MANY, MANY POT GROWERS RESIDE IN CV

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office expressed frustration over the
continuing problems of medical marijuana clubs Monday night in a lengthy
presentation to the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council.

Deputy Paul Liskey told the meeting that burglaries are prevalent near
dispensaries along with such violations as on-site pot smoking, gambling,
and clubs keeping more than the permitted 20 pounds of marijuana in stock.

Two dispensaries operate in the unincorporated areas of Hayward near the
Castro Valley border and in San Lorenzo. A third, the Compassionate
Collective on Mission Blvd., was shut down last year by DEA agents for
suspected money-laundering.

Proposition 215, approved by California voters in 2006, allows patients
with valid doctors' recommendations to possess and cultivate marijuana for
personal medical use if they have a government-issued medical marijuana
card.

In response to this "Compassionate Use Act," the county and sheriff's
office crafted an ordinance limiting the number of dispensaries to three
and setting down rules for their operation.

"Proposition 215 means well, but it dealt law enforcement a bad hand, so
we had no choice but to come up with a plan to regulate and monitor the
dispensaries in a hurry," said Deputy Liskey, who maintains that the
sheriff's office in no way wants to encourage or enhance the illegal use
of marijuana.

"The sheriffs department does not support this (ordinance) and wants to
see it approached as any other controlled substance," he told the council.

"The problem is there's no way to track the amount of marijuana sold at
these shops," said Dean Nielsen of the MAC. "And I know it is getting to
our high school kids."

"It seems the ordinance was poorly written," said MAC Co- Chair, Cheryl
Miraglia, who suggested the sheriff's office issue a written
recommendation to the board of supervisors to change the ordinance or-if
they disapprove of it strongly-eliminate it all together .

County officials present said Supervisor Nate Miley's office has been
working on tightening up parts of the ordinance, to make it more workable
including a recent amendment that prohibits dispensaries from carrying
pot-laced edibles.

On the issue of cultivation of marijuana, Liskey said the sheriff's office
spent $45,000 to eradicate outdoor and indoor illegal pot cultivation
that, he said, caused theft of electricity and serious negative impacts to
the environment.

"There are many, many growers in Castro Valley and the Hayward area, and
we're literally lining them up to take them out," Liskey said.

A pot garden bust covered by The Forum in the Palomares area last month,
resulted in the confiscation of 400 plants by Sgt. Shawn Peterson and his
Special Investigations Unit.

That raid occurred just weeks after a sweep brought in $2.4- million worth
of pot from the same general area.

"It's all tough to track, and eight of ten who are in possession of
marijuana don't go to jail because they have a (medical marijuana) card,"
Liskey said. "We don't know what the district attorney can or will charge
because of this card."