LODE FAMILY FACES SEIZURE IN POT CASE

SAN ANDREAS -- Three members of a San Andreas family who had doctors'
recommendations to grow marijuana for medical reasons are facing criminal
cultivation and possession charges, and could lose their property in a
federal seizure.

A criminal complaint filed last week in Calaveras County Superior Court
charges [NAMES DELETED] with cultivation of marijuana, possession of
marijuana for sale and attempting to transport, sell or give away marijuana.

The charges stem from a September search of the [NAME DELETED] Hawver Road
property that netted approximately 138 marijuana plants found growing in
five different sites.

All three of the [NAME DELETED] had doctors' recommendations to use
marijuana for medical reasons, which is legal under Proposition 215.

But county law enforcement officials say criminal charges were filed
because the size of the growing operation exceeded the county's medical
marijuana guidelines.

"They were growing more than they were allowed to," said Dana Owens, a
deputy district attorney prosecuting the case.

Undersheriff Michael Walker said that based on the size of the [NAME
DELETED] operation, his office believed the family was involved in a
commercial growing operation.

Walker said agents estimated the marijuana found at the Hawver Road site
had a street value of nearly $557,000. He also said that based on the
quantity and quality of marijuana and the [NAME DELETED] reported usage, it
would have taken them more than 11 years to smoke all the marijuana found
at the site.

In addition to facing prosecution, the [NAME DELETED] could lose their
property to the federal government, which can seize property that it
believes is used for illegal activity or was purchased with proceeds
derived from illegal activity. ::: Advertisement :::

David Michael, an attorney representing the [NAME DELETED] in the federal
asset forfeiture case, would not comment because the matter is pending.

The [NAME DELETED] , who were not arrested but were ordered to appear in
court March 8 for arraignment on the cultivation and possession charges,
could not be reached for comment.

Medical marijuana advocates expressed anger at both the county's
prosecution and the federal government's efforts to seize the Crosiars'
property.

"To take a family's home for growing marijuana is communist, as far as I
can tell," said Dale Gieringer, coordinator for California NORML, a
nonprofit group working to reform the state's marijuana laws.

"This is something you'd see in Castro's Cuba. It's a political crime."

Angels Camp resident David Jack, a medical marijuana user active in helping
the county establish its guidelines several years ago, said this is the
first time he's heard of a medical marijuana patient being subject to
federal asset forfeiture.

Jack criticized Sheriff Dennis Downum's office for informing federal
officials about the case.

"This is a violation of public health codes for him to go against
(Proposition 215) and it's also against the California Constitution," Jack
said.

Downum defended his office's role in the case, saying that after most
marijuana raids, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration is contacted
to see if the case fits the criteria for asset forfeiture.

"If they're interested, we file the paperwork and they take it from there,"
he said.

The county's medical marijuana guidelines say that a patient with a
doctor's recommendation can have six plants and up to two pounds of
processed marijuana on hand. State guidelines allow six mature plants or 12
immature plants and no more than eight ounces of processed marijuana unless
a doctor has authorized more.

Medical marijuana also has become an issue in San Joaquin County in recent
years, most notably with the arrest and prosecution of [NAME DELETED] , a
quadriplegic who was charged with cultivating and possession with the
intent to sell after authorities seized 52 plants from his Stockton home.

[NAME DELETED] is awaiting trial. His next court date is scheduled for May 25.

Jeffrey Tuttle, Calaveras County's district attorney, said his office must
make a judgment call on every marijuana growing case that has an element of
Proposition 215 involved.

"In this case, the quantity was such that it was difficult to believe they
were growing it for medical reasons," Tuttle said of the [NAME DELETED]
case. "We don't want to prosecute someone with cancer who's smoking pot.
But on the other hand, we can't let people use it as a ruse, either."