Osteopathic physician Daniel Brubaker, 62, is a former medical director of the Central California Blood Center who has been recognized for his research. More recently, as an orthopedic and pain-management specialist, he has made a name for himself by recommending marijuana for his patients.

The current ordinance bans new shops from opening in the county. If passed the extension would last another 22 months.

Sheriff Margaret Mims and public works officials will also present a plan to shut down dispensaries violating current zoning requirements.

Officials found 45,577 marijuana plants and seized 87 pounds of processed marijuana and two assault rifles in a search of the property, which began about 7 a.m., said Erica Stuart, a Madera County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman.

The suspects agreed to sell 160 pounds of marijuana to undercover narcotics detectives.

As one Obama administration official told the Los Angeles Times in March:

"If you are operating a medical marijuana clinic that is actually a front, we'll come after you. But if you are operating within the law, we are not going to prioritize our resources to go after them."

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims says several Mexican drug cartels are involved in the operations. She says most of the 97 people arrested are Mexican nationals.

Instead of pandering to the Just Say No crowd, the politicians should allow patients to buy medical pot locally and help strained budgets by getting a local cut of the sales tax.

Lieutenant Rick Ko with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department said, “I suspect this is going to be an epidemic if the laws aren't changed soon.”

This is just another layer of fuss over this issue. The city of Fresno has already forced medical pot shops out of business, saying they violate zoning ordinances.

Marijuana dispensaries have proliferated in unincorporated areas since Fresno began using zoning laws to shut them down last year.

Police have repeatedly tried to shut down the Medmar clinic and operator Rick Morse has repeatedly been sent to jail for violating a judge's court order that prohibits him from selling marijuana.

"They were very professional about it," Morse said of the deputies. He said he was allowed to get personal property from the building before leaving.

CBS47 found three within a quarter mile of each other in the town of Friant and one just steps away from Fresno's Christmas Tree Lane.

County Clerk Victor Salazar says poll workers became suspicious when a group of homeless men were brought to vote at a southwest precinct and one of them said he was given an incentive to vote for candidate Mike Briggs.

An Action News camera exclusively caught Rick Morse leaving the Fresno County Jail just after 5 a.m. Friday morning. Morse had been sentenced to fifteen days in jail earlier this month for violating a court order banning marijuana dispensaries in Fresno.

Judge Donald Franson ordered Rick Morse handcuffed and taken out of his courtroom and back to jail.

It was the third time in less than two weeks that Franson has had Morse arrested for failing to obey his order shutting down Morse's Olive Avenue clinic.

Judge Donald Franson Jr. also ordered Rick Morse, the clinic's owner, to return to jail and finish a 15-day sentence for violating a court order that prohibits him from selling the drug.

I ask because Morse's life, as chronicled in this newspaper and on television, is unraveling before our eyes.

Rick Morse and his son, Brandon, caused an uproar Monday when they allegedly tried to handcuff a deputy city attorney outside Fresno County Superior Court's civil courthouse in downtown Fresno and place him under citizen's arrest.

A defiant Rick Morse, 48, told Judge Donald Franson Jr. he had no legal authority to throw him in jail.

Instead of playing offense on the basketball court, He'll now have to defend himself in the courtroom.

Judge Donald Franson decided that Rick Morse was in contempt of court for violating his earlier order shutting down every pot dispensary in the city.

David Armstrong, 25, is charged in Fresno County Superior Court with cultivation of marijuana and possession of the drug for sale. If convicted, he faces as much as three years and eight months in prison.

Fresno County Superior Court Judge Donald Franson Jr. sentenced Rick Morse to 100 hours of community service for violating the order. Morse faced misdemeanor charges of selling or distributing marijuana.

Rick Morse was held in contempt of court, and then reopened his business, rather than accept the punishment.

This little shopping complex in Tarpey Village features two gun shops, two liquor stores, a tattoo parlor, an adult video store and three marijuana dispensaries.

While he supports regulating dispensaries, Jeff Nunes told the supervisors the county ordinance that took effect in December goes too far by restricting the number of plants that a dispensary can have, restricting where medical patients can smoke their marijuana and prohibiting dispensaries from paying people to grow marijuana for them, among other things.

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/02/25/1837653/fresno-city-council-cool-to-water.html#ixzz0rEEYrNQ6

Judge Donald Franson turned down Medmar Clinic owner Rick Morse's motion on Thursday to have Franson disqualify himself from the case.

Morse objected, and kept talking until the judge asked him to be patient.

Eventually, after numerous interruptions, Franson told Morse to return in a few weeks for a contempt hearing in which Franson will decide whether to send Morse to jail, or fine him, or both, for violating Franson's order that shut down every pot dispensary in the city.

The report was released by the state's Medical Marijuana Research Facility. It said marijuana is a promising treatment for chronic pain. But the medical research is based solely on marijuana grown by the Federal Government, and not the kinds of marijuana typically available to California's medical marijuana users.

In 1996 state lawmakers authorized the creation of a Center for Medical Cannabis Research -- to determine the therapeutic benefits of smoking pot. But the only legal source for researchers is a federally-managed pot farm in Mississippi.

Enter the Drug Recognition Experts -- police officers specially trained to evaluate drivers who may be under the influence of methamphetamine, marijuana and other drugs, both legal and illegal, that may impair driving.

Deputies were called to the area pf Valentine, between Central and American, around 7:30 p.m. Sunday night for reports of a woman screaming.

But the facility's operator Brian Ruiz decided to keep the doors open, and they remained so Tuesday afternoon — though a Visalia police patrol car was stationed out front.

Under the law, the Sheriff's Department is authorized to investigate dispensaries to determine if they should be closed down, as well as monitor their activities and enforce county laws pertaining to possible violations.

From jars filled with marijuana, to a California business license and menus on the wall, Bryan Ruiz's Visalia medical marijuana dispensary, Central Cali Caregivers, is officially open for business.

The ordinance also caps the number of medical marijuana collectives at three. State law allows the development of so-called medical marijuana collectives to grow the plant or process products for patients who have a prescription, but federal law prohibits the sale of marijuana in any form.

Sheriff's deputies will begin visiting the cooperatives to see whether they are in compliance with the ordinance, which goes into effect Dec. 10, and with state law, said sheriff's Capt. Michael Boudreaux.

Dispensary ban still in place; users must grow plant for personal use.

Today the Justice Department released new guidelines for federal prosecutors in states where marijuana is legally used for medical purposes.

News and opinion Web site thedailybeast.com ranked the smartest and dumbest among America’s 55 biggest cities. Criterion included number of nonfiction books sold, percentage of the population with college and postgraduate degrees, and the number of eligible voters who cast ballots in the last presidential election.

You know what comes next: Fresno came in dead last.

The city filed a lawsuit to force all nine local pot dispensaries to close and if a judge sticks to his tentative ruling from Wednesday, they won't be allowed to sell another joint.

Until recently, medical marijuana dispensaries were rare. But two events triggered an explosion of outlets: state Attorney General Jerry Brown issued guidelines for sales of the drug last year, and the Obama administration said it wouldn't prosecute individuals complying with state medical marijuana laws.

Drew Workman, owner of Holistic Healing Products in Oakhurst, said his business is not a dispensary but a "collective." Although Workman claims the board's action is unconstitutional, he has stopped selling medical marijuana at his store on Highway 41 next to Judy's Donuts. The store is still open as a smoke shop.

As is the case throughout the state, some local cities have ordinances in place to regulate the legal growing and use of medical marijuana, while other cities do not accept the results of Proposition 215, the “Compassionate Use Act of 1996.” Prop. 215 conflicts with federal law which maintains that all marijuana is illegal in the U.S.

Brandon and his father, Rick Morse run Medmar, a medical marijuana clinic in the Fresno's Tower District. Brandon said, "The PAL program helped me when I was younger."

The supervisors voted Tuesday to approve the ordinance, arguing that the dispensaries become magnets for crime, such as robbery, loitering and illicit drug dealing.

Club owners say they are ready to put up a fight to keep the clubs open.

The sheriff, who spoke in support of the ban, say he's ready to shut them down.

"The ones operating now are doing so illegally, we thought we'd wait until after the hearing before we shut them down again," said Madera County Sheriff John Anderson.

Medical marijuana users and sellers, pleaded with county supervisors to allow them to continue selling the alternative medicine.

The city is asking property owners to evict the dispensaries. In return, the city will end legal action against them.

The searches, in the towns of Strathmore and Plainview and the cities of Lindsay and Porterville, resulted in the seizure of 200 mature marijuana plants, 50 pounds of processed marijuana, 3 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 100 grams of cocaine, six firearms, ammunition, digital scales and $30,000 in cash.

Weedmaps is a founder of The Dispensary Defense Group, headed by Richard Cowan, former Director of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

Sierra Two Black Hawk helicopters hovered over the Sierras Wednesday, lowering law enforcement into the largest marijuana grow seen in the Valley in decades.

As part of a massive sweep, more than 300 agents from 17 agencies have spent the past 10 days hiking through and flying over Fresno County's secluded forests to destroy tens of thousands of plants worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The butchered animals, as well as several five-pound propane canisters, camp stoves and heaps of trash, were all that remained of the 69 marijuana plantations recently uncovered in Fresno County as part of operation "Save our Sierras."

Those arrested were Fresnans Abram Ducas, 23; Dominac Ducas, 32; Reuben Garcia, 41; Ali Miller, 37; Robert Orndoff, 55; Anthony Osborn, 29; and Amber Osborn, 28. Also booked were Lino Munoz, 32, of Clovis and Marvin Puckett III, 32, of Madera County.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said more than 100 law enforcement officers from local, state and federal agencies targeted a network of marijuana cultivators in Fresno County, Clovis, Auberry and Madera County.
Valley task force arrests nine in marijuana 'grow house' raids
CRAIG KOHLRUSS / THE FRESNO BEE

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims stands with local law enforcement agency members associated with the Central Valley Marijuana Investigation Team with a part of the evidence received in a marijuana-growing raid.

The raids grew out of the seizure of 200 plants from a home on the 6200 block of North Marks Avenue in November 2007, she said.

Along with 700 marijuana plants, officers on Wednesday also confiscated 65 pounds of processed marijuana, a pound of hashish and $20,000 in cash. Sheriff's deputies were joined by agents from the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Agency as part of the Central Valley Marijuana Investigation Team.

The marijuana was grown in rented homes converted into indoor farms, Mims said. The houses suffered extensive environmental damage, such as growth of mold, because growers sought to replicate the humid, tropical conditions in which marijuana plants thrive.

Mims said that those who operate grow houses threaten otherwise safe neighborhoods.

At this point, it doesn’t look like a promising proposition — for Morse or anyone else looking to do the same.

The city’s ordinance regarding such businesses says they must comply with both state and federal laws. At this point, federal law views the drug — even when used for medical purposes — as illegal.

Two groups are trying to open dispensaries but are running into a city law that says medical marijuana businesses must comply with both state and federal laws. Federal law does not allow for medical use of marijuana.

E-mails and internet postings first let people know a dispensary was opening in Fresno's Tower District, catching the attention of not only residents, but also Fresno law enforcement and city leaders. From the sidewalk, all that can be seen at 210 West Olive is a desk and a couple of chairs.

The County Health Department accepts applications for medical marijuana ID cards

People can make an appointment to apply for the cards at the Department of Public Health by calling (559) 445-3434 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

In response Tuesday to a recent Associated Press story describing contamination by herbicides and pesticides used by growers for Mexican drug cartels, Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project said that it's time to consider regulating and taxing marijuana.

They're designed to help law enforcement know who should and should not be arrested for having marijuana.

The County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to begin issuing medicinal marijuana cards before the end of the year. After a 3-1 vote, Fresno County will now become the 41st county in the state to participate in California's Medical Marijuana Program registry.

Fresno County on Tuesday became the 41st county in the state to agree to participate in California's Medical Marijuana Program registry. The Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 to join up.

Jurors Craig Will of Twain Hart and Larry Silva of Tollhouse say they wouldn't have found the men guilty had they known the penalty was 20 years to life in prison.

Last year, the Tulare County Sheriff's office had a record seizure of more than 330,000 illegal marijuana plants. Operation L.O.C.C.U.S.T. eradicated 10,000 more plants that that in the last week.

John Walters, who holds the Cabinet-level position as director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, came to California to bring attention to a new locally coordinated, but partly federally funded, marijuana eradication program to raid marijuana gardens planted on public lands by Mexican drug cartels.

"We intend to shoot these down," Walters said.

On Tuesday, supervisors voted that medical marijuana patients will have to go elsewhere for i.d. cards.

The issues caused a major debate amongst the supervisors, "I'm not gonna vote for it until I get the appellate court, I'm gonna say that right up front. Until I have the information that clarifies it, I'm not gonna support it," said Fresno County Supervisor Judith Case.

Medical marijuana users asked the Board of Supervisors to begin issuing those cards. A state law requires all counties to give out cards to those who are under doctor's orders to use the drug. But currently Fresno county does not comply with the law. The Board of Supervisors decided to wait as a higher court is reviewing the legality of California's Medical Marijuana laws. Patients say without the ID they face arrest.

The state started asking counties to issue ID cards to medical marijuana users in 2005, nearly a decade after voters approved such use in a statewide initiative.

40 counties have started programs including Merced, Tulare, and Kern counties, but Fresno has yet to act.

Several medical marijuana users today asked the Board of Supervisors to issue the cards, which would certify that a doctor has prescribed such use. Some said they've been needlessly detained by law enforcement officials, while others said they feared arrest.

But something went wrong.

After the assailants wrapped Jones' entire head and face in black duct tape, they poked a small hole over his mouth so he could breathe. But the hole wasn't big enough. Jones, 38, bound and lying face-down on the carpet, suffocated, prosecutors say.

Four people were arrested in connection with the illegal pot plantation tucked into federal Bureau of Land Management property in the foothills east of Exeter.

"I can say it was the second biggest in county history for the Sheriff's Department," said Chris Curtice, a deputy and public information officer with the department.

The plants were growing amongst the grape vineyards over an area that stretched for an estimated three acres between Thompson and McCall avenues, a quarter mile south of Valley View Street.

Two of the gardens were raided early Monday, including one in the Squaw Valley area bordering Tulare County, deputy Chris Curtice said.

Investigators are pulling up the more-than 56-hundred plants they found growing in neat rows on the forest floor. Had the plants been harvested, then would have been worth about 17-million dollars.

Deputies spent the morning chopping paths through a cornfield that hid tens of thousands of marijuana plants. A week-long investigation lead detectives to this farm house northwest of Sanger.

The discovery is made in a cornfield on the 700 block of Indianola, just south of Kings Canyon. That's where deputies seized about 30,000 marijuana plants after a week-long investigation.

The plants, found in a cornfield east of Fresno, had a street value of about $120 million, said Chris Curtice, a spokesman for the Fresno County Sheriff's Department.

The marijuana plants were well hidden, growing alongside corn in a field near Sanger.

Officials say this is their biggest bust ever.

Virgil Grant III, 41, and his wife, Pshyra Grant, 33, of Carson, were arrested last week on a 41-count indictment which includes drug conspiracy, money laundering, distributing marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school, and other charges.

Luke Anthony Scarmazzo, 28, and Ricardo Ruiz Montes, 28, were convicted by a federal jury Fresno on Thursday of conducting a continuing criminal enterprise, growing marijuana and possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute.

Luke Scarmazzo and Ricardo Ruiz Montes, both 27, were found guilty by a federal jury in Fresno on all charges except for a conspiracy charge, on which the jurors deadlocked.

Luke Scarmazzo and Ricardo Ruiz Montes, both 27, immediately were taken into custody.

But the defendant was prepared to detail the key events of that short lifetime, moving quickly through his childhood in Modesto and into his success at high school athletics. Stellar performance on the football team helped his prospects for higher education, and in 1999, he enrolled at Mesa College in San Diego.

Luke Scarmazzo and Ricardo Ruiz Montes, both 27, face the possibility of life in prison after federal authorities in September 2006 raided a medical marijuana dispensary they operated in Modesto.

In the federal government's view, the case against the Modesto, Calif., resident and co-defendant Ricardo Ruiz Montes is fairly simple: they broke the law by selling marijuana through their business, California Healthcare Collective.

That it allegedly was for medical purposes is irrelevant.

The question is: Did the two men break the law while operating their Modesto medical marijuana dispensary, known as the California Healthcare Collective?

The question is: Did the two men break the law while operating their Modesto medical marijuana dispensary, known as the California Healthcare Collective?

It’s a dramatic reduction from the original number of defendants in the case, which stemmed from a September 2006 raid of the medical marijuana dispensary dubbed “the Central Valley's Largest Marijuana Distribution Center.”

In the federal government's view, the case against the Modesto resident and co-defendant Ricardo Ruiz Montes is fairly simple: They broke the law by selling marijuana through their business, California Healthcare Collective.

Indoor marijuana farms allow organized criminal groups to grow powerful new strains of the drug faster, more profitably and with less risk than an outdoor garden.

“You can harvest a crop every three months, and after a year, walk away with $1.5 million,” said Robert Pennal of the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

Indoor marijuana farms allow organized criminal groups to grow powerful new strains of the drug faster, more profitably and with less risk than an outdoor garden.