(Fresno Bee) A Fresno man who fatally wounded a thief while protecting his backyard medical-marijuana garden last year was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter Tuesday.

[The victim, Stanley] Wallace and the others parked the two vehicles on Durant Avenue just west of [the patient, Phayvanh] Dydouangphan’s home, then the group began to tear down the fence to the garden. Awakened by barking dogs, Dydouangphan saw the intruders and, armed with a shotgun, fired a warning shot over their heads. Pandemonium broke out and the intruders quickly left in their van and pickup. But during the escape, Dydouangphan shot Wallace in the head as he sat in the passenger seat of the pickup, prosecutor Michael Frye said. He died two days later. Frye contended Dydouangphan didn’t have a right to shoot Wallace, because Wallace didn’t pose a threat. He said the defendant gave police the shotgun and told an officer: “They rob. I shoot.”

But Criego said Dydouangphan also had told police the thieves had guns. Criego said someone in the fleeing truck displayed a firearm “in a menacing fashion,” causing his client to fear for his life.

While medicine rippers are the lowest form of small-time criminal scum, right below bike thieves and pickpockets who target the elderly, you cannot run out to their escape vehicle and shoot them in the head.  The patient was within his rights to defend himself and his property and when the warning shot drove the criminals away, that is where the encounter should have ended.  The rippers, low as they are, did not threaten the patient’s life.  Nobody, not even rippers, should die over marijuana.

Once again, however, there would be no rippers if marijuana weren’t so hard to come by and so expensive it’s worth ripping.  Nobody brings a crew and tears down fences to rip off tomatoes from one’s home garden.  Nobody stages elaborate and dangerous home invasion robberies to go after the case of beer in the fridge.  Legalize marijuana for the healthy people who enjoy it and the patients never need worry about rippers again.

Federal authorities are saying that they have busted a drug ring that was growing marijuana in California under the guise of medical use and selling it across state lines for inflated prices. Federal prosecutors in California unsealed an indictment on Monday that accuses six people of moving medical marijuana from farm fields in Fresno County to the Boston area for sale

Read the original post:
Medical Marijuana Growers In California Get Busted In Boston

As if there needed to be another reason not to live in Fresno...

The temporary ban to stop residents from growing marijuana outdoors was approved on September 14 by county supervisors and it was to last for 45 days.

Read more from the original source:

Fresno’s Backyard Medical Marijuana Ban is Banned

University of Central Florida NORML, one of the nation's premiere campus NORML chapters

Do you attend a college or university that doesn’t have a NORML Chapter?  Would you like to start one?  Send me an email at stash@norml.org and check the menu at the top that says “NORML Chapters” and you’ll learn all you need to know.

You could make a difference on your campus like the brand new CSU Fresno chapter:

(CSU Fresno Collegian) “Our primary goal is to spread correct information about marijuana and hemp to the students of Fresno State,” said 20-year-old [CSU Fresno NORML] president Idell Tarver. “We also promote the organizations goals of [medicinal marijuana] use, industrial use and recreational use.”

According to their Web site, the club wants to create limitations for marijuana and hemp being that only adults can use it. Those who use it would not be able to drive after using, limits would be set, resist abuse, and they would have to respect the rights of others.

“In the upcoming weeks, we are having discussions of various topics relating to marijuana, our symposium series,” Tarver said.

The club also has a debate scheduled with a narcotics officer that they hope will happen on April 20 in the Free Speech Area.

The club is also getting involved with the community and plans to adopt a stretch of highway.

“We hope to adopt the two-mile stretch of [highway] 168 that runs westbound from the Bullard overpass. We would be cleaning that section of the highway once a month,” Tarver said. “This is a good opportunity to get the students of N.O.R.M.L to get involved with the community.”

N.O.R.M.L is open to any new members, and meetings are held at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays in Family Food and Sciences 216a.

Remember, the man is legally required to say these things…

The federal government is not going to pull back on its efforts to curtail marijuana farming operations, Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Wednesday in Fresno.

The nation’s drug czar, who viewed a foothill marijuana farm on U.S. Forest Service land with state and local officials earlier Wednesday, said the federal government will not support legalizing marijuana.

“Legalization is not in the president’s vocabulary, and it’s not in mine,” he said.

Dictionaries for Drug Czar Kerlikowske - click here to donate online to NORML and we'll remind Director Kerlikowske and President Obama that "legalization" needs to be in their vocabularies.

Kerlikowske said he can understand why legislators are talking about taxing marijuana cultivation to help cash-strapped government agencies in California. But the federal government views marijuana as a harmful and addictive drug, he said.

“Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit,” Kerlikowske said in downtown Fresno while discussing Operation SOS — Save Our Sierra — a multiagency effort to eradicate marijuana in eastern Fresno County.

Officials say the marijuana-eradication operation will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the exact amount won’t be known until agencies can add up staffing, vehicle and other costs.

Stashers RevRayGreen (right) holding tin of federal medical marijuana delivered monthly to George McMahon (left)

It is amazing to make the statement that marijuana has no medicinal value in the state that has hundreds of thousands medical users and thousands of doctors recommending it for medical use for thirteen years.  Even more amazing when you know the federal government Kerlikowske works for has patents on the medical use of cannabinoids and continues to deliver tins of marijuana joints for medical purposes to four Americans.

Mr. Drug Czar, your pants are on fire!

To protect and serve?  Does this seem like proper police priorities to you?

(KSEE Fresno) Kerman Police removed more than 30 marijuana plants from the home of a couple killed in home invasion robbery Wednesday night. It all began that morning at a home at El Mar Lane and 4th Street in Kerman. Ironically, the home was under surveillance by police when 3 men went inside and allegedly shot and killed a couple in their 60s who lived in the home. Police chased until the suspects car crashed into another vehicle at Golden State and Jensen.

Three people in the car were arrested immediately, but a fourth man ran and was later tracked down and caught.

Kerman police say the home where the couple were killed had been under surveillance for weeks, suspected of being a marijuana grow house. Police were planning on raiding the home when the suspects entered the house.

Neighbors, who identified the couple as Gary and Sandra DeBartolo, were shocked at the couples death, noting that Sandra worked at the nearby Kerman High School.

So the police are watching this home for weeks and watch three guys walk in and murder the occupants?  Why do you suppose the guys wanted to invade the home in the first place?  Because marijuana is illegal and they can’t buy their own at a store and they can sell what they steal for tens of thousands of dollars.

KMPH Fox 26 Central San Joaquin Valley News Source in Fresno, California Entertainment, News, Sports and Weather | Fresno County To Begin Issuing Medicinal Marijuana Cards

The County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to begin issuing medicinal marijuana cards before the end of the year. After a 3-1 vote, Fresno County will now become the 41st county in the state to participate in California’s Medical Marijuana Program registry.

The board of supervisors reached the decision, after several discussions, and years of research.

While marijuana use is against federal law, back in 1996 California legislatures passed the Compassionate Use Act which allows patients with a valid doctor’s recommendation, and their designated primary caregivers, to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal medical use.

In 2003, the identification card law was added in hopes of protecting medical-marijuana patients and caregivers from being put under arrest.

The health department believes more than 500 residents will sign up for the card this year.

Kudos to Fresno County for following the will of the people!  San Diego and San Bernadino continue to fight against the ID card system in the courts under the belief that ID cards violate federal law, despite decisions we’ve had confirming the opposite.  ID cards will make the system much easier to deal with for both patients and law enforcement.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A Fresno man is in custody today after casino security videotaped him placing a large amount of marijuana on a blackjack table, apparently as his bet.  Video shows the man then reclaiming the bag of weed, but then taking just a few buds and placing those out as his bet.  Even as casino security scooped up the contraband, the man seems unfazed, because he has ordered a card on the internet that he believes gives him the right to bet weed.

Thanks to Omar Figueroa for the tip.

Medical IDs for Marijuana Wait for Ruling – Health – redOrbit
Jul. 9–Fresno County officials want a state appeals court to rule on identification cards for medical marijuana users before deciding whether the county should start distributing them.

The state started asking counties to issue ID cards to medical marijuana users in 2005, nearly a decade after voters approved such use in a statewide initiative.

Forty of the state’s 58 counties issue ID cards, which certify that a doctor has prescribed the drug.

Several medical marijuana users on Tuesday asked Fresno County supervisors to issue the cards. Some of them said they’ve been needlessly detained by law enforcement officials, while others said they fear arrest.

Dawn Nolan of Fresno said she has been using marijuana following a 2002 crash with a drunken driver. Now disabled, Nolan worries about driving home after purchasing marijuana in Tulare County. “I don’t want to see anyone arrested for something they need,” she said.

But Sheriff Margaret Mims asked supervisors to hold off on a decision until the appeals court rules. She said issuing the cards might encourage medical marijuana users to drive under the influence of the drug.

Now that’s an interesting criticism – If you give someone an identification card it will lead to DUIs.  Here in Oregon, we have a statewide mandatory registration card system and over 20,000 registered patients.  In 1998, when the program started, Oregon had 538 driving fatalities, 233 were alcohol-related.  In 2006, those numbers had dropped to 477 driving fatalities, with 177 alcohol-related.  In 1998 there were a total of 22,578 DUII arrests in Oregon; in 2005 the number had dropped to 19,521.  There are no statistics specifically for DUIMJ that I could find, but if giving 20,000 people medical marijuana ID cards is leading to more DUIIs and deaths, then DUIIs and deaths from alcohol must have dramatically plummeted.

FRESNO, Calif. — The Fresno County Board of Supervisors will conduct a public hearing on the local implementation of the statewide Medical Marijuana Identification Card Program, 9 a.m., July 8, in the County Board Chambers in the Hall of Records at 2281 Tulare St.

Although 40 California counties have implemented the program – including Merced, Tulare, Inyo and San Benito as well as Los Angeles, Orange and Kern – Fresno has yet to act.

Aaron Smith, California organizer for the Marijuana Policy Project, noted that the program – mandated by a state law that went into effect in 2004 – benefits law enforcement by removing the burden of verifying patient documentation from officers on the street. The ID card provides a means for local peace officers to easily identify bona fide medical marijuana patients during enforcement stops.

“We are merely calling on the Board of Supervisors to follow existing state law so that suffering patients like Diana do not have to live in fear of false arrest at the expense of local taxpayers,” Smith said. “It is the duty of the county’s leaders to protect their most vulnerable citizens and to make the jobs of local law enforcement easier by providing them with all the tools available. This program is a major step in the right direction.”

To help educate the community about this and other medical marijuana issues facing Fresno, MPP will host a free screening of the award-winning medical marijuana documentary “Waiting to Inhale,” followed by a panel discussion, July 7, at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 2672 E. Alluvial Ave., in Clovis.

I’m coming at you from Oregon, where our medical marijuana law requires an ID card for all patients, caregivers (I’m one), and growers.  California has mandated that all counties offer an ID card program, but participation in the program is optional.

I guess I don’t understand why Californians would not want a mandatory, statewide ID card system.  I hear the complaint, “I don’t want to be on some government list!”  Well, do you have a Social Security Number?  Then you’re already on a government list!

I can’t tell you how much of a relief it was the first time my caregiver card meant something to me.  I was transporting two fairly-bushy four-foot plants to one of our cardholder meetings.  They were covered with thin white plastic garbage bags, but with the light streaming through you could make out the silhouette of some fine Oregon cannabis.

I looked into my rearview and there was one of Portland’s finest tailing me.  I got that initial adrenaline rush all us stoners get when there is suddenly a cop driving behind you, especially when you’re carrying ounces of ganja.  Then I remembered, “Hey, I’ve got a caregiver card.  If he pulls be over, I just show him my license, registration, insurance, and caregiver card and I’m driving away scot-free!”  The panic subsided.  The cop never pulled me over.  But that feeling of relief definitely trumps any sort of paranoid thought I ever had about being on some “gub’mint list”.