cannabisnews.com: Pot-Growing Woman, 60, Reports To Prison





Pot-Growing Woman, 60, Reports To Prison
Posted by CN Staff on January 06, 2007 at 07:07:37 PT
By Adam Martin, The Examiner
Source: San Francisco Examiner 
San Francisco -- Amid a shower of tossed daisies, a flurry of hugs and lots of tears, a 60-year-old woman who was investigated by San Francisco police for growing medical marijuana in 2002 turned herself in to federal marshals this week.Stephanie Landa must begin serving her 41-month federal prison sentence while waiting for her latest appeal to make its way through the courts, a federal judge ruled in December. In 2002, Landa pleaded guilty to federal marijuana cultivation charges. Evidence, including the actual marijuana, collected during the San Francisco police investigation was used in her federal prosecution.
On July 18, 2002, police officers raided the warehouse space Landa and two co-defendants were renting at 560 Brannan St., just two blocks from police headquarters at the Hall of Justice. They placed Landa in handcuffs and read her Miranda rights, then let her go, but three weeks later, according to her attorney Allison Margolin, she was indicted on federal drug charges.At the time of Landa’s arrest, San Francisco had recently declared itself a symbolic “sanctuary” for medical marijuana users, growers and distributers. Proposition 215, passed by state voters in 1996, permits the growing and using of medical marijuana with a doctor’s prescription. Most recently, in November, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution making marijuana violations the lowest priority for law enforcement. But marijuana possession, cultivation and sales remain federal crimes.Before Landa’s arrest, she said, she and other medical marijuana activists met with San Francisco police officers with the narcotics division, who advised them on the law, and suggested they set up shop near the Hall of Justice to lower the risk of burglaries. “They said as long as you stay in The City, within the city limits, hire licensed electricians, you can grow medical marijuana,” Landa said Wednesday.But Capt. Tim Hettrich, who heads the narcotics division, said Wednesday that the officers never gave specific advice to individuals and “definitely” didn’t instruct them on where to set up shop. “We are not going to advise people to break the law,” Hettrich said. “At the time, Prop. 215 was in effect. [The officers] went out and spoke to many groups on the effect of the law on citizens for medicinal marijuana.”On Thursday, as Landa hugged her 20-year-old son Max Landa before heading into the federal building, Police Commissioner David Campos called for a review of police resources spent on the enforcement of marijuana laws.“It makes no sense to me that we would expend those resources enforcing marijuana laws,” he said. “The idea that a 60-year-old woman could spend 41 months in prison makes no sense to me.”Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who introduced the latest marijuana legislation, said, “I’m supportive of this woman. I think there’s a lot of arbitrary morality in this decision. If anybody’s a victim, I think she is.”But Capt. Hettrich defended the department’s handling of the case. He said a citizen complaint instigated the surveillance and subsequent raid of the warehouse. “We would be remiss in our duty if we did not investigate complaints,” he said. Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)Author: Adam Martin, The ExaminerPublished: January 6, 2007Copyright: 2007 San Francisco ExaminerContact: letters sfexaminer.comWebsite: http://www.examiner.com/Related Article:Feds Jail Elderly Medical Cannabis Caregiverhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22496.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on January 07, 2007 at 14:11:36 PT
charmed quark
I know what you are saying. I don't know how or where they draw the line on this at all. When I think of a successful co-op I think of WAMM. What they were doing always made sense to me but when it got to all the dispensaries I didn't know what to think.To me a shared plot of land between patients seems fair and probably legal under Prop 215. Like a co-op vegetable garden would work.
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Comment #22 posted by charmed quark on January 07, 2007 at 14:11:33 PT
The ratio
I misread your question. Uner SB 420 the ratio is 6 plants and 8 oz of prepared material per patient at any time. As I said in the previous post, this is not actually the maximum, just the "can't arrest" amount. If you had more, they could arrest you and then determine if it was a justified amount. It it was, they have to release you. If not, they can press charges.BTW - I can't really parse these bills. Everything I say is actually other people's analysis. So take it with many grains of salt.
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Comment #21 posted by charmed quark on January 07, 2007 at 14:01:57 PT
SB 420
I'm no more an expert than you are. The SB doesn't say.SB 420 sets what it says are reasonable amounts that can be grown and possessed, although these aren't actual ceilings and allows the formation of collectives, etc.The CA 3rd District Counrt, in the 2005 Urziceanu decision, upheld the right to form collectives, cooperatives, and ( I think) dispensaries under SB 420 and Prop 215 and to have people grow for them. I would say that there is no limit to size as long as the amounts being grown and distributed are consistant, under 420, with the number of patients in the cooperative and that it operatives as a non-profit and the saleries of the cooperative/collective workers are reasonable. But local community seem to be able to regulate the size and locations of cooperatives. Indded, several cities, including Oakland have done that.I know the Wo/Man Alliance was considered a model of a 420 collective and it had 200 members. It certainly matched what I think an ideal collective should be like.Both the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and Los Angeles Cannabis Research Center were considered legal, at least in the reviews I've read.Eddy's Medicinal Garden had on the order of 30,000 plants for 2000 to 3000 patients. This certainly has to be the biggest garden ( 25 acres) I've read about! More of a farm, I'd say. However, this garden would seem to violate the 6 plants per patient number. While that number is not an absolute, having more would mean you would have to defend the fact that the individual patients needed this amount.It seems to me that if the police consider a club or garden to be outside the limits, that they should host a review of the club with whatever municipality/county has jurisdiction. If the municipality decides it is improper, they should give a cease order to the cooperative, which could then appeal it or not. But instead, it seems the police immediately use the criminal system. That just seems wrong, given the ambiguities of the law.
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on January 07, 2007 at 09:49:13 PT
charmed quark
Thank you. I didn't know that. When something confuses me it takes alot to get me to understand it. Was there a size limit on co-ops? What I mean is how many plants for how many patients ratio?
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Comment #19 posted by charmed quark on January 07, 2007 at 09:24:00 PT
SB 420 allows cooperatives
It explicitely encourages the setup of cooperatives, and allows people to be compensated for their efforts. But it doesn't allow the setup of profit distributors. So under 420, some of the cooperatives we read about are completely legal, while some of the clubs are not.If they are profit centers, they can probably be prosecuted by the police.
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on January 07, 2007 at 09:06:21 PT
charmed quark
Where I have trouble is how are the police suppose to deal with people who go beyond what the people of California voted for when they voted for Prop 215? All I'm saying is the next step ( legalization of Dispensaries and suppliers) never happened really.
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Comment #17 posted by charmed quark on January 07, 2007 at 08:48:47 PT
Re: FoM - A Question
Senate Bill 420 was suppose to clarify things. But as far as I can read, it didn't limit cities from going beyond this bill.It is indeed chaotic when a city like SF sets up a system that is supported, apparently, by some members of the SF police department and actively opposed by other members. The tactic of handing someone over to the Feds to prosecute because the police can't is especially offensive.I guess the police are too powerful policitically for the city to discipline for this sort of behavior. But if I lived there I'd really be yelling at my city representative.
The police are suppose to be controlled by the politicians, not the other way around. It alsmost sounds like some South American coup.
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Comment #16 posted by afterburner on January 06, 2007 at 23:45:34 PT
Canada Continues to Attack Cannabis Caregivers
CN BC: RCMP Bust Marijuana Supplier For Sick People, Comox Valley Record, (03 Jan 2007) http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v07/n016/a04.html?176CN NS: Trial Date Set For Pot Grower, Chronicle Herald, (05 Jan 2007) http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v07/n014/a09.html?176CN BC: Medicinal Marijuana Grow-Op Halted, Castlegar News, (03 Jan 2007) http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v07/n014/a03.html?176
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Comment #15 posted by Sam Adams on January 06, 2007 at 23:05:00 PT
I have a dream
that someday, the word "pot" will not be used in mainstream media to refer to cannabis.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on January 06, 2007 at 19:42:31 PT
ekim 
Hey ekim thank you. I hope you are having a nice weekend. 
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Comment #13 posted by ekim on January 06, 2007 at 18:50:01 PT
kapt says that it is those thats paycheck depends
 
on the fact that the showdow secretary would cage another for cannabis because his job depends on it. to stoop so low as to try to rob one of there own thoughts and brand them as wild animals for using cannabis is wrong.David Davis, the Conservative Party's Shadow Home Secretary. "We have long said that drugs fuel all sorts of crime. This is because they both undermine a person's sense of responsibility but also because takers and addicts need money to feed their habit." 
http://www.leap.cc.events/
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Comment #12 posted by ekim on January 06, 2007 at 18:15:10 PT
dam FoM you been doen such a great labor of love
all can see what you have written and posted.where are the movies --or plays -- or songs -- that will [[ honor those like ED and DR Todd or a hundred of others that offer to teach -- but are treated as liers.if a ethics board is picked from outside the lawmakers then we will see that the shining golden glow of the light of day will burn the binding that now holds tight the truth
of cannabisplug in a ride for ED --please make a hempmobile
hybred with electric and ethanol-- speaking of Ed on Dir tv ch 229 at 10 pm on Sun nights a neat show on alt energy and a great guy Bagley -- i hope someone will do a show on the Cannabis issue like weeds but is real --now-- fuel food med fiber plastic cloths -how about the Mens Warehouse making a Ed Rosenthal suit
not with stripes either -- everyone would want atleast one
 
how about a strain named for him and used for the best defence that green can buy
http://www.calcars.org/
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on January 06, 2007 at 18:04:12 PT
UPI: Study Links Marijuana To Crime
January, 6, 2007 A British survey finds that half of all crime suspects and 57 percent of young offenders admit recent smoking of marijuana.    The Home Office, for the first time, questioned people who had just been arrested, the Daily Mail reported. The rate of marijuana use was significantly higher than expected.    The government downgraded cannabis from a Class B to a Class C drug in 2004.    "These alarming statistics raise serious questions about the consequences of the government's chaotic and confused policy on drugs," said David Davis, the Conservative Party's Shadow Home Secretary. "We have long said that drugs fuel all sorts of crime. This is because they both undermine a person's sense of responsibility but also because takers and addicts need money to feed their habit."    While 57 percent of those arrested were identified as problem drinkers, far smaller percentages said they had used heroin or cocaine.Copyright: 2007 United Press International  http://washingtontimes.com/upi/20070106-075719-5244r.htm
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on January 06, 2007 at 16:33:33 PT
laduncon
Thank you. I followed Ed's case really closely and I remembered he was authorized by the City of Oakland. I made a page during the trial if you would like to check it out.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htm
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Comment #9 posted by laduncon on January 06, 2007 at 15:54:56 PT
re: Fom
You're correct, Ed Rosenthal is an Oakland resident (not San Francisco as I had written/thought).Also, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (based in San Francisco) overturned Rosenthal's conviction; so thats a pretty loud action to back up all the words (even though they overturned it based on procedural matters and not pro-cannabis reasons).
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 06, 2007 at 14:59:49 PT
A Question
I don't understand about how Prop 215 was suppose to work. I don't understand how people decide what they can or can't do do in California. 
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on January 06, 2007 at 14:56:17 PT
laduncon
I am not sure about this but isn't Ed from Oakland? Is Oakland in San Francisco? 
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Comment #6 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on January 06, 2007 at 14:34:22 PT
One person's complaint is investigated, but....
the complaint of the majority of people that such complaints are not worth investigating is ignored.Pretty much sums up how government works these days.
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Comment #5 posted by laduncon on January 06, 2007 at 13:33:34 PT
Some sanctuary in San Francisco...
San Francisco deputizes Ed Rosenthal and allows him to be dragged into federal court, and proclaims their city a "sanctuary" for medical marijuana and then aids and abbets the feds in their investigation/prosecution of a 60 year-old woman growing cannabis for patients.Doesn't the old adage go, "Actions speak louder than words."Well, in San Francisco the actions are screaming out and the words are a relative whimper in comparison. The problem is, the words deserve repetition and celebration while the actions deserve repudiation and condemnation.
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Comment #4 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on January 06, 2007 at 13:31:27 PT
Amnesty, Pardons, Commuted Sentences....
for ANYONE serving time solely for marijuana.That's what I HAVE to hear from the next person to get my vote for President.The last person I voted for President said this -"Nonviolent drug offenders would be released from federal prison..."Any presidential candidate who doesn't say as much is a mean, willfully ignorant or corrupt, asshole.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 06, 2007 at 08:03:04 PT
OT: Interesting San Francisco Article
Living The Dream, 50 Years Laterhttp://www.lowellsun.com/front/ci_4962769
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 06, 2007 at 07:54:28 PT
Wayne 
What really bothers me is that she could die in prison over marijuana. I find that very hard to handle. Jerry shouldn't be in prison either. Stop the madness now!
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Comment #1 posted by Wayne on January 06, 2007 at 07:48:06 PT
citizen complaint indeed
"But Capt. Hettrich defended the department’s handling of the case. He said a citizen complaint instigated the surveillance and subsequent raid of the warehouse."I think they need to out this citizen and exactly what complaint they made. It doesn't answer the question of why the Feds got involved. Who was this citizen? What were they complaining about? They cannot let the police hide behind anonymous informants on this one, I'm sorry, the public is outraged and they deserve answers."'It makes no sense to me that we would expend those resources enforcing marijuana laws,” he said. “The idea that a 60-year-old woman could spend 41 months in prison makes no sense to me.'"My friend, it doesn't make sense to anyone except the Attorney General. This is HIS baby now. He needs to be made to answer to this misuse of resources. I feel he's been off the hook for way too long.
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