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

Copyright 2008 by KTVU.com. All rights reserved.

No on B amends its financial statement

By BEN BROWN The Daily Journal

Article Last Updated: 04/20/2008 11:08:52 AM PDT

In an amended financial statement filed more than two weeks after the filing deadline, the No on Measure B Campaign is declaring more money collected, largely from sources outside the county.

According to the statement, the campaign raised $1,748 in March. The bulk of the money came as a $1,000 donation from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, located in San Francisco.

The campaign also received $500 from Dona Ruth Frank, of the Santa Rosa based medical marijuana advocacy group the Organic Cannabis Foundation.

The rest of the money came in the form of donations of less than $100, which are not required to be itemized on financial filing statements.

This brings the total money collected by those fighting Measure B to $2,548. The bulk of that money, $1,800, has been donated by NORML.

Proponents of the measure, the Yes on B Coalition, have raised more than four times as much money.

The largest single donation, at $3,900, came in the form of a loan from Duane Wells, the chairman of the Yes on B Coalition.

Other top contributors included Philip Dow, a civil engineer from Dow Associates; Lawrence Mailliard, owner of the Mailliard Ranch; and Pia Riva McIsaac, a ranch manager of Agriculture Industries Inc., who each gave $500.

Measure B, which was placed on the ballot by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors in January, would repeal Measure G and set medical marijuana limits in Mendocino County at the state limits of six mature or 12 immature plants and eight ounces of dried marijuana.

Measure G, which was passed by Mendocino County voters in 2000, instructed law enforcement to make the prosecution of marijuana gardens of 25 plants or fewer the lowest possible priority.

The election is scheduled for June 3.

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

No on Measure B Coalition files 19 days late; reveals 86% of money from out-of-county marijuana lobby

YES ON B COALITION
YesOnB@pacific.net - 759 S. State St. #114, Ukiah CA

NEWS RELEASE - April 16, 2008

In a campaign disclosure statement filed 19 days after the deadline, the No On Measure B Coalition reported $1748 in donations through March 17, 2008, with $1500 coming from out-of-county marijuna advocacy groups.
National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), 2215-R Market Street, San Francisco, is listed as contributing $1000 to the effort to block Measure B. Donna Ruth Frank of the Organic Cannabis Foundation, P.O. Box 14146, Santa Rosa, is listed as contributing $500.

The mandatory campaign disclosure form for the period ending March 17, 2008 was required under law to be filed with County Clerk Susan Ranochak by March 24, 2008. Failure to file timely disclosure is a misdemeanor under Government Code Section 91000, punishable by jail or a fine up to $10,000.

According to the County Clerk's office, county officials are currently considering whether to impose sanctions on the No On Measure B Coalition and its officers, chair Laura Hamburg and treasurer Tom Davenport.

"This violation is especially serious because we advised the No On Measure B Coalition of the disclosure rules in a letter on March 17, 2008," said Yes On B Coalition spokesman Ross Liberty. "We anticipated that outside pro-marijuana forces would interfere in this election and we wanted the public's right to know to be respected."

Another group opposed to Measure B, the Green Party Working Group, reported $800 in donations through March 17, all of it from NORML's California affiliate.

No on B "push poll" underway

Heavy spending by the No On Measure B side became clear in the past week when Mendocino County residents received "push poll" telephone calls from EMC-Edward McDonald Corporation asking a series of leading questions designed to stimulate anti-Measure B attitudes.

"Push polls" of this kind cost a minimum of $5,000 and possibly several times that much, according to professional campaign industry sources.

"We call on the No On Measure B Coalition to disclose who is paying for this obnoxious telephone poll and to reveal the script that the telephone solicitors are reading from," said Ross Liberty of the Yes On B Coalition. "We won't engage in a campaign tactic like a push-poll. All our money is going for forthright and open campaign information like mailers."

Liberty noted that the Yes On B Coalition issued a challenge to the No On B groups last month to refuse any outside funding. "It's obvious that they refused our proposal and are going to get every dollar they can from outside pro-marijuana forces to try to interfere in the decision of the people of Mendocino County," Liberty said.

Profits not a good reason

Ukiah Daily Journal Staff
Article Last Updated: 04/14/2008 08:44:23 AM PDT

To the Editor:

I have just read another letter to the UDJ touting marijuana because it swells the coffers of our local merchants. This view represents a prevalent attitude in our nation -- the notion that if something turns a profit it must be good. Sadly, the bottom line seems to be the only criterion our culture uses to evaluate anything.

I submit that profit should be the lowest item on the scale of criteria by which we judge. Suppose we were to make our choices by the following:

Do my actions preserve the beauty and natural resources of this special place where we live?

Do my actions benefit my fellow citizens -- especially the most vulnerable such as the elderly, the children, the needy?

Do my actions instill virtues such as altruism, unselfishness and compassion in our young people?

In my view, simply making a buck doesn't stand up to the measure of my responsibility to my fellow citizens.

Janet Freeman
Ukiah

Yes on B, No on B report finances

By BEN BROWN The Daily Journal

Article Last Updated: 04/13/2008 07:52:04 PM PDT

As the fight over medical marijuana plant limits in Mendocino County heats up, financial filings show Yes on B has been keeping its promise not to take money from outside the county and No on B has raised little money at all.

According to financial filing documents, the Green Party Working Group for No on Measure B has raised a total of $800 as of March 24.

That money has come from three separate donations from the California office of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

The lobbying organization made three donations, one of $300 and two of $250 each between Feb. 25 and March 14.

No on B has used that money to pay five people, Kenn Zendels, Marc LaBelle, David Cusack, David Gregory Sheridan and Gregory George Hancock, to circulate petitions, according to financial filings.

No on B has also hired Corrina B. Avila to work on its campaign.

During the same time frame, the Yes on B Coalition raised $10,900, mostly from small contributions.

Early in the campaign, the Yes on B Coalition said it would not be taking money from sources outside the county.

"This is our future at stake," said Yes on B Coalition Co-Chairman Duane Wells. "We shouldn't allow outside forces to dictate the choice of voters in Mendocino County." The largest single donation, at $3,900, came in the form of a loan from Wells.

Other top contributors included: Philip Dow, a civil engineer from Dow Associates; Lawrence Mailliard, owner of the Mailliard Ranch; and Pia Riva McIsaac, a ranch manager of Agriculture Industries Inc., who each gave $500.

Yes on B has also received money from Ukiah Unified School District teacher Larry Puterbaugh, Executive Director of the Mendocino Council of Governments Lisa Davey-Bates, CalFire Supervisor Michael Hamilton, Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Van Patten and City Councilman John McCowen in $100 and $200 amounts.

So far, the money raised has mostly paid for advertising and promotional materials for the campaign, including signs and mailers. The coalition's largest bills have been to Direct Image printing in Clearlake and the United States Postal Service.

Measure B, which was placed on the ballot by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors in January, would repeal Measure G and set medical marijuana limits in Mendocino County at the state limits of six mature or 12 immature plants and eight ounces of dried marijuana.

Measure G, which was passed by Mendocino County voters in 2000, instructed law enforcement to make the prosecution of marijuana gardens of 25 plants or fewer the lowest possible priority.

The election is scheduled for June 3.

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

NOTE: from Yes on Mendocino County Measure B- for full list see

Measure B

• View campaign statements

Mendometh

By Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer

Article Launched: 04/09/2008 11:23:23 AM PDT

When Brian Lofling shot and killed Jeanette Pinon and wounded Cathy Sanders on Main Street in Willits in November 2007, he was high on methamphetamines, according to the Mendocino County Coroner's Office.

Nearly all the methamphetamine consumed in Mendocino County is imported from Mexico, and much has been traded for marijuana. In a recent radio interview, an inmate described her trips taking weed to the Bay Area to trade for meth and bringing it back to Mendocino County for sale. Sheriff's deputies describe the extensive trading of "green for white" that goes on within the county, many times with the "Mexican Mafia" and outlaw motorcycle gangs.

When smoked or injected, both cocaine and meth users experience an intense pleasurable rush, followed by feelings of euphoria. Snorted cocaine and oral meth produce less of a rush and take longer to produce the euphoria. While cocaine's high typically dissipates within 30 minutes, a meth high may last hours.

"Chronic abuse of either methamphetamine or cocaine also can lead to psychotic behavior characterized by paranoia, hallucinations, mood disturbances and violence," according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Meth is also a known neurotoxin, damaging neurons in the brain that regulate serotonin and dopamine.

While it is impossible to determine how many Willits or Mendocino County residents are now using methamphetamine, in 2005-2006 the percentage of admissions primarily for meth use in county treatment programs had nearly doubled from 2001--to 33 percent of all abusers. Whether this represents an increase in abuse or just an increase in the patients being treated is unknown. Most (84 percent) were required to attend treatment programs by either the criminal justice system or the Department of Social Services.

Currently, nearly 80 percent of all meth in the country is imported from Mexico. Domestic production of meth dropped sharply since 2004, when bulk purchase of cold remedies used to produce meth was outlawed across the country. The number of U.S. drug labs seized by law enforcement has reflected this drop, with nearly 10,100 drug labs found in 2003 down to only 2,100 in 2007.

Meth remains inexpensive, at $50 or less per gram in the region.

Mexican drug-trafficking organizations revved up to keep meth supplied to the U.S. market in the face of falling domestic production, within one year quadrupling the import into Mexico of cold remedies suitable for cooking into meth. While Mexican authorities are attempting to curb the import of such materials, the cartels continue to show creativity in finding ways to supply the U.S. market.

On the world market, the raw materials needed to make meth are readily available and cost a fraction of the value of the finished product. Last spring, Mexican authorities raided the home of an alleged importer of Chinese cold remedies and netted $207 million in cash. This raid followed the seizure of a 19-ton shipment of illegal meth-making chemicals at a Mexican port. The ship carrying the chemicals left from Hong Kong, stopping in Long Beach before being seized in Mexico.

While the decline of local labs has reduced the environmental toll on the county, it has not reduced the presence of methamphetamines locally. By February 2007, 20 alleged Santa Rosa-area drug traffickers were indicted in federal court following a two-year investigation associated with meth distribution in Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties. During the course of that investigation, 35 pounds of meth were seized, along with 5,000 pounds of marijuana, 20,000 pot plants and $500,000 in cash.

On April 1, agents arrested four men and seized 29 pounds of meth, a pound of marijuana, cocaine and weapons in Sonoma County raids on a trucking company. Agents believe the group was distributing meth throughout Northern California.

In March, the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement arrested eight suspects allegedly involved with a Santa Rosa drug-distribution ring, which included a methamphetamine lab in Winton in Merced County. In this raid, officers seized 27 pounds of meth, 69 pounds of marijuana, hashish, cocaine and $45,000 in cash.

Two county pot raids net 1,500 plants

By BEN BROWN/The Daily Journal

Article Last Updated: 04/05/2008 08:40:26 AM PDT

A series of raids by federal law enforcement officers and sheriff's deputies from two counties resulted in the seizure Thursday of nearly 1,500 marijuana plants from five addresses in Willits and Santa Rosa.

Mendocino County sheriff's deputies working with officers from the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team, the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Task Force, the Willits Police Department and an investigator from the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office served search warrants on four addresses in Willits and one in Santa Rosa starting at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

From a home at 1581 East Hill Road, officers seized 940 marijuana plants and arrested Abraham Asbury, 31, of Willits.

At a home at 297 Holly St., officers seized 91 marijuana plants; at nearby 295 Holly St. officers seized an additional 214 marijuana plants as well as processed marijuana and a shotgun. These grows were believed to be under the control of Jonas Green, 27, and Amanda Ekstrand, 27, both of Willits, according to sheriff's reports.

At 25042 Robin Place, officers seized an additional 98 marijuana plants as well as $1,800 in cash and more processed marijuana, according to sheriff's reports. Green was arrested at this location.

In Santa Rosa, officers seized 119 plants and a handgun from a home at 5976 Yerba Buena Road. Randall Edwards, 53, and Susan Edwards, 57, both of Santa Rosa, were also found living at that home.

Evidence gathered from the scene indicated that Randall and Susan Edwards owned the homes on East Hill Road and Holly Street, according to sheriff's reports.

Charges of cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and maintaining a place to distribute a controlled substance have been filed with the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office against Asbury, Green, Ekstrand and the Edwards.

On the same day, sheriff's deputies arrested two men from Arizona after marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine was allegedly found in their car during a traffic stop.

According to sheriff's reports, Sheriff's Deputy Joey DeMarco stopped a car containing David Alexander Cygan, 50, and Whitman Cushing Lord, 48, both of Yuma, Ariz. that was southbound on Highway 101 near Leggett for a traffic violation at 11:23 p.m. Thursday.

The two men told DeMarco they had been visiting friends in Garberville and were driving back to Arizona. DeMarco smelled marijuana in their vehicle and searched it, according to sheriff's reports.

In the trunk DeMarco found 23 bags of processed marijuana containing a total of 24 pounds of processed marijuana, according to the report, which stated DeMarco also found two grams of methamphetamine and 1.6 grams of cocaine as well as drug paraphernalia.

Cygan and Lord were arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana for sale, transportation of marijuana for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia and booked into the Mendocino County Jail.

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

Meth-pot link interesting

To the Editor:

I would like to thank the female (recently released from county jail) panel member who honestly answered the question asked by KZYX Access Program radio host, Norman DeVall in a live interview on March 7, with Sheriff Tom Allman.

In response to a caller’s statement that “marijuana funds meth labs,” DeVall asked Sheriff Allman “have you found an interconnectedness?”

The female panel member spoke up and said, “the connections I’ve seen with methamphetamine and marijuana is about five years ago or so I was doing runs down to the city with pounds of weed to trade straight across for methamphetamine that I was bringing back, so to say ‘yes’ it does fund some of the methamphetamines that are coming into this county. Because to trade straight across I mean, we’re bringing huge amounts back for no cash. We are just growing weed and trading it.” Allman clarified, “I understand that, now you’re not talking about trading a pound of green for a pound of white?”

Another inmate panel member answers “No way.”

Female panel member “no, it’s equaled out though, to the cash value.”

I find it very telling that the female panel member is stating that she “transported marijuana to the city to trade” as opposed to just trading marijuana for methamphetamine within our county. This leads me to the conclusion that “for profit” marijuana growers are producing huge quantities of marijuana “to trade” for methamphetamine, which is “allegedly” the greatest concern in Mendocino County.

When we open the door to “commercial” marijuana growing we are not choosing marijuana over methamphetamine -- we are choosing both.

E. Koski
Redwood Valley

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/frontpage
March 17th, 2008

Probation search finds Brooktrails grow

By Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/14/2008 12:22:10 PM PDT

Mendocino County sheriff's deputies searching the Brooktrails Birch Terrace home of Jimmy Leroy Dykes, 37, as part of the terms of his probation on January 16, located an indoor grow room with 43 marijuana plants from 1 to 4 feet in height and $14,000 in cash.

The deputies forwarded the case to the Mendocino County District Attorney for action. On March 6, Dykes was arrested on suspicion of cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale.

BREAKING NEWS: Three sought in Redwood Valley pot robbery

Ukiah Daily Journal Staff
Article Last Updated: 03/11/2008 03:40:41 PM PDT

The Daily Journal

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office is looking for three Hispanic males who are alleged to have robbed a man of several pounds of marijuana and $100 at his Redwood Valley home Tuesday morning.

According to sheriff's reports, the three men entered a home in the 1700 block of Daniel Drive in Redwood Valley at around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and held the 61-year-old man who lived there at gunpoint.

The victim was trimming marijuana plants when the suspects entered, according to sheriff's report. The suspects allegedly tied the man's hands behind his back and stole several pounds of marijuana from the home as well a $100 in cash from the victim's wallet.

The suspects fled the home in a red sedan that is believed to have been either a Nissan or a Toyota. Sheriff's deputies are currently looking for the suspects and the case remains under investigation.

More pot busts

By Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer
Article Launched: 02/27/2008 11:51:36 AM PST

"We are going to continue to go after large commercial growers," said Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman when asked about the number of recent pot busts in the north county.

Two Willits area residents are in custody following a search of their Blackhawk Road residence by the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force. The search reportedly found 134 mature plants, five pounds of processed bud marijuana, 5.7 grams of methamphetamine, $5,000 in cash, a vial of liquid LSD, psilocybin mushrooms and 2 firearms.

Kimberly Dawn Lansing, 36, of Willits, was arrested on suspicion of possession and cultivation of marijuana for sale and carrying a concealed weapon.

Scott Steven Selzer, 37, of Willits, was arrested on suspicion of cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale, being armed during the commission of a felony and possession of a controlled substance.

Former Willits resident Robert Archie Winiger, 49, of Ukiah was arrested on February 11 following the search of his Ukiah home where the MMCTF reportedly found more than $10,000 in cash, 7 pounds of processed bud, 771 plants and three firearms in an indoor marijuana grow. Winiger was arrested on suspicion of cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale and possession of a firearm in commission of a felony.

Indoor grow busted in Laytonville, couple arrested

By Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer
Article Launched: 02/20/2008 11:03:05 AM PST

An indoor marijuana grow in Laytonville was raided on Branscomb Road on February 12, netting 50 pounds of processed marijuana, $70,000 in cash, 721 pot plants and eight firearms.

The County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team assisted a Redding-area taskforce from the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement in executing a search warrant. The BNE requested the warrant as part of an ongoing investigation.

Michael and Rebecca Campbell, both 53, of Laytonville were identified as suspects for cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale, pending charges to be filed with the district attorney's office, according to police reports.

Urgent appeal for help

Measure B won't happen by itself.

We need your help now.
Ballots will be mailed to voters in only 98 days!

Volunteers are needed to set up local committees in outlying towns, to make phone calls, to distribute signs, to set up speaking engagements, and all the other tasks of a county wide electoral effort.

WE NEED MONEY NOW to pay for a mass mailer to alert voters to what Measure B is about, why it should pass, and to invite them to contribute financially to the rest of the campaign. The cost of this initial mailer is projected at $7,000!

Please mail all contributions to:
Yes on B Coalition
759 S. State Street #114
Ukiah, CA 95482

*note*
All contributions of $99 or less are confidential.
Checks for $100 or more will be listed on our campaign finance reports, and donors must state occupation and employer.

Thanks for your support!

please email yesonb@yahoo.com if you have any questions