OFFICERS SEIZE 119 SUSPECTED POT PLANTS AND 600 POPPIES FROM HOMES IN
ARROYO AND LOS OSOS

Search warrants served at two residences Thursday reportedly turned up 119
marijuana plants and more than 600 opium poppies in various stages of
processing.

Four people were arrested at the residences in Los Osos and Arroyo Grande
for suspected cultivation and possessing marijuana and opium for sale. All
were being held on $50,000 bail Thursday night in County Jail.

Sheriff's narcotics detectives served search warrants simultaneously at
1064 Maple St. in Arroyo Grande and 557 Mar Vista St. in Los Osos. Arroyo
Grande police assisted.

Detectives seized 609 opium poppies - the largest such seizure in recent
county history, said sheriff's Sgt. Sean Donahue. "Because the seizure of
opium in plant form is rare, the value has not yet been determined," he said.

The estimated street value of the seized marijuana plants is reportedly
more than $200,000.

Arrested during Thursday's raids were Thomas Bradford Dunbar, 47, and Jo-D
Harrison Furino, 34, both of Arroyo Grande; John Edward McLean, 48, and
Violet Angelina McLean, 47, both of Los Osos. Two of the suspects - Dunbar
and John McLean - were profiled in the Telegram-Tribune in November 1997.
The story described the clash between local law enforcement and growers
over the interpretation of Proposition 215, the medicinal marijuana
initiative passed by California voters in November 1996.

Dunbar and McLean - members of SLO NORML (National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws) - allowed photographs to be taken of their
marijuana gardens and spoke on the condition their last names weren't used.

They both said they suffered from chronic pain and grew marijuana as
"medicine" for themselves and others.

Ths law does not provide immunity from arrest for cultivation. It's up to
defendants to prove in court whether they were truly growing the plants for
medicinal use.

"This investigation had nothing to do with the story," said Bolts. "This
investigation developed independently."

Detectives said during Thursday's raids they seized a photograph of one of
the suspect's holding up the front-page newspaper story. The unnamed
suspect was apparently photographed smoking what appeared to be a
"hand-rolled cigarette."

Checked-by: Richard Lake