor of marijuana and the whirring fans and electricity meters that generate thousand-dollar monthly power bills.

So many houses have been converted into pot farms that the availability of student rentals has been reduced and the community's aura of marijuana is turning off some prospective students, said Humboldt State University President Rollin Richmond. "My own sense is that people are abusing Prop. 215 to allow them to use marijuana . . . as recreational drugs," he said.

Arcata Mayor Mark Wheetley said marijuana growing has become a quality-of-life issue in the town of 17,000. "People from all camps say enough is enough," he said. "It is like this renegade Wild West mentality . . . I think people want to see a greater level of control and oversight."

Mark Sailors, 37, a medical marijuana patient and caregiver who moved here from Baltimore, said the community is overreacting. "They claim to support 215, and do not want you to have access to medicine," he said. "It sounds like the older people . . . are afraid of the younger."

The largest of the city's four pot dispensaries is the Humboldt Cooperative, known as THC, the abbreviation for the psycho-active chemical component in marijuana. Officials say the nonprofit at a former auto dealership has 6,000 registered patients, 2,000 of whom are currently eligible to buy weed, and that it has paid roughly $500,000 in taxes over the last five years.

The dispensary grows marijuana in an on-site warehouse and buys additional pot from about 100 patients, the majority from outside Arcata, who do not need all they have grown under Prop. 215.

THC founder Dennis Turner said many residential growing operations amount to "full-on crime " and he said he would welcome more regulation for dispensaries, particularly to protect marijuana quality. "There are holes in this [Proposition 215] like a piece of Swiss cheese," he said.

The City Council recently issued a moratorium on new dispensaries downtown, on grounds that agriculture is not permitted there. New land-use guidelines also are in the works.

Officials say secretive marijuana operations in houses are their highest priority for increased regulation. They say they do not know how many people are violating the county's legal requirements limiting them to 100 square feet of leaf canopy and as many as 99 plants -- provisions that may be invalidated by a recent state appellate court decision.

Community development Director Larry Oetker said the city does not even know the locations of grow houses because growers tend not to get permits for electrical and plumbing work. Oetker said they fear prosecution by federal authorities who do not recognize the state's medical marijuana law. "The concern is . . . the federal government will use city records to go bust the people."

• 
  Photos: Pot growing is issue at ballot box
• 
  Map of Arcata

• Backlash against pot growing in Mendocino County prompts an item on Tuesday's ballot

Some growers have cut holes in floors so plants can go directly in the ground below, officials say. And many use jury-rigged wiring and extension cords that overload electrical circuits.

Arcata Fire Protection District Chief John McFarland says that most local structural fires involve marijuana cultivation -- and that after a fire starts, it often spreads quickly through holes cut for ducts, pipes and wires.

Wade DeLashmutt, a carpenter who had voted for Proposition 215, said he complained for many months about marijuana odors that hovered over his backyard after a man from Montana moved next door.

But the neighbor contended that it was medical marijuana. "He said, 'The voters of California said I could do this,' " DeLashmutt said.

In March, the county drug task force arrested the neighbor and another man after hundreds of marijuana plants, $12,000 and 27 pounds of processed pot were seized at the home and another in town.

Humboldt County Dist. Atty. Paul Gallegos said his office does not keep statistics on prosecutions for marijuana growing in Arcata. But Gallegos said he would prosecute any growers who posed a safety hazard to neighbors, a public nuisance or environmental harm.

"If you converted a house to grow dandelions, petunias and roses, my concerns would be the same," he said.

LaVina Collenberg wishes she had known that her friendly young renters from Wisconsin intended to turn her house into a marijuana-growing cooperative. Her insurance paid $55,000 to repair the damage from the fire and modifications.

The former tenant did not respond to calls seeking comment. Dr Ken Miller, who issued the tenant's medical marijuana recommendation, said he did not recall the patient.

A petition campaign dubbed "Nip It in the Bud" is asking the City Council to bar marijuana growing and dispensing from residential and public gathering areas.

The neighborhood ban is overdue, said 82-year-old Wilma Johnston.

"We are becoming a community of rentals for marijuana plants instead of people," she said.

tim.reiterman@latimes.com

eric.bailey@latimes.com

Six arrested in Ukiah marijuana raid

By BEN BROWN The Daily Journal

Article Last Updated: 05/30/2008 10:02:00 AM PDT

Six people, including a Ukiah Daily Journal reporter, were arrested Thursday in a multiple residence marijuana bust that netted close to 80 plants and 22 pounds of processed marijuana, according to the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force.

Nathan Wickleffe, Shannon Wickleffe, Terry Wickleffe, Kathy Wickleffe, Zack Sampsel and an unnamed sixth man, were all arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale, cultivation of marijuana for sale, maintaining a place for drug sales and conspiracy.

Officers searched the Tedford Avenue home rented by Shannon Wickleffe, daughter of Terry and Kathy Wickleffe, and her fiance, Sampsel Thursday afternoon and found 50 growing marijuana plants, said MMCTF Commander Bob Nishiyama.

Sampsel is a reporter for The Ukiah Daily Journal covering primarily features and city government.

"Journalists, whether at a small local newspaper like ours or at the New York Times, are held to a very high ethical standard - and not just about the stories they write. Any time that breaks down is very disappointing for those of us trying to do the best job we can," said Daily Journal Editor K.C. Meadows. "Given the information we have, I'd say this is another example of the extreme problem that the marijuana culture in this county presents to local employers."

Officers were led to the Tedford Avenue home through their investigation into Shannon Wickleffe's brother, Nathan Wickleffe, who they suspected of growing and selling marijuana, Nishiyama said.

Officers got search warrants for three residences connected to Nathan Wickleffe, one on North State Street and two on Observatory Avenue.

Officers searched all three residences and found evidence of indoor marijuana grows, including one apartment in the 200 block of Observatory that had been turned into a grow room. Officers also seized 24 marijuana plants and at least six pounds of marijuana.

Nathan Wickleffe was paying for the electricity on all three residences at a cost of around $2,000 per month at each home, Nishiyama said.

Further investigation led officers to a home on Fir Terrace owned by Nathan Wickleffe's parents, Terry and Kathy Wickleffe. Nishiyama said officers found 16 pounds of packaged marijuana in the house, as well as evidence of an extensive indoor marijuana grow.

"It is my belief that they were probably growing there for a couple of years," he said.

Nishiyama said Terry and Kathy Wickleffe were growing roughly five pounds of marijuana every 60 days.

"They keep one to two pounds and sell the other three," Nishiyama said.

He said the two were selling the marijuana for around $3,000 per pound.

Investigation there led officers to the Tedford Avenue address.

Shannon Wickleffe told officers that she and Sampsel were growing about two-and-a-half pounds of marijuana every two months, keeping around half-a-pound and selling the rest, Nishiyama said.

"They would sell it, either to the cannabis club in Talmage or in Lake County," he said.

All of the suspects claimed to have a medical recommendation for the marijuana they smoked, Nishiyama said; only Sampsel provided officers with a doctor's recommendation.

Nishiyama said it does not appear there was any "ringleader" managing all of the gardens but said everyone in the family appeared to know what was going on.

"It was a family thing," he said. "Everyone seemed to know who was doing what."

All of the suspects were arrested on the above listed charges and booked into the Mendocino County Jail.

Ben Brown can be reached at udjbb@pacific.net.

VOTE YES on Mendocino County - YES on B

Article Last Updated: 05/30/2008 08:29:18 AM PDT

To the Editor:

I have to comment on Measure B. I was driving past the courthouse today and observed the "happy hippies," smiling and purporting their No on B' position -- "lets all just smoke a little pot and get along."

I couldn't help but think that the image they are presenting couldn't be further from the truth. Nobody is really arguing about somebody's right to grow and smoke a little dope. Measure B provides for that. The real issue and problem that Measure B addresses is the incredibly high percentage of people who are here to grow dope and don't care about the environment, don't care about anybody's neighborhood, their property value or their personal belongings. They are here to just rape Mendocino County of anything it has to offer, take whatever they want, when they want it, without regard to anyone else.

Selfish, mean, wasteful and dangerous people -- and it's time to stand up and take our neighborhoods, our towns, and our county back! I urge everyone to vote yes on B. Anyone who is apathetic regarding this issue either has their head in the sand, or has the amazing luck of living in an area where nobody is growing dope... yet. We need legislation that gives law enforcement some backing and a court system that carries it through and we need it now. The fabric of our community can't take much more -- our youth, our safety, our beautiful corner of God's green earth will all be just a memory if we let this opportunity pass by. Yes on B!

Cathy Hoyt
Ukiah

Article Last Updated: 05/30/2008 08:29:16 AM PDT

To the Editor:

We all know by now that 25 plants is way beyond what a legitimate medical marijuana patient needs.

So. What happens to the excess marijuana? Do they donate it to San Francisco cooperatives out of the kindness of their hearts? I think probably some kind people do. At least I would like to think that and I wholeheartedly commend them for their service. Sadly, I believe this isn't the norm. Also, by now we know 25 plants is a highly lucrative amount. Marijuana grows huge in Mendocino County and people know how to grow it big indoors and out. Don't be fooled by "It depends on how good the grower is," etc. Most of those who sell their "excess" to these San Francisco cooperatives are making big bucks. When they are arrested for growing "just a few extra plants" their high-priced lawyer declares, "This is an outrage" and nobly says he'll defend his client pro bono. He predictably invokes Measure G for his defense. When commercial growers hide behind medical marijuana it is at the expense of legitimate medical marijuana patients and caregivers. This abuse of the well-intentioned Measure G is what may well turn out to be its demise. Please vote Yes on Measure B.

Cathy Finigan
Ukiah

Article Last Updated: 05/30/2008 08:29:18 AM PDT

To the Editor:

June 3, voting date, is rapidly approaching. On the ballot is an extremely important measure for the citizens of Mendocino County -- Measure B. Measure B will repeal Measure G and set limits on the amount of marijuana that can be produced in the county. I have faith that the sane and responsible citizens of Mendocino County will examine Measure B and see that it is good for the county and not bad as some would lead us to believe. You will vote yes on the measure.

The main objection to Measure B is that it will restrict the number of marijuana plants that can be grown and harm the medical marijuana patient. From the voter's pamphlet, in their argument against Measure B, the opponents of Measure B have written that Measure B will, "subject medical marijuana patients to arrest and prosecution on felony charges for growing more than six plants, forcing many seriously ill people into the criminal market to get their medicine." That is about the furthest stretch from the truth that you can get. From the same voter pamphlet in the section, "Full text on Measure B," subsection four, are remarks about Senate Bill 420. SB 420 sets the limit for the state as, "six mature plants or 12 immature plants per qualified patient's needs." This provision of law provided by SB 420 ensures protection for the medical marijuana patient and ensures that the qualified patient will get enough marijuana for their medical needs.

The opponents of Measure B would like for you to believe their fabrication over the provision of law provided by Senate Bill 420. Which will you believe, the Senate Bill 420 or the fabrication made by the opponents to Measure B? What Measure B will do is reduce the immense tonnage of marijuana that is available in Mendocino County. Let us look at some more math and examine again the emperor's new clothes and the naked truth about marijuana produced in Mendocino County.

I don't know the actual number of qualified medical marijuana patients in Mendocino County. It is not unreasonable to believe that there may be as many as 1,000 individuals. The opponents of Measure B have defined them as, "seriously ill people." And with this definition, they appeal to your compassion to see things their way. And with this definition in mind and with our compassionate nature we will accept these 1,000 "seriously ill people" at their word. We will accept that they are the sickest people in the county and that they indeed require marijuana for their medical problems. Under current Measure G, these 1,000 sickest people in the county are entitled by law to grow 25 marijuana plants. Let us assume that these individuals are so sick that each one demands their full entitlement to grow their 25 plants. And we with our compassionate nature, under Measure G, are going to see that they grow them. According to the UDJ publication, law enforcement has stated that these marijuana plants can reach a huge size and produce as much as two pounds per plant. That means that each of these very sick people can demand and grow as much as 50 pounds of marijuana because they are so sick they require that much. Under Measure G, we believe them and allow them to grow that much because we are responsible, caring, compassionate fellow citizens. That means we allow 1,000 of the sickest people in the county to grow 50,000 pounds of marijuana (1,000 by 50 pounds per patient). That equals 25 tons of marijuana. We as responsible citizens, being compassionate, are than going to allow 1,000 of the most "seriously ill people" in the county to smoke or use 25 tons of marijuana. After all, they need it and we are going to let them smoke it this year and every year after this year. We are compassionate and we are going to see that they get it. How long are these sickest people in the county going to last when they smoke 25 tons of marijuana every year? And they do it with our blessing and encouragement. How much more compassionate can we get?

Linda Williams wrote an article published in the UDJ Dec. 26, 2007, "Examining Marijuana as Medicine." In that article, she reported the results of a Danish study previously reported August 2007. The Danish study reported, "smoking one joint causes the same lung disease as three to five tobacco cigarettes." If you equate this fact with the 1,000 sickest and "seriously ill people" smoking 25 tons of marijuana every year you come to a very serious and sobering conclusion. One thousand of the sickest people in this county would be smoking and causing the equivalent in lung disease as if they were smoking as much as 75 to 125 tons of tobacco every year. Can you imagine 1,000 of the sickest people in the county smoking as much as 125 tons of tobacco equivalent every year? and can you imagine how compassionate and enlightened we have become? All we have to do to continue being that compassionate is vote no on Measure B. If you have bought the arguments of the opponents of Measure B and are still persuaded to vote no on Measure B you will become the most compassionate soul on planet earth. But remember that if you are of that persuasion, you have not been led down a primrose path. You have been sucked down a bamboozle tube. And if you vote no on Measure B, you will not only be overly compassionate, you will have become bamboozled.

James R. Cruise, M.D.
Redwood Valley

Article Last Updated: 05/30/2008 08:29:19 AM PDT

To the Editor:

I am wondering how many residents of this county know that the medical marijuana growers are using up a great deal of our water. It takes two gallons of water for one plant per day and in the case of large mature plants it can go up to 15 gallons of water per day for one plant.

A law enforcement official has recently estimated that there are approximately 9,000 medical marijuana patients with doctor's recommendations that enable those people to grow marijuana for medical reasons.

These patients are allowed to grow 25 plants each, which means approximately 225,000 plants may be grown legally. At a minimum of two gallons of water per plant, per day (remember that the larger mature plants take more water) marijuana growers use at least 450,000 gallons of water to maintain their maximum number of plants per day. Multiply that by the typical growing time, which I was told (by a medical marijuana grower friend of mine) is roughly two months and the result is 27 million gallons of water being used by the 9000 growers in a season.

Recently, there have been more news stories about water, or, more accurately, the lack of it. I have seen "water situation," "water problem," and "water crisis" used. I would suspect that the residents of Redwood Valley would agree with the last term, since they had to make drastic cuts in their water usage last summer and fall. They would have had more water available to them if there were not so much marijuana being grown.

While it is true that this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as total marijuana growing and water usage in our county is concerned, it should be clear that passing Measure B will lower the amount of water being used for legal cultivation and leave more for growing of fruits and vegetables, flowers, everyday cleaning and personal hygiene, as well as environmental concerns, such as the destruction of salmon habitat and of native plants.

Roughly 10 percent of our county's residents may have the right to grow marijuana for medicinal reasons, but that does not mean that they should be able to deplete the water resources for the other 90 percent.

Vicki Blackburn
Ukiah

Groups express "outrage" at phony slate mailers that imply endorsement of No on Measure B

NEWS RELEASE - YES ON B COALITION-- YesOnB@pacific.net
May 29, 2008

Leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties and a top law enforcement official issued an unusual joint statement today denouncing the No on Measure B campaign's use of phony slate mailers that imply that their groups have taken a position opposing the ballot measure on marijuana.

The 3 slate mailers, which masquerade as official endorsements when they are not, were received by Mendocino County voters during the past week. Unless the voter reads tiny print, the mailers appear that they were sent by the official Democratic party, Republican party, and a "COPS" organization of law enforcement.

The joint statement reads as follows:

We are outraged that the No on Measure campaign has purchased space on slate mailers that masquerade as official publications of recognized organizations. These mailers are a deliberate attempt to fool the voters. The voters need to know that these slate mailers are paid political advertising and do not represent the position of any official group.

The "Cops Voter Guide" does not reflect the position of law enforcement. Every law enforcement leader in Mendocino County has endorsed "YES on Measure B."

The "Republican California Voter Guide" does not reflect the position of the local Mendocino County Republican Central Committee which has endorsed "YES on Measure B."

The "Voter Information Guide for Democrats" does not reflect the position of the local Mendocino County Democratic Central Committee which has not taken a position on Measure B, but has sent out an "Official Mendocino County Democratic Voter Guide."

Signed:

Chris Dewey, Police Chief, City of Ukiah
Margie Handley, California Republican Central Committee
Jim Mastin, Chair, Mendocino County Democratic Central Committee

Each of the signers made additional comments.

Police Chief Chris Dewey said: "Every police chief in the county, the District Attorney, the Sheriff, the Highway Patrol Commander, the Ukiah Police Officers Association and the Deputy Sheriffs Association endorse Measure B. I am not aware of anyone working in law enforcement who is opposed."

Republican Margie Handley said: "It is outrageous that anyone would try to imply that the Republican Party is opposed to Measure B. In fact, the Mendocino County Republican Central Committee has endorsed "YES" on Measure B."

Democrat Jim Mastin said: "It's election time and we want every voter to become informed on the issues and then vote their conscience. Local groups send out readily identifiable slate mailers that promote positions supported and endorsed by your neighbors and friends. Unfortunately it's also the season of the phony slate mailer. They are designed to deceive, misinform, remain anonymous and do it all for the highest bidder. We encourage you to listen to your local voices."

The phony Republican slate card endorsing No on B is titled "Attention: Republicans. Election Day Voting Guide" and features large quotes from major Republican figures like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Governor Pete Wilson. It was issued by California Voter Guide, 1954 W. Carson St., Torrance, CA 90501, (301) 787-6573

The phony Democratic slate card endorsing No on B is titled "Voter Information Guide for Democrats" and is issued by Voter Information Guide, 13701 Riverside Dr., #604, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.

The phony "COPS" slate card endorsing No on B is titled "COPS Voter Guide" and has two images of a police badge. It is issued by COPS Voter Guide, 705 E. Bidwell St. #370, Folsom, CA 95630.

Yes on B Coalition spokeman Ross Liberty said that his group had received many phone calls from confused voters who had been deceived by the paid mailers into thinking that police or the local Republican party or Democratic party were opposed to Measure B.

Liberty commented: "This is just a continuation of the campaign of intentional deception that we have seen from the beginning from the No on B campaign."

"They have lied about Measure B by saying it targets medical patients and won't do anything about the large growers. They misrepresented Sheriff Allman's position in a failed attempt to claim it would be a burden on law enforcement. Their supporters have filed bogus lawsuits and stolen our signs in an effort to prevent the voice of the people from being heard and they have bought space on every phony slate mailer out there. This has all been an effort to deceive and confuse the voters. But we believe the voters won't be fooled. They are fed up with the damage commercial marijuana growing is doing to our County and they know Measure B is the best solution available," said Liberty.

Copies of the phony slate mailers can be faxed to interested media upon request to YesOnB@pacific.net.

DON'T be fooled by More false information from No on B Campaign!!!! No on B tries to confuse voters

NEWS RELEASE - Yes on B Coalition

May 28, 2008

The detractors of Measure B are making one last ditch effort to spread false information about the ballot initiative on marijuana.

"The last-minute claims by the No on Measure B campaign that Measure B is unconstitutional are absurd," said Yes on B Coalition spokesman Ross Liberty.

"The No on B group knows that the voters of Mendocino County are prepared to take a huge step to limit the negative effects of marijuana production," said Liberty. "The No on B campaign is desperate and they are grasping at straws to try to confuse the voters."

"The recent appellate court decision, People v. Kelly, that is cited by the No on B group is being appealed by the Attorney General to the State Supreme Court where it will likely be reversed or modified because it conflicts with previous Supreme Court decisions," said Liberty.

In particular, he cited the Supreme Court's finding in People v. Wright (2006) that upheld SB 420's approach to defining how much marijuana a medical patient can possess. Liberty pointed out that a major medical marijuana advocate, Joseph Elford, chief counsel of Oakland-based Americans for Safe Access, has said that the appeals court decision is inconsistent with People v. Wright. (see http://www.law.com/jsp/law/LawArticleFriendly.jsp?id=1202421668633)

"Regardless of how the courts and legislature set medical marijuana limits, Measure B simply says that Mendocino County's limits will be the same as the rest of the state instead of being vastly higher, as they are now. Measure B also repeals Measure G which told our law enforcement to make all marijuana laws the lowest priority," said Liberty.

"Repeal of Measure G, which made us a magnet for commercial growers, is the most important part of Measure B," according to Liberty.

The two parts of Measure B--repealing Measure G, and setting medical marijuana limits the same as the state--are "severable" under law, meaning that if either one was found illegal, the other part remains valid.

Liberty added, "For the No on B campaign to say that the appeals court decision makes Measure B unconstitutional is just silly. Since when is it unconstitutional for the voters to fix a mistake they made with Measure G by repealing it?"

"This is just a continuation of the campaign of intentional deception that we have seen from the beginning from the No on B campaign," asserted Liberty.

"They have lied about Measure B by saying it targets medical patients and won't do anything about the large growers.

They misrepresented Sheriff Allman's position in a failed attempt to claim it would be a burden on law enforcement. Their supporters have filed bogus lawsuits and stolen our signs in an effort to prevent the voice of the people from being heard and they have bought space on every phony slate mailer out there.

This has all been an effort to deceive and confuse the voters. But we believe the voters won't be fooled. They are fed up with the damage commercial marijuana growing is doing to our County and they know Measure B is the best solution available," said Liberty.

"We ask the voters to reject the desperate attempts of the No on B campaign and to pass Measure B by a large margin," urged Liberty.

353 and counting

Originally uploaded by YES on Mendocino County Measure B

"We believe most people in Mendocino County support our effort to limit the harmful impacts of commercial marijuana production.

"But where are all the Yes on B signs?

"They've been stolen. At last court, 352 Yes On B signs have been stolen or defaced, an attack on election free speech that's unprecedented in Mendocino County. In many cases a sign has been stolen four times from the same spot. Two people have been arrested for sign theft. It's been an organized activity--we've heard reports of a marijuana grower offering a bounty for every stolen sign.

"But while they can steal your sign, they can't steal your vote. Defend your right to be heard. Be sure to cast your vote."

Vote Yes on B

--Vote Yes on Measure B--
Send a message that other people have rights too, not just marijuana growers.

Overflight finds large pot grow

By Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer

Article Launched: 05/28/2008 11:44:25 AM PDT

Mendocino County sheriff's deputies flying over the wild area west of Arnold located a large sized marijuana grow on a remote area of Hawthorne Campbell Timber property. The discovery led to the arrest of a man from Michoacan, Mexico and the eradication more than 15,000 seedlings on May 12.

Members of the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team and agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency then hiked into the remote area north of Sherwood Summit to the gardens and seedling beds. When they arrived, they found several garden sites with 15,020 marijuana plants from 2 to 6 inches high growing in them. Officers discovered Felicinao Sota, 46, a Mexican national, at a nearby campsite. When questioned, Sota told officers there were two others assisting at the grow, but they could not be found. Sota was arrested on suspicion of cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale and remains in Mendocino County jail.

Marijuana, usable harvest

By Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer

Article Launched: 05/28/2008 11:43:53 AM PDT

How much usable marijuana is available from a single marijuana plant? Is it one pound, five pounds, 15 pounds or four ounces? One can likely make a case for any and all of these figures. It resembles the question, "How many tomatoes does a single tomato plant produce?" For tomatoes, like marijuana, the answer varies depending upon the variety, growing conditions, horticultural practices and harvesting techniques.

The usable quantity of marijuana is in part determined by the potency as measured by the amount of psychoactive agents within the finished product. Potency is effected by the moisture remaining after drying, what parts of the plant will be included as well as the variety, growing conditions, horticultural practices and harvest timing. While some plant varieties are grown specifically for their potency with the most psychoactive ingredient percentages topping out at more than 25 percent, most remain in the 10 to 20 percent range.

In addition to the advent of female-only clones, today's marijuana grower has an ever-increasing number of choices available to affect the outcome of the crop. The most dramatic difference between plants involves indoor versus outdoor growing habits. Given reasonable local growing conditions, outdoor plants will yield significantly more marijuana per single plant than indoor ones. Good growing conditions and well-suited cultivars for the area can grow enormous marijuana plants yielding 10 to 15 pounds of bud marijuana each, as shown in the large marijuana plant located by the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team several years ago. Mendocino County sheriff's deputies report seeing giant stands of this type more frequently in recent years as grows have moved more into the open to take advantage of full sun exposure as well as improved horticultural practices.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency uses an average dried weight of one pound of usable marijuana leaf and bud per mature plant based on yield studies conducted across 15 states in the 1990s, which at that time included the typical presence of 50 percent male plants. In controlled grow studies in Mississippi, the DEA concluded female plants could readily yield five pounds of usable bud and leaf material. The DEA found providing more room for the growing plants increased the yield and plants receiving more water and nutrients were bigger. The DEA plants yielding five pounds of dried bud and leaf were about 8 feet high and 8 feet in diameter with 50 square feet of canopy each. The DEA concluded diameter was one of the best predictors of finished yield.

In 2004, Humboldt County adopted a medical marijuana ordinance establishing a maximum mature female marijuana plant canopy standard of 100 square feet rather than a plant limit. The ordinance determined 100 square feet of marijuana plantings would typically "yield three pounds of dried and processed cannabis bud per year." The county set the three-pound limit as "a reasonable amount for medical marijuana patients to cultivate, possess and consume."

When assessing yields from indoor grows, horticultural practices vary so much it is difficult to determine an average yield per plant. While plants in typical indoor grows seldom exceed four foot in height, a Laytonville indoor grow in September 2007 had 104 plants each between 10 and 15 feet tall when raided.

Most in the industry use area rather than plant numbers for determining indoor grow yields with grows primarily limited by the amount of light available to the plants. Since little light penetrates more than a few feet into the plant, there are few benefits associated with growing tall indoor plants. This leads many growers to opt for bunches of smaller plants. For indoor plant yield, horticultural practices including the number of crops per year coupled with plant selection are the major factor.

The district attorney in Humboldt County issued separate guidelines for medical marijuana indoor grows maintaining the 100 square foot maximum canopy limit established for outdoor grows but adding a maximum 99 plant limit (including starts) and a maximum light source of 1.5 kilowatts.

Most indoor growers strive to get the maximum marijuana yield possible from the high costs of generated or purchased electricity used for the grow cycle. The more sophisticated grower can also reduce the cycle time between crops with hydroponic techniques and improve yields with light spacing and selection, managing disease, optimizing water and nutrient uptake, carbon dioxide augmentation, dehumidification and plant selection.

While there is no particular standard for the number of plants each light can support, most agree about 40 watts per square foot is desirable for rapid plant growth. Several grow sources suggest a reasonable target for an intermediate grower of one pound of bud for each kilowatt of lighting used per grow cycle. Four annual grow cycles are typical with as many as six cycles achievable with hydroponics, excellent light management and good plant selection. At the local cost for electricity of about $.16 per kilowatt, the monthly electricity cost to power a one-kilowatt lamp is about $80 (based on 16 hour per day light usage).

Current medical marijuana limits

California wide limit: Possession of half pound of dried marijuana, six mature plants or 12 immature plants. Most counties use this limit. These limits apply in 49 of the 58 California counties.

Current Mendocino County limit: two pounds of dried marijuana and 25 adult female plants.

Humboldt, Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties permit three pounds of dried marijuana and 100 square feet of growing plants. Del Norte County allows one pound of dried pot with 99 plants and 100 square foot limit. Butte County enforces the California plant limit but increases possession to one pound and Calaveras County to two pounds. Trinity County has a three-pound limit with 12 mature and 24 immature plants. San Francisco limits individual medical users to 24 plants in 25 square feet and a half pound of dried marijuana for dispensary gardens the limit increases to 99 plants and 100 square feet.

Cutline: Sheriff's Lt. Ron Welch standing next to a large marijuana specimen.

COMMET crew walking through a pot forest.

Kids will still get pot

Ukiah Daily Journal Staff

Article Last Updated: 05/28/2008 08:16:31 AM PDT

To the Editor:

Dear Measure B supporters,

We received your mailing. We applaud your bold truth telling in a community seized by greed. When our then 18-year-old announced he was tired of doing manual labor for $8 an hour and was going to take up marijuana cultivation we had to resort to our parent's old standby: "Over our dead bodies!"

We have just one concern. Can't young adults, preteens and grade school children still get high on the easily accessible marijuana that the state limits provide? In a community where cigarettes and alcohol are still controlled substances, why are we stopping at the eradication of commercial grows? Can't we figure out a way to protect our youth while providing medical marijuana to those who need it? Protecting our water supply would be wise too!

Arzi Jordan and Nori Scouras
Ukiah

Mendocino Voters Take Second Look At Pot Growing

POSTED: 8:34 pm PDT May 27, 2008

UPDATED: 12:15 am PDT May 28, 2008

UKIAH, Calif. -- Mendocino County voters are facing yet another showdown over marijuana. Measure B on next week's ballot would repeal large parts of an earlier voter-approved initiative that legalized small-scale marijuana growing.

While medical marijuana users say Mendocino's current law is humane, those supporting Measure B say pot cultivation is growing out of control.Mendocino County is known for its rugged natural beauty, lush redwood forests, rolling hills. But it is also known for widespread marijuana cultivation.

There is no debating the prevalence of marijuana in Mendocino County, but the debate on just how much folks can actually grow in the region is growing. This battle began back in 2000, when county voters approved Measure G which allowed individuals to have up to 25 pot plants for recreational and medicinal use.

Measure B on the June third ballot would essentially repeal Measure G. Under it anyone in Mendocino County caught growing pot without a medical marijuana prescription would be breaking the law. And, to conform with state law, the plant limit would drop from 25 to six.

Laura Hamburg is a former marijuana grower and a strong opponent of Measure B. She says marijuana is medicine and authorities should not interfere. "I am proud to have been growing organic marijuana for my mother who was bald as a baby going through chemotherapy and stage four cancer," says Hamburg.

Hamburg says if Measure B is approved it could force medical marijuana patients into the criminal market. She also says it would divert police resources to busting small family growers. "That small-time, law-abiding citizen will now be lining up with their hands behind their back ready to be arrested," claims Hamburg.

Ross Liberty is chairman of the Yes On B campaign and owner of a car parts factory in Ukiah.
Liberty says he's tired of seeing commercial pot growers come into his county, get rich and not pay taxes, while using the medical marijuana law as a cover.

"We have become the epicenter for marijuana cultivation in the country. A lot of bad apples have come into the county. You know, they don't grow marijuana despite the fact it's illegal; they grow marijuana because it's illegal," says Liberty.

17-year-old Marcos Arreguyn says he trims marijuana plants for growers. Why? He says it's hard to turn down $20-an-hour, a figure that's double what he makes sweeping a factory floor."Yeah, it's all about the money," says Arreguyn.74-year-old George Hanamoto sees the issue in his own way. He grows marijuana at home to help with his glaucoma and arthritis. "I have a lot of different ailments that it helps them all. I can't afford to buy it, so I have to grow my own," explains Hanamoto. "I think there are a lot of commercial growers who grow hundreds and hundreds of plants they don't even touch out there. They grow out there in the boonies; that's who they should go after, not us."

Right now, federal law does not recognize state and county marijuana ordinances.
Even so this hotly contested issue will be played out on June 3rd.

Video: Mike Mibach reports on Mendocino County
Voters Debating latest Pot-growing Initiative

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