Posts tagged "marijuana"

In another example of the ongoing disconnect between federal and California law, a United States prosecutor demanded a Northern California county's marijuana records. The records involved deal with how the county authorized and regulated cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes.

Because federal law still treats all marijuana as illegal, Californians continue to face uncertainty regarding what could potentially count as a serious drug cultivation offense.

In California, local counties and cities have the authority to decide whether individuals can grow marijuana. Growers need to seek a permit and comply with some other laws. Mendocino County charged $1,500 for permit applications and allowed growers to cultivate numerous plants after paying a $50 identification fee for each. 

We have frequently covered the deep divide between the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and the states that have legalized marijuana. Although those 16 states, including California, allow residents to possess and use marijuana for medical purposes, the DEA still considers it to be against federal law. The DEA categorizes marijuana as a Schedule I drug-right alongside heroin.

The gap between the two bodies of law puts California residents and legal growers in the uncomfortable position of running the risk of federal drug possession charges while still complying with state law.

This week, a marijuana advocacy group challenged the DEA's classification, asking a federal court of appeals to force the agency to hold a new hearing and consider evidence that it ignored in the past. As a Schedule I drug, marijuana currently receives the strictest regulation. By comparison, cocaine is only a Schedule II drug and most prescription drugs rank far lower in the system.

While looking for poachers near San Francisco, a California game warden stumbled upon a large marijuana growing operation in Marin County this week. California carefully regulates drug cultivation and unpermitted pot farms can give rise to serious criminal charges.

The warden discovered the plantation when he noticed a camouflaged man with a pair of pruning shears. Authorities from a number of agencies, including the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, returned the next morning to raid the operation.

As discussed in the previous post, the amount of Americans who support legalizing marijuana use by adults or at least decriminalizing marijuana possession for personal use is on the rise. A recent Rasmussen Reports telephone poll found that three out of four Americans are in favor of using civil fines rather than criminal charges in punishing marijuana offenders. In addition, 74 percent of respondents said that they were in favor of alternative punishments to jail for marijuana possession.

A recent University of Southern California poll found that Californians are still slightly more opposed to rather than in favor of legalizing marijuana; 50 percent are opposed and 46 are in favor of legalizing marijuana use by adults.

A national movement has been underway to decriminalize recreational or medicinal marijuana use for adults in the U.S. In 2010, Proposition 19 failed to pass on the ballot in California. Proposition 19 would have made it legal for adults to purchase small amounts of marijuana for personal use and would have regulated the sale of the drug and taxed it. Some say that that was because it strayed too far into the rights of employers to create drug policies that prohibited marijuana use.

More and more Americans have been open to legalizing recreational marijuana use or at least decriminalizing it, according to a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor. Marijuana possession, growing, sales and distribution are still illegal federally, but pro-marijuana groups hope to eventually make marijuana possession by adults legal federally by winning marijuana legalization state by state until the federal government goes along.

Law enforcement officials believe that illegal drugs continue to be a major problem in California prisons, and they have been attempting to crack down on illegal substances in the state's correctional facilities. Recently, four weekend visitors to one California prison were accused of being drug mules and are facing criminal charges as a result.

The first visitor to be arrested at the California State Prison in Corcoran arrived shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday. Apparently, the prison Investigative Services Unit had been monitoring the woman and had been listening in on her conversations with the inmate she was visiting. When she arrived, authorities produced a search warrant. They searched her, her car, and the hotel room she had been using. Allegedly, they found 3.7 grams of marijuana. She is now facing conspiracy and drug charges.

Willie Nelson is facing criminal charges after his tour bus was stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint late last month. A police officer claims he noticed a "suspicious odor" coming from the tour bus. Police searched Nelson's bus, and they found what appeared to be six ounces or more of marijuana. According to the Hudspeth County sheriff's department, Nelson claimed that the marijuana was his.

Law enforcement officials believed Nelson could be facing felony drug charges because of the large amount of marijuana. However, when they weighed the marijuana, they found it weighed less than four ounces. As a result, Nelson is now facing misdemeanor charges and under Texas law, he will likely be fined and not jailed. Nelson was briefly detained and paid a $2,500 bond before being released.

Synthetic marijuana is typically plant material that is coated with chemicals that are meant to simulate the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. It has been readily available in convenience stores, paraphernalia shops and over the internet for about $10 to $20 per gram and is marketed under several brand names including "K2," "Spice," "Blaze" and "Red X Dawn." Most often, the packages are labeled as potpourri or incense.

Although 15 states have already banned many of the chemicals used in synthetic marijuana, federal authorities had not previously regulated synthetic marijuana products. Because of reported incidents of poisoning, overdoses and addiction, federal regulators had been studying the drugs and considered strictly regulating them or banning them outright. According to Drug Enforcement Agency spokeswoman Barbara Carreno, "the review process was taking too long."

Just days after Proposition 19 failed in the polls, federal authorities have made a large marijuana bust in California, one of the largest in U.S. history. The bust, a culmination of a month-long investigation, began in earnest Tuesday night. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had a warehouse near the Mexican border under surveillance. They followed as a tractor-trailer left the warehouse and called in the California Highway Patrol.

Highway Patrol officers stopped the rig; the exact reason for the stop has not been given; and found approximately 10 tons of marijuana inside. The driver and his wife, who was also on board, were arrested. With the evidence from the truck, the authorities applied for and received a federal warrant for the search of the warehouse. That is when this bust went from big to major.

Next Tuesday, California voters will choose to become, or not to become, the first state in the union to legalize the cultivation and consumption of marijuana for personal recreational use. If passed, Proposition 19, also known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, would allow possession of small amounts of marijuana and the cultivation of marijuana in a garden of up to 25 square feet in size.

If passed, Proposition 19 would also raise serious legal questions. In our system, both state and federal governments have the authority to make and enforce laws. Presently, marijuana is illegal under both state and federal law. Proposition 19 would change state law, but would have no effect on federal law. Marijuana would still be illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act. We have seen a similar situation under California's medical marijuana program. Some marijuana clubs though legal under state law, have been raided and shut down by federal authorities.