GROUP POT GARDENS: MEDICAL CO-OPS OR MONEYMAKERS?

Last summer, narcotics agents reported finding 105 indoor marijuana plants
at a San Juan Ridge home. Three people said it was their medicine, but they
were charged with cultivation and their trial is approaching.

Last month, two men were charged after agents reported finding 185 plants in
Historic Five Mile House on Highway 20. A defense lawyer said the crop
benefited at least five patients.

Last week, agents reported finding 106 outdoor plants at a Nevada City-area
home. An ongoing investigation is focusing on how many people had medical
recommendations connected with the garden.

Are the above examples cooperative gardens, where patients pool their
resources to grow medicine? Or are they fronts for moneymaking pot ventures?

It depends on the case and whom you ask. But while growers and police have
sometimes sharply different views, both resort to a common tool - numbers.

The Compassionate Use Act passed by California voters in 1996 never
addressed how much marijuana a patient can legally grow.

Many raids and arrests later, Nevada County, like other counties,
established guidelines, a so-called safe haven. The District Attorney's
Office declared patients can have up to two pounds of dried marijuana and 10
plants each, and not fear prosecution.

But the numbers debate hasn't stopped.

"We've dealt with them on a case-by-case basis, but usually the larger these
supposed cooperatives are, the more out of compliance they appear to be,"
said Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Mason of the Nevada County Narcotics Task Force.

Martin Webb, a medical marijuana advocate, called law enforcement too bent
on numbers when it should be considering the context of each garden.

"They don't know what they're looking at," said Webb, who teaches patients
how to grow marijuana.

He added that indoor plants like those found in Five Mile House produce far
less drug than outdoor plants. His own indoor plants produce three to four
ounces each.

Webb said narcotics agents need to look at an indoor garden's light wattage
and square footage. Stronger lights in smaller spaces produce more bountiful
plants. He also said some growers have just one harvest a year.

In response, Mason said, "We take them individually and look at each garden
and each grow by itself. We look at the plants themselves."

He said some of the Five Mile plants yielded a half- to three-quarters of a
pound of drug after agents dried them - compared to a pound or more that an
outdoor plant can produce.

"Obviously, we were at the Five Mile House. (Webb) was not," Mason said.

Kevin Hoeke, a lawyer with clients in both the Five Mile House and San Juan
Ridge cases, said cooperatives are the best option for many patients. They
can share labor, know-how and utility costs.

"It's a little bit easier, more efficient, if you can work together on
something like that," he said.

In the San Juan Ridge case, marijuana benefited migraine sufferers, Hoeke
said.

Could it then be time for yet more guidelines?

Nevada County District Attorney Mike Ferguson said he's intrigued by the
Berkeley City Council's adoption of a cooperatives protocol. It states that
"some qualified patients may not have primary caregivers and also may not be
able to undertake all the physical activities necessary to cultivate
cannabis for personal medical use."

Berkeley allows cooperatives up to 10 outdoor plants at a time, or up to 10
indoor plants per patient with no more than 50 total. The protocol includes
guidelines for dried marijuana and membership requirements.

"It's something to consider," Ferguson said.