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I wonder when capitalism became against the law in Tuolumne County?

MyMotherlode.com reported:

Crackdown On Marijuana Cultivation

Female marijuana plant

November 07, 2011 04:36 pm

By: B.J. Hansen,

Sonora, CA — Nearly a dozen people have been arrested over the past week in Tuolumne County for the cultivation of marijuana.

Some have medicinal marijuana cards and thought they were protected under the state’s laws governing medicinal cannabis. Officials argue that it was being cultivated and sold for profit.

Local officials seem hell-bent for election to prevent local medical marijuana patients from being able to receive the treatment they need.

Don’t police officers get paid for the work they do? Why on earth would anyone grow marijuana, only to give it away? Of course they are selling it for a profit! If the growers don’t make a profit, they certainly won’t be able to stay in business very long.

They all have charges related to the cultivation and possession of marijuana. The investigations leading up to the arrests have been led by the Tuolumne Narcotics Team.

Apparently, the Tuolumne Narcotics Team has too much time on it’s hands to go after real criminals. They spend their time harassing local medical marijuana growers — because they already have their names and addresses — why should they go out and do some real police work?

It’s only a matter of time before marijuana is legal once again and our local police force will have to sit around playing cards and telling bad jokes.

I just wonder why they aren’t going after the real criminals. Have you checked out the “News of Record” recently? What are police doing about all the burglaries, credit card fraud and dumping that goes on in Tuolumne county?

Just this week:

• 12:59 p.m., Sonora area — A woman reported someone burglarized her residence on the 19000 block of Lambert Lake Road. She reported she came home to find her garage door open, garage window shattered and a dirt bike missing.
• 1:17 p.m., East Sonora — A person cleaning out a shed on the 19400 of Hillsdale Drive reportedly found a metal container with dynamite in it and a box containing loose gun powder.
• 7:56 p.m., Crystal Falls — A woman on the 16900 block of Columbia River Drive reported she caught someone trying to break into her Jeep. She reported being outside on her porch when she heard her vehicle’s door shut. She looked around the corner and yelled and saw a person running away toward Crystal Falls Drive.
• 3:40 a.m., Tuolumne — Security guards reportedly found a bag of methamphetamine on the gaming floor of Black Oak Casino. Deputies recovered the bag of drugs and booked it for destruction. (You know the entire Black Oak Casino complex is under surveillance.)

What you notice about all of these, is the police were not involved in any of these complaints. We called them once as we were instructed to do, to have a deer put down that was suffering — we waited for 3-hours and watched that deer suffer in pain. It was one of the worst days of my life, why wasn’t someone available?

Medical Marijuana Laws - (MI law passed 2010)

Why are the local police obsessed with non-violent citizens, whose only crime is growing marijuana to help people who are in pain and suffering, while helping to sustain his own family during these tough economic times?  The medical community is unable or unwilling to help.

The government is seizing the property and destroying the lives of people who are not criminals — at least not in the State of California. These people followed the legal channels and did what they were required to do under the laws of the State of California. Shortly, pot will be legalized and when it is, all this harm brought on these citizens will have been for nothing. And all this in the wake of the California prison overcrowding problems that have forced even more costs onto the local jails…from non-violent drug offenses.

Related articles

• Tuolumne County bans dispensaries (twainhartetimes.com)
• Medical Marijuana Patients, Dispensaries File Suit Against Feds Over Crackdown (sfist.com)
• Marijuana dispensary crackdown draws suit (sfgate.com)

Expect to see more local “Ma & Pa” businesses to go under, as the county Board of Supervisors further relaxes their permit process. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think the entire process is too arduous and discourages new business development. However, inviting more “big box” retail establishments into the area won’t grow our economy.

Sonora, CA - Small Town, USA

Big-box rule change OK’d

Written by Chris Caskey,
The Union Democrat
October 05, 2011 03:10 pm

It will be easier to build a “big box” retail store in Tuolumne County than it used to be.

The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved changes to the county ordinance code to loosen up regulations on large-scale retail developments in the county.
The motivation behind the changes, said Community Resources Agency Director Bev Shane, is to encourage economic development with fewer restrictions.
[Read more…]

No wonder the board has voted to place a ban on medical marijuana dispenseries, they are planning to cater to the likes of Lowe’s and Walmart. We are losing our small town charm, with our small business establishments. One by one we will begin to lose more and more of our locally owned, small-town businesses that employ the locals.

Maybe you haven’t noticed but we’ve seen a huge influx of chain stores coming to Sonora — the problem is they are bringing valley workers to staff them, instead of hiring local residents, which is partially to blame for the crowded streets we are all experiencing.

We need to do more to encourage small business owners to set up shop in Tuolumne County. Doesn’t anyone on that board have an economics degree? Maybe the county should splurge to hire someone.

For months we’ve been following the saga of the Sonora and Tuolumne County battles against medical marijuana dispensaries. The Union Democrat reported…

County carving out medical marijuana sales ordinance

Image via Wikipedia

Written by Chris Caskey,
The Union Democrat
October 05, 2011 03:11 pm

Tuolumne County is moving forward with a proposal to ban medical marijuana dispensaries.
The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to have county staff finalize an ordinance that would make it a misdemeanor to run a retail center that makes available, sells, transmits or gives marijuana to two or more patients, primary caregivers or members of the public.

However, supervisors and other county officials suggested the ordinance should allow for clinical medicinal use of the drug that is legal under California state law.
Supervisors heard the first reading of an ordinance prohibiting pot dispensaries that, according to County Counsel Gregory Oliver, is similar to a law passed by the Sonora City Council on Aug. 1.

Under the proposed ordinance, a dispensary would not include a “qualified patient or a person with an identification card delivering, administering or providing medical marijuana at the primary residence” of a legal medicinal user.

According to the ordinance, the definition also does not include licensed clinics, health facilities, residential care centers for the elderly or those with chronic illness, or a home health care agency.

However, the first draft of the law does lump collectives and cooperatives together with dispensaries.

During a lengthy discussion, supervisors and county officials juggled a desire to expand what they considered a widely abused system into the county without restricting local access for residents who use it responsibly and legally.

“We don’t have a balance here,” said Chairman John Gray. “We’re trying to do what’s right because I think we all can agree that it’s been abused the way it’s being run now. But in fixing that, are we causing additional harm?”

It is difficult to estimate how many medical marijuana users live in Tuolumne County, Public Health Officer Dr. Todd Stolp said. While the county has issued 28 medical marijuana identification cards, the cardholder is not required to receive the substance through a clinical setting. [Continue Reading…]

How much sense does it make to have people running around the county delivering marijuana in their vehicles, when they could keep a better eye on the dispensaries if they are stationary?

The reasons there are only 28 medical marijuana identification cards issued are many and varied. Some people are waiting for the local police policies to catch up with state law. After all, I doubt many seriously sick people would enjoy a night in jail waiting for their day in court. Further, it is still difficult to find local physicians willing to prescribe marijuana.

Many people don’t possess medical marijuana prescription cards but smoke to stay alive.  Many have given up on the medical community being able to solve their health issues. The doctors solution is always to pump us full of narcotics, until the patient is unable to function on any level.

I have back issues that qualify me for a medical marijuana prescription card, but the back pain I can deal with, it’s the nausea and being unable to keep anything down that keeps me searching for alternatives. I’ve tried many things, ginger helps soothe my troubled tummy to some degree but smoking marijuana provides relief and allows me to keep up with my busy family.

Why can’t we all just get along and stop making the lives of those who struggle with medical issues harder still?

You say…

 “There’s no question that (the laws) have been abused. A considerable number of patients and health care providers have been very lax and unprofessional,” he said.
But Stolp said he is concerned — if the ordinance passes as is — about those who actually use it legitimately.

“It would be more difficult” for those patients to gain access to cannabis, he said.

To that, I say…

First off, who cares? Those inside cabins for miles around get to “enjoy” the sounds of vociferant music,  foul-mouthed drunks that spill out into the streets almost every evening. Compared to that, marijuana smokers are almost comatose.

The only reason I can see for the county Board of Supervisors to ban dispensaries must have something to do with all the federal dollars that pour into our county to eradicate marijuana being grown in the Stanislaus National Forest.

I know our county isn’t rich. We could use the tax dollars that would come from allowing these dispensaries. The new policy simply doesn’t make good sense from a fiscal standpoint or a social one. Besides, once marijuana is legalized, your ordinance won’t mean a blessed thing anyway and all you will have succeeded in doing is wasting a bunch of time on a non-issue.

Listen to what Ron Paul has to say on this topic…

Ron Paul on Marijuana Prohibition and its Scandalous Racist Roots!

http://youtu.be/Y58k1VC7yaw

Related articles

• Feds Don’t Condone Oakland Pot Dispensary, But Want $2.5M in Back Taxes (sfist.com)
• Want More Crime in Your City? Close Your Local Medical Marijuana Dispensary, Says Study (newsfeed.time.com)
• Will Fresno marijuana advocates take a lesson from Bakersfield? (fresnobeehive.com)
• Marijuana petition drive blocks Kern County ban (bakersfield.com)