DETECTIVE SAYS POT EXCEEDED PERSONAL USE

Wielding a large plastic food bag of primo Sonoma marijuana buds to
illustrate his point, a narcotics detective testified Wednesday that a
Santa Rosa medical marijuana user was growing much more than he needed
for his personal use.

Rebutting defense testimony, Steven Gossett, the lead detective for
the Sonoma County marijuana eradication program, said Alan MacFarlane
was growing nearly twice as much as he needed for one year, even
assuming he was smoking and eating the amount he claimed.

Gossett said the local plants yield more buds and a more potent
variety than the Mississippi crop from a federal study that a defense
expert relied on to estimate how much MacFarlane would harvest.

MacFarlane, 47, is the first person in Sonoma County to mount a
medical use defense to charges of marijuana cultivation. He was
arrested twice in 1999 - the first time for growing 73 plants, and
then for 36 plants.

Gossett estimated the first crop would have produced almost 15 pounds
of manicured buds. The second crop would have yielded about 13.5
pounds, ye said.

His estimates were much lower than a fellow narcotics detective who
testified last week, but Gossett said the amount MacFarlane was
growing in his Santa Rosa back yard was still excessive for his needs.

After MacFarlane filed an insurance claim for the loss of his plants,
he told insurance investigators he consumed an average of 2.5 ounces
per week.

Based on that figure, the detective said MacFarlane would consume 8.1
pounds per year, much less than his plants would have produced.

Under questioning by prosecutor Carla Claeys, Gossett calculated that
MacFarlane's first crop would have yielded more than 8,000 marijuana
cigarettes, meaning he would have needed to smoke 22 joints a day.

But under questioning by defense attorney Sandy Feinland, the
detective conceded that if it were eaten, as well as smoked, a person
could consume 2 ounces per week.

Although expert witnesses for the defense previously testified
MacFarlane was not growing more than he required for his medical
needs, Gossett said their yield estimate was based on much less
productive plants in Mississippi.

"It's like apples to oranges?" asked the prosecutor.

"Absolutely, it's like trying to make a peach pie with apples,"
Gossett replied.