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Canada Supreme Court: No Privacy For Marijuana Grow-Ops

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 24, 2010 Global, Growing, News

Electricity usage records are now effectively the property of the police in Canada — and they don’t even need a warrant. Law enforcement did not overstep their powers when they asked a Calgary electricity company to spy on one of its customers by installing a special tracking device to find if he was growing marijuana, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Wednesday.

In a 7-2 decision, Canada’s badly split highest court argued over privacy rights, but overturned an Alberta Court of Appeal judgment that ordered a new trial for Daniel Gomboc, reports The Canadian Press.

“As is true of all constitutional rights, the Charter’s protection is not absolute,” Madam Justice Marie Deschamps wrote for the majority, as she sold out the privacy rights of Canadians. “The Constitution does not cloak the home in an impenetrable veil of privacy. To expect such protection would not only be impractical; it would also be unreasonable.”

N.J. Man Gets 5 Years For Growing Marijuana In Basement

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 22, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Huron Daily Tribune

A 55-year-old New Jersey man whose marijuana plants were found by police — in part, because he didn’t mow his lawn — is now headed to state prison for five years.

Matthew Watts of Boonton, N.J., was sentenced on Friday. He pleaded guilty last month to possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, reports the Courier Post.

Police claim they found at least 50 cannabis plants in Watts’ basement in June.

They had gone to the home after a neighbor reported she hadn’t seen Watts for weeks, adding that no one was collecting his mail and that his lawn was grown up.

Sheriff Investigating Theft Of $15,000 Worth Of Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 17, 2010 Growing, Medical, News

Photo: Gallatin County, Montana

Sheriff Jim Cashell: The case is being investigated and detectives “may have some leads”

About $15,000 worth of cannabis was stolen from a medical marijuana grower’s building Sunday night near Bozeman, Montana, Gallatin County Sheriff Jim Cashell said Tuesday.

The building, in the town of Four Corners, was damaged during the break-in, although law enforcement declined to discuss details, reports Jodi Hausen at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

This is the second time in two weeks the business had been burglarized, Sheriff Cashell said. He did not have any details about the first burglary.

The case is being investigated and detectives “may have some leads,” according to the Sheriff.

Boss OG Kush Wins 4th S.F. Medical Cannabis Competition

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 16, 2010 Culture, Dispensaries, Growing

Photo: Jack Rikess

Our guy gets the story: Toke of the Town Northern California Correspondent Jack Rikess hard at work doing his research at the 4th Annual S.F. Medical Cannabis Competition on Sunday. By the way, Jack reports there was half a pound of pot in that joint.

San Francisco’s 4th Annual S.F. Medical Cannabis Competition, The Patient’s Choice, was held Sunday.

Now that Toke of the Town‘s Northern California correspondent, Jack Rikess, has sufficiently recovered from the festivities, here’s his report.

Don’t be too hard on Mr. Rikess. Judges at the competition — including our hard-working correspondent — had to sample more than 50 cannabis strains and products.

Way to take one for the team, Jack! ~ Steve Elliott, Editor

…….

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

It’s always a good sign when you can smell the party from blocks away.

The day and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect for San Francisco’s 4th Annual S.F. Medical Cannabis Competition, The Patient’s Choice. After some delays including moving the cannabis flavored festivities to a new location at the last moment (due to law enforcement objections), the Bacchanal of Buds went off without a hitch for the red-eyed competition goers.

Study: It’s Either A Casino Or A Pot Farm For This Hard Luck Town

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 16, 2010 Culture, Growing

Photo: The Weed Business

That looks a lot better than slot machines to me.

A study funded by casino developers says that a large-scale marijuana farm is the only other economically viable option for a hard-luck San Francisco Bay area town, as officials consider the fate of a major strip of waterfront property.

Environmental consultants evaluated 28 different proposed uses submitted by the public for the land. They determined that only a medical marijuana cultivation facility could generate enough revenue to pay market price for the 422-acre property in Richmond, California, reports Katherine Tam of the Contra Costa Times.

The plan calls for medical marijuana to be grown, packaged, stored and sold within the century-old buildings where the Winehaven winery operated in the pre-Prohibition days of the early 1900s. According to the study, city coffers would swell with $3.2 million a year in additional tax revenue, under a five percent tax rate, depending on how much the cannabis is worth.

Vegas: Foreclosures, Bad Economy Good For Pot Grow Houses

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 12, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Leila Avidani/Las Vegas Sun

Marijuana grow house bust in Las Vegas: One of 112 so far this year

The bad economy in Las Vegas has meant opportunity for some clandestine cannabis cultivators. Las Vegas police have busted 112 marijuana grow houses this year, more than double the number raided in 2007.

With the Las Vegas economy sucking wind, a large and unprecedented number of homes are now empty and are rarely checked by police or the banks that now own them, reports Jackie Valley at the Las Vegas Sun.

Additionally, some financially desperate absentee owners and investors are renting to tenants without conducting background checks, according to Lt. Laz Chavez of the Metro Las Vegas Police Department.

Pot growers are even moving into commercial real estate, where the relaxed or absent background checks give them an “in,” reports Gus Lubin at the Business Insider. For example, police seized around 90 plants in a September raid of a large warehouse that neighboring tenants thought was a bakery. (Insert “getting baked” joke here.)

Thousand-Plant Indoor Marijuana Farm Raided In Cleveland

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 12, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Cleveland Police/WTAM

Productive operation, by the looks of it.

Two brothers are in custody after Cleveland police executed search warrants last Friday and discovered an indoor marijuana growing operation they claimed had more than 1,000 plants.

Members of the Cleveland Division of Police Narcotics Unit and the Westlake Police Department worked “jointly” investigating the operation, reports WTAM 1100. As a result of the joint investigation, evidence was presented to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and the search warrants were issued.

Police Claim Marijuana Grow Operation Worth $1 Million

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 11, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Eastside Narcotics Task Force

This marijuana grow operation at a Renton, Washington rental house had 605 plants.

Narcotics detectives found what they claim is more than $1 million worth of marijuana growing inside a Renton, Washington home on November 4.

Members of the Eastside Narcotics Task Force, one of those consortiums of local police departments formed in order to get fat federal Drug War grants, served a search warrant on a two-story rental house at 11 p.m. that night and discovered 605 cannabis plants and 71 pounds of marijuana, reports Jill Kimball at The Seattle Times.

Detectives claimed they found water damage and holes in the floor, walls and ceiling of the house, all, they claimed, the result of the marijuana grow operation that tenants of the home were operating.

Michigan Town Sued For Banning Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 11, 2010 Growing, Medical, News

Katy Batdorff/Grand Rapids Press

Mayor Jack Poll of Wyoming, Michigan, wants to “protect” citizens from medical marijuana. Now, who’s gonna protect ’em from Mayor Poll?

Is this guy your mayor or your daddy? Mayor Jack Poll of Wyoming, Michigan, wants to “protect” citizens from medical marijuana. Now, who’s gonna protect ’em from Mayor Poll?

A resident of the city of has filed suit over the municipality’s intent to ban ban medicinal cannabis within city limits.

John Ter Beek, a retired attorney and former board of education member, said he is licensed to treat pain from his bad back and diabetes with cannabis. He filed suit this week in Kent County Circuit Court, reports Matt Vande Bunte of The Grand Rapids Press.

In the suit, dated Monday, Ter Beek said this month’s City Council decision tramples the rights of Michigan voters who overwhelmingly (63 percent yes) approved medical marijuana at the polls in 2008. The suit also says the decision violates the second article of the state constitution, which guarantees citizens’ right to pass an initiative that amends state law.

Ter Beek said the city’s ban is vague and overly broad, besides.

But Mayor Jack Poll, who thinks he knows better than the voters, claimed the ban shields residents from “possible hazards” of a “poorly written” state law.

“We’re looking to advertise that (Wyoming) isn’t the best place to set up shop (for marijuana),” said former liquor store owner Poll, a pharmacist. “We don’t want it, and we think it would be a detriment to the city.”

“If nothing else, time will be on our side,” the mayor said. “If (the ban) defers (medical marijuana) from the city of Wyoming for any amount of time, then I feel it’s an accomplishment.”

“I’m out to protect our citizens as long as I can,” said the paternalistically condescending mayor.

Three Indicted In Largest Pot Bust In New Jersey History

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 11, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger

Tuan Dang, the alleged leader, accused of growing marijuana in New Jersey’s biggest cultivation bust ever.

The suspected leader and two cohorts in a marijuana trafficking organization have been indicted on charges stemming from the largest pot bust in New Jersey history.

The three are accused of growing an estimated $10 million worth of cannabis in five homes in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties, reports Charles Webster at APP.com.

Tuan Dang, 36, of Port Monmouth is charged with leading a marijuana trafficking network, which carries a mandatory life sentence in New Jersey, according to Attorney General Paula Dow. He is being held on $1 million bail, reports Tom Haydon at the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

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