INTER-AGENCY COOPERATION UNDER FIRE

Pot Advocates Point to Whitney Case As Example of Too Much Interaction

Mark Whitney believed he was growing medical marijuana within Sonoma
County's local guidelines, but that didn't keep him from becoming a
law enforcement target. Medical marijuana advocates point to his case
as an example of how local and federal agents might work too closely,
a charge the county drug task force commander disputes. Whitney had
been growing for himself in the basement of the Santa Rosa home he
rented.

He expanded into a cooperative and grew for 10 others as their
caregiver. County drug task force officers began their investigation a
year ago following an informant's tip, according to court records. A
background check of Whitney turned up a 1979 marijuana arrest in
Salinas. A drive by his home revealed boarded up windows on the ground
floor. A subsequent review of PG&E bills, obtained with a search
warrant, revealed excessive electricity usage. Officers then had
reasonable cause to suspect marijuana was being grown in the home with
special lights, hydroponic equipment and other supplies.

Shortly after 7 a.m. March 28, officers, with a search warrant,
entered the home when no one answered repeated knocks and calls to
open the door. They found a multiroom growing operation in the basement.

Whitney was upstairs, where officers interviewed him, according to an
incident report. Whitney was questioned about his operation, how he
got started, whom he supplied, his physician's recommendation, and the
recommendations for others in the cooperative. Whitney also was
questioned about his financial assets, monthly expenditures and how he
was paid for marijuana.

With some 400 plants and 10 cooperative members, Whitney believed he
was well within the guidelines that allow up to three pounds or 99
plants for each person with a physician's recommendation. Whitney also
said he did not have fixed prices, was paid for costs and materials,
and some members provided supplies.

The cost for an ounce ranged from $100 to $250. But the officers
suspected Whitney was selling marijuana for his own gain and that he
and his patients were coached on amounts they claimed and how they
compensated each other. After officers contacted several cooperative
members on the phone, an officer called Scott Wygant, the DEA agent in
charge of the agency's Santa Rosa office.

The officer described Whitney's growing operation and noted he had not
paid taxes the previous year. Within a few minutes, Wy-gant called
back and said his office would investigate. A short time later, Wygant
and several agents arrived and took over the investigation. Kent Shaw,
commander of the county task force, explained that his officers called
DEA agents after Whitney told them he provided starter plants to a
Santa Rosa medical marijuana dispensary. Shaw said the officers
already were aware the DEA was investigating the dispensary. "If we
have knowledge of an individual that's potentially part of an ongoing
investigation of another law enforcement agency, we would certainly
provide that information to them and we would hope they do the same
for us," he said. "It would put us in a very precarious position to
contest investigations they're doing." But Whitney doubted that
account and said the case has shaken his faith in the local
guidelines. "Medical marijuana is a defense for me if I have a problem.

I was confident I could defend myself in local court," Whitney said.
What he didn't expect was a visit from federal agents. While Whitney
knew federal agents weren't bound by the local guidelines, he didn't
think local officers would help federal counterparts make arrests.
"They were clearly in my view acting as federal agents," he said.