California, Oakdale

[palmspringsbum]

Medical pot users say they felt safe at closed collective

by Eve Hightower, Modesto Bee
August 15th, 2007


OAKDALE — A.J. Hajjar figures that if lawmakers and police could feel the pain of three herniated disks, other lower back problems and osteoarthritis, they'd leave places like Oakdale Natural Choice Collective alone.

"I felt very safe here," the 61-year-old Tracy man said while seated in the now-empty medical marijuana dispensary that the Stanislaus County Drug Enforcement Agency and Oakdale police shut down July 31. It had been open since May 7, owner Addison DeMoura said.

Hajjar, who also has diabetes and high blood pressure, said he didn't set out to add marijuana to his list of medications. A doctor suggested it.

"I was totally comfortable with it," said Hajjar, who said he has since decreased his dependence on pharmaceutical drugs.

He'd had medical approval to use marijuana for about three weeks before the only dispen-sary he knew of in the valley closed.

On July 31, law enforcement officers arrested DeMoura and others associated with the collective at 1275 East F St. Everyone arrested has since made bail, said Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department spokesman Royjindar Singh.

Police searched the collective and confiscated an undisclosed amount of marijuana, money, records and other items. DeMoura said they also took the hemp clothing, political books, lotions and soaps that he and volunteers sold at the nonprofit business.

Law enforcement officials will not provide specifics on the evidence they seized until the case is closed, said Modesto Police Department Lt. Mike Zahr, who is handling the case for the multiagency task force called Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency.

Investigators started looking into the case after complaints about a strong odor coming from the collective. There also were complaints regarding the clientele.

DeMoura opened the shop as a natural therapeutic products business, according to his business license, and said that is all the collective was. The license did not specifically state that the collective would sell marijuana.

"This dispensary was run so professionally. We made sure patients were comfortable. We gave out water. We had chairs for people who couldn't stand in line. I know what we were doing was the right thing," he said.

Since law enforcement shut the dispensary, Hajjar said he will have to go to Oakland to get marijuana if he wants to continue using it. He said he won't buy it on the street. Marijuana supplied at a collective is safer because those who use it also grow and provide it, DeMoura said.

State law allows approved medical marijuana users to have up to six mature or 12 immature plants. Pooling resources helps ensure everyone in a collective has enough.

It also allows patients to try different varieties. Just like patients sometimes need to have their pharmaceutical drugs adjusted, marijuana users need to adjust the strength of tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive substance in cannabis, DeMoura said.

"I can't drive to Oakland. It's too expensive and the long drive is painful," said Deborah Pottle, 53, of Oakdale, who has tried a gamut of pain medication since a back injury 13 years ago.

"I blew three disks and ruptured one," the former correctional officer said. "I'm limited strictly to this because I developed allergies to those drugs."

Pottle said her relationship with her daughters suffered when she began trying various painkillers.

"With medical marijuana, I function," she said. "Without it I have no quality of life."

Pottle said she smokes the drug and eats it in cereal-bar-looking "edibles."

"This is my survivor issue. I'm not a flake. I don't know what else to do," she said.

In 1996, California voters passed the Compassionate Use Act, which allows possession of marijuana for medical use. Lawmakers later enacted another bill requiring counties to issue cards to medical marijuana users, entitling them to possess as much as eight ounces.

"Legalization takes the power away from the drug lords," DeMoura said.

State law doesn't make using the drug easy, even for people who have doctor recommendations. Marijuana is outlawed on the federal level but allowed for medical use in California — leaving cities and counties to draw the line that residents must walk.

Every city in Stanislaus County has enacted a permanent or temporary ban on dispensaries.

Assistant County Counsel John Doering has said the county's stand is that distributors are not allowed under federal law and are not described under the Compassionate Use Act.

Zahr said the law does not legalize marijuana. "It's a defense to prosecution," he said.

Bob Hussey, executive director of the California Narcotic Officers' Association, has called the safe access law "a mess for law enforcement."

Hussey said he figures that though there are people who sincerely have the sort of ailments that marijuana could alleviate, many use dispensaries as a guise to deal the drug.

"Most dispensaries are operating for profit; the law does not allow that," Zahr said. "They are nothing but a front for criminal drug trafficking."

DeMoura said he would be naive not to understand law enforcement's point of view. But he maintains there are legitimate dispensaries and ways to ensure the drug is sold only to patients with valid prescriptions.

At the collective, a guard stopped unfamiliar people at the door. Everyone had to show identification and a doctor's recommendation for marijuana. Volunteers would verify the recommendation's legitimacy with the doctor, and verify that those making patient recommendations really were doctors.

<span class=postbold>Professional atmosphere</span>

DeMoura's wife, Jessica, said volunteers wore lab coats and scrubs to handle the marijuana.

"He even made someone cut their hair. He wanted it to be as clean-cut, legal and as professional as possible," she said.

DeMoura said the tinted windows kept cooling costs down and provided patients, dealing with a range of ailments from AIDS to pharmaceutical pain medication allergies, with a sense of privacy. Three guards were on hand at all times. People were not allowed to use the drug at the collective, DeMoura said.

Even with verification that they can use and grow the drug, patients often are paranoid that police will come knocking on their door or pull them over.

"They're right to be worried," said Modesto-based defense attorney Frank Carson, who has represented about 30 medical marijuana users throughout his 19-year career. "Cops just don't like it. But if people can find a doctor to write them a prescription, they can smoke dope now."

"I don't feel like I'm a criminal. But this is what I have to expect. I put myself on the line," DeMoura said. "I put myself between a state and federal conflict.

"Criminals would run. I'm standing right here."

Asked if he plans to reopen the collective or leave town, he wavered.

"We're going to clean the place up and turn it into an activist headquarters," he said.

Later, he reconsidered.

"I think Oakdale has shown they don't want a dispensary," he said.

The collective's landlord has since asked the collective to leave the building.

<small>Bee staff writer Eve Hightower can be reached at ehightower@modbee.com or 578-2382.</small>

[palmspringsbum]

The Modesto Bee
Posted on Thu, Aug. 23, 2007

Medical marijuana supporters, defendants rally in Modesto

By EVE HIGHTOWER
ehightower@modbee.com
last updated: August 23, 2007 09:55:36 AM

View Pro Medical Marijuana Rally in Modesto


Seven people arrested on drug charges stemming from an investigation into an Oakdale medical marijuana dispensary were in court Wednesday. Their arraignments were put off until Sept. 25 so the district attorney has more time to investigate.

On July 31, Michael Cadiz, 32, of Modesto; Addison DeMoura, 33, of Oakdale; Shawn Garvin, 27, of Modesto; Russell Green, 28, of Stockton; Angel Herrera, 32, of Lathrop; Brennan Johnston, 27, of Oakdale; and Joseph Young, 30, of Turlock were arrested after a two-month investigation into the Oakdale Natural Choice Collective.

The collective has closed; everyone arrested is on bail.

An hour before heading to court, DeMoura held a medical marijuana rally outside the Stanislaus County Courthouse.

About 25 people -- defendants and supporters -- hoisted signs saying, "We won't stand for this. God made Cannabis" and other slogans. Signs also stated that Proposition 215, which exempts patients with doctor recommendations from laws that otherwise prohibit possession or cultivation of marijuana, is not being enforced properly.

Waiting outside court, Garvin said police and the press have treated him unfairly.

"Everyone thinks I'm guilty before even going to court," he said.

Toting an oxygen tank, Garvin said marijuana helps him deal with ailments related to carbon monoxide poisoning that happened while doing electrical work in a warehouse in 2004.

'Two doctor recommendations'

He said the carbon monoxide burned his lungs, leaving him with blood-producing coughs, headaches and occasional seizures. Edible marijuana and a vaporizer have helped him avoid other pain and seizure medications, Garvin said.

"I have two doctor recommendations from two different doctors," Garvin said. "They're prosecuting people needlessly."

Green, who volunteered at the collective and faces charges of growing, processing, transporting and selling marijuana, said he has done nothing wrong and believes in the justice system.

"I was abiding by the law. Justice will be served," he said.

Forced out of town?

Arrests such as the ones on July 31 effectively force dispensaries out of town, which is a shame, said medical marijuana activist Dale Gieringer of Oakland. Gieringer, who received a doctorate from Stanford while studying drug regulation, said law enforcement in the Central Valley has not welcomed dispensaries.

"People are tired of having no access in the Central Valley," he said.

Patients who do not have access to dispensaries have to grow their own plants, drive to Oakland to buy it, or find dealers on the street, said Gieringer, who is the state coordinator of California National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a co-founder of the California Drug Policy Reform Coalition and of Californians for Compassionate Use.

"Having a local business with a license is much better because patients have a place that is accountable," he added.

Bee staff writer Eve Hightower can be reached at 578-2382 or ehightower@modbee.com.

[palmspringsbum]

Posted on Tue, Feb. 12, 2008
Pot merchants file against Oakdale, Stanislaus County

The Modesto Bee
By TIM MORAN
tmoran@modbee.com
last updated: February 12, 2008 08:15:11 AM

The owners of the closed medical marijuana dispensary in Oakdale have filed two claims against the city and Stanislaus County, asking for almost $2 million.

The dispensary, Oakdale Natural Choice Collective Inc., and the home of the owners were raided July 31 by members of the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency and the Oakdale Police Department. Another raid was conducted a day later on a Riverbank home that was used to grow marijuana for the patient collective.

Addison DeMoura, owner of the dispensary, was arrested along with several others associated with Oakdale Natural Choice Collective.

Charges haven't been filed and the case is under review, said Assistant District Attorney Carol Shipley.

One of the claims was filed on behalf of DeMoura, his wife, Jessica DeMoura, their son, Tiger James DeMoura, and Oakdale Natural Choice Collective. It keys on the raids at the collective business in downtown Oakdale and the DeMouras' home in Oakdale.

The claim asks for compensation of $1,953,266 for lost revenue from the collective, medical marijuana seized, equipment seized or destroyed in the raid, damage to the home and business, and legal costs.

Most of the claim, $1.8 million, is listed under lost wages for Addison DeMoura, at $10,000 per day. DeMoura said Monday that the $10,000 figure is the gross revenue for the business at the time it was closed.

The claim also asks for an unspecified sum for the trauma suffered by Tiger James DeMoura, 3, during the raid. The boy refuses to return to the Oakdale home and lives with his mother and grandmother out of town, according to the claim.

The second claim refers to the raid on the Riverbank home used to grow marijuana and cites the loss of marijuana plants and growing equipment as well as damage to the house. That claim is for $39,355.

The claim alleges that law enforcement officers wrote on the walls, spit tobacco on the floors throughout the house and urinated in the laundry room.

Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson called the allegations "ludicrous," and said they were "unfounded and baseless."

"I can guarantee you that didn't occur," Christianson said. "I know my staff would never participate in that kind of activity."

Oakdale Police Chief Marty West said he was surprised by the allegations. "I find it hard to believe that officers would do that," he said.

The claims generally are considered a prelude to a lawsuit. Robert Raich, an Oakland attorney representing the DeMouras, said the claims had to be filed within six months of the incident to retain the right to file a lawsuit. Whether a lawsuit is filed depends on the response and the outcome of any criminal charges, Raich said.

County and city officials have been put into a legal quandary because California law permits the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, but federal law does not.

Raich said the county has no author- ity to enforce federal laws, only state laws. Shipley said the county is reviewing whether the dispensary violated the criteria for medical marijuana under California law. "We aren't trying to enforce federal law," she said.

County Counsel Michael Krausnick said Monday that the DeMoura claims will be denied. "We don't believe it has any merit," he said.

West said the city claims administrator would review the DeMoura claims and make a recommendation to the City Council.

Addison DeMoura said Monday that he is eager to go to trial on any criminal charges that may be filed. He contends the business was a registered nonprofit and legal according to state law.

"I want them to prosecute this. I want to go to trial. They are subverting state law," DeMoura said.

"They took away a lot from me. I was just following state and county laws."

Bee staff writer Tim Moran can be reached at tmoran@modbee.com or 578-2349.