FORMER POT DISPENSARY MANAGER GETS PROBATION, 6 MONTHS IN JAIL

San diego - the manager of a now-defunct medical marijuana dispensary
who was convicted of illegally possessing and selling the drug was
placed wednesday on probation for three years and ordered to serve six
months in county jail.

Jovan jackson, 32, who once operated the answerdam alternative care
collective in kearny mesa, was given until feb. 1 To report to jail.
His attorney asked for the additional time so that jackson could spend
the holidays with his family and get his affairs in order.

Jovan jackson, the manager of a now-defunct marijuana dispensary in
kearny mesa, was accused of illegally selling the drug for profit.

San diego superior court judge howard shore denied a defense request
to allow jackson to continue using marijuana for medicinal purposes,
even with a valid recommendation from a doctor, and ordered him to pay
a $5,000 fine.

Jackson, a navy veteran and barber, has said he was prescribed medical
marijuana by a san diego doctor for temporomandibular joint disorder,
or tmj, which causes pain in the lower jaw.

Before the sentencing went forward wednesday, attorneys lance rogers
and joseph elford, chief counsel of americans for safe access, argued
unsuccessfully that jackson should be granted a new trial because the
judge erred when he ruled jackson could not use the state's medical
marijuana law as a defense.

Before the trial began, shore said the law did not apply in this case
because it protects members of a marijuana collective whose primary
purpose is cultivation of the drug, not distribution.

The lawyers also argued wednesday that the trial violated jackson's
constitutional protections against double jeopardy. In december 2009,
a different jury acquitted jackson of marijuana possession and sales
charges related to undercover buys at the answerdam collective in
2008.

The second trial, which began in september, focused on a raid of the
collective in september 2009, part of a multiagency investigation
called operation green rx. Jackson was found guilty of three charges
of illegal possession and sale.

Deputy district attorney chris lindberg argued that answerdam was not
a legal collective but a "retail busines," where jackson sold
marijuana and other products to more than 1,600 customers. The
prosecutor said answerdam took in $1,000 to $1,500 a day.

Rogers argued that prosecutors had no direct evidence linking jackson
to those sales.

The attorney said wednesday that his client will appeal.