Results tagged “marijuana”

Obama's Justice Department may be loosening up about medical marijuana, but right on cue the DEA just busted a huge marijuana grow operation that was running out of dozens of half-million-dollar homes in the towns of Elk Grove, Lathrop, Modesto, Sacramento, Tracy, and Stockton. A total of 24,500 plants in 50 different homes-turned-grow-houses were seized, and the whole operation was estimated to have grossed about $100 million a year. Federal agents and the IRS had apparently been investigating some individuals at lower levels of the operations for several years, and the 18 people arrested in yesterday's raids were all low-level, gardener-type employees. The DEA has said that these houses were all being run by "a San Francisco-based organized crime syndicate." Who knew we had one of those? Anyway, here are pictures of the four dudes arrested in Elk Grove.

Check it, check it... A Vacaville boy was about to turn one last week, yo. He and his cuzzes and his parents were going to kick back and chill at a park with some beers and some cake and some skunky green weed that his dad was bringing. The problem is, his dad gave him too big a hit before the party started (or was it a pot cookie?). And then, since he was only one year old and couldn't really hold his own, his dad dropped him back home at his ma's because he was turning into kind of a buzz kill. But now she's pissed and got the po-po involved, and Dad's being held under suspicion of child endangerment. [Ed. Note: A paltry 14% of NBC Bay Area readers are "laughing" about this. Come on guys. Do us proud. Go to work against those "furious" clickers.]

More than 100 pot plants were found yesterday afternoon, near St. Ignatius College Preparatory School. This is part of the city's "dismantling of a large-scale pot-growing operation in the city," according to reports.

Former SF pot club owner Kenneth Hayes (pictured here in 1999), whose Sixth Street dispensary, the Harm Reduction Center, was raided by federal agents in 2002, was sentenced to six months of home confinement today by a federal judge. Hayes' co-defendent, Oakland marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal got probation, despite a federal law stating that he should get at least five years in prison for supplying Hayes with his pot. Both men existed in murky legal territory, having worked with local authorities to set up their businesses and believing they were acting within the law -- just not the federal one.

We made it a personal mission to check out the sitch in Dolores Park this past Friday afternoon, following on reports of a police crackdown on "illegal" drinking in the park, and we returned yesterday, wine safely contained in a hard plastic water bottle, to continue our investigation. Here's what we found: police presence on Friday, which was the best weather day of the weekend, was not visible in the several hours we were there. A police van and truck were both stationed, mid-park most of the day on Sunday (and presumably Saturday -- see photo), and much of their attention was focused on the more densely crowded shitshow on Hipster Hill / Fixie Flats.

In light of yesterday's revelation (via the SFBG) that high school kids in SF aren't smoking nearly as much weed as they did a decade ago, we offer up this palate cleanser, featuring the classic pot-smoking sequence from the late John Hughes' The Breakfast Club. This comes from back in the day (1985) when 26% of high school seniors smoked pot habitually, and comes to us via new GenX-themed blog John Hughes Is Dead -- which is, full disclosure, the latest side project by SFist co-editor Jay Barmann.

The Guardian's Drug Issue is out, and it's laced (that's editor Steven T. Jones' word, not ours) with "good shit" ranging from a piece about women's meth use on the rise in SF; a roundup of trippy literature; the requisite piece about marijuana decriminalization; a meditation on the evolution of nightlife drugging by Marke B; and a handy guide to hallucinogen use at Burning Man--especially handy for those, like us, who weren't previously familiar with the terms "candy-flipping" (using LSD and ecstasy together) or "hippie-flipping" (shrooms and ecstasy).

Noted no-nonsense humor haters Stuff Stones Like came across some revealing pot news. It seems a recent scientific survey suggests that kind bud protects against cancer. Pretty cool, huh? And with that in mind, we are going to try writing about this with the UTMOST SERIOUSNESS. (After all, marijuana is serious business.).

Did you know that in the past five months officers have busted 20 major marijuana grow operations in the Sunset and Ingleside districts of San Francisco? Yes, and a man was arrested yesterday in the 2200 block of 20th Avenue with 246 mature plants growing in his home and charged with cultivating, possession with intent to sell, and stealing electricity. Cops say the skunky smell emanating from the house is usually what gives it away. No shit! It looks like the CAMP task force is still hard at work, and that this is more the work of local officials than the DEA, since our current Attorney General isn't too big on federal pot busts anymore. But we don't actually understand the politics of the marijuana policy anymore... We suppose this just wasn't a fully sanctioned medical marijuana grow operation? They're just hating on the Nancy Botwins around town?

by Chris Jones

Part effort to generate revenue and part Bay Area-esque statement, Oakland voters passed a tax on medical marijuana joints, making it the first taxed pot dispensary in the U.S. While the tax "could have the smallest budgetary impact for Oakland," it's a big step for people who want to puff marijuana legally. According to , "people believe it could help legitimize medical marijuana and possibly adult cannabis use in general." Measure F, it seems, "will create a new business class for the dispensaries, which will see a tax increase from $1.20 for every $1,000 in gross sales to $18 per $1,000. It could generate an additional $294,000 a year for the city when it takes effect Jan. 1." This tax, however, won't be nearly enough to help Oakland crawl out of its deep economic rabbit hole.

In an effort to get Californians safe access to affordable mary jane, the above pro-marijuana commercial will air on "several cable news channels and network broadcast affiliates" in LA, Sacramento, and the Bay Area.

Bad news, folks. The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment ruled yesterday that marijuana smoke causes cancer. Stemming from a "review of more than 30 scientific papers" state agency spokesperson Sam Delson said that wispy pot plumes contain "33 of the same harmful chemicals as tobacco smoke." Also, according to biased news agency Fox News, it can damage your DNA. Alas.

Alameda County Sheriffs busted the largest outdoor marijuana growing facility they had ever seen last Thursday. They had launched an investigation after a driver East of Sunol on Calaveras Road reported seeing a teenager wearing camouflage clothes run up a creek bed from the road a couple of weeks ago. The marijuana eradication team found 24 inter-linked pot gardens, three campsites and three make-shift kitchens in the Calaveras Road area, on land that is owned by the San Francisco Water District and feeds the Calaveras Reservoir. The team found 22,838 seedlings about 20 inches tall that were fed with a fresh water supply directly from two creeks on a ridge. Sgt. Shawn Peterson said that the plants might have grown anywhere from 6 to 8 feet tall by August. Two men in their late 20s wearing wooded camouflage were able to flee the police through heavy brush and deep ravines, one of them dropping a semi-automatic handgun on the way out.

Say what you will about San Francisco Gavin Newsom, the real star of the show is his press secretary Nathan Ballard. When Newsom ends his reign as mayor, Ballard is the one we're going to miss. Why? For starters, whimsical pot puns in response to Ross Mirkarimi's press-baiting legislative idea for SF to sell medical mary jane.

San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi proposed legislation yesterday to establish medical marijuana dispensaries that would be owned and operated by the City, thereby making our fair city the first in the nation to become a municipal pot dealer. As the Faded Floozy is reporting, Mirkarimi has wanted to do this for a while, essentially making use of state laws legalizing medical marijuana sales in order to set up a pot distribution system for medical marijuana patients of city clinics.

The Campaign Against Marijuana Planting says it destroyed almost 3 million marijuana plants this growing season. According to the NY Times, a "record number of marijuana plants were uprooted and burned in California this year," with the most marijuana farms found in the Central Valley and Northern California. Additionally, the estimated street value of the plants is $11.6 billion. Of course, these were outdoor farms--who knows how many are hidden, indoor operations--the Marijuana Policy Project, which supports reforms to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol, believes CAMP's tactics push people to grow indoors.

After the Oakland police were called to investigate reports of a "burglary" on Hannah Street in Oakland, 87 marijuana plants were discovered. After police arrested the intruder, they couldn't leave well enough alone. After getting a search warrant a little after midnight this morning, they found the intoxicating buds were found.

When it's a slow local news day, it's a slow local news day; and that's when the fun begins! These are the days when you get to see the true colors of your local news source at work. So, forgive us when we yawned at the cheap ploy of discussing marijuana on the Gate.

Actress Dawn Wells -- i.e., Mary-Ann from -- was busted for smoking the doob, it seems. The Associated Press has the harrowing, mary jane-fueled details:

From November 16 to November 18, Denton Geiger, 42, a San Francisco resident, held his (ex)girlfriend captive in their former home, where beat and raped her. (Jesus.) According to the Examiner, "Geiger allegedly approached the victim on Haight as she sold marijuana and persuaded her to go to their former home...[t]he victim escaped on Nov. 18 when an acquaintance entered the residence and intervened as she fled to a neighbor’s house." After a good...

-- Barry Bonds: your San Francisco diva. [SFGate]

At the dewy-fresh hour of 6 a.m., Oakland police officers, Alameda County sheriff's deputies, and agents with the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI went on an Oakland-wide spree of busts for heroin trafficking (as well as "cocaine and marijuana, " at least according to this morning's Mornings On 2's.)

Federal drug agents raided an East Oakland home growing a lot of mary jane, $3.5 million worth of it, it seems.

At left: barf

Today, the Oakland City Council voted to ban smoking in "ATM lines, parks and other public places," which is smurfy, health-conscious, makes the bitch behind you at the ATM line stops her self-righteous fake coughing, will result in animated birds singing on your shoulders, etcetera.

Seeing as how the Summer of Love was the single most important event in the history of time and space, we thought it would be delightful of us to review a smattering of Summer of Love anniversary reviews for you. In no particular order, discover the music, elderly genitalia, and abundance of ATMs you missed.

And now for another big city's mildly retarded view of San Francisco:

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a picture displaying the woes of cruising in a tacky limo on the streets of San Francisco.

-- Tegan & Sara: identical twins cum awesome rock songstresses with questionable haircuts play tonight in the Mission. Show starts at 8 p.m., Brava Theater, 2789 24th St.; tickets are $25.