Another endangered species -- the Costa Mesa pot shop owner -- was in the news this week. Medical marijuana users came to the Costa Mesa City Council meeting to plead with council members to not shut down dispensaries in the city. In recent weeks, federal agents have shut down two dispensaries and issued warnings to several others.

And we now know that not only did the Costa Mesa City Council send a letter to the feds asking for the crackdown, but it also decided to do so in secret, which our open government expert says is illegal.

The Costa Mesa City Council violated California's open meetings law last year when it secretly authorized a letter seeking federal law enforcement assistance in shutting down the city's medical marijuana dispensaries, according to open government expert Terry Francke.
Read More...

Clarification to Recent Press Coverage; A Plan to Solve the City Budget Deficit
In recent news, the story is twisted to make Chadd appear that he is boasting about making money, when in actuality it is a 10% plan for the city to help them with their budget deficit.  Otherside Farms and their attorneys have been trying to make contact with city officials since 2010 and is even documented in several sources.  Fearing someone would take his idea we had not released details to the public til now.

To to learn more about this plan shared with the city inspector to solve the city budget deficit, click here

Recent press coverage makes Chadd McKeen appear to be boasting about how much money we would make when in fact, words are twisted by the city inspector when Chadd McKeen clearly explained to him his 10% plan for solving the city's budget deficit.  The city inspector's misinformation is was led to the Otherside Farms raid.

They should have done their research and now should really look into Otherside Farms' books to see that there is no money being profited and what the REAL intentions of Otherside Farms were, that is to help resolve the city's deficit, while at the same time helping sick patients as well as others in need (Otherside Farms took money donations in a Feed-a-Family jug along with our Rick Simpson cancer cure, also taken during the raid and collected as "evidence".)

Read the article from OCWeekly in 2010 and see that Chadd McKeen has been trying to present his plan with the city for quite some time

"McKeen says his lawyers have “attempted numerous times to sit down with the city” to discuss the collective side of Otherside Farms, only to be told the city’s attorneys “don’t have time.”

“I find that odd since the city is being sued—a lot—and to me, that’s worthy of a conversation, at least,” McKeen says.

“I am the man with the plan,” McKeen states. “The problem is, the cities are perfectly content fighting the lawsuits, which is ridiculous given the current state of our economy.”"

Otherside Farms attorneys contacted the police to try to get a line of communication open, WHY WOULD WE DO THAT? Chadd: "I AM 110% above the most stringent of guidelines, it doesn’t take much to know that! I’ve been on the cover of newspapers and magazines for years, I’m not hiding ANYTHING and if I was making ridiculous amounts of money I wouldn’t be inviting the city and police down to see. I offered to open my books to these people, not something someone trying to hide things would do. I most certainly did not brag or boast about how much money we were going to make!"

Otherside Farms in Recent News
Please give your opinion!

OC Register

Daily Pilot

OCWeekly

LA Weekly

High Times

More: http://news.google.com/news/more?q=otherside+farms+raid&hl=en&gl=us&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1270&bih=802&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ncl=dGs1AIgZ32OGEeMqyS7E_wMBFXobM&ei=Q94ZT9PjKIvXiQLX3OW_CA&sa=X&oi=news_result&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQqgIwAA

In recent news, the story is twisted to make Chadd appear that he is boasting about making money, when in actuality it is a 10% plan for the city to help them with their budget deficit.  Otherside Farms and their attorneys have been trying to make contact with city officials since 2010 and is even documented in several sources.  Fearing someone would take his idea we had not released details to the public til now.  Scroll down to see the numbers.

There has been some confusion in recent news articles about the statements made by Chadd McKeen. To read about his side of the story regarding the donation of money to the city, please continue reading.  What's so wrong anyway about helping the city and trying to help solve the city's budget deficit?  Isn't it at least worth a conversation?  To the unemployed and those to soon be, especially those recently laid off by the city, wouldn't you all agree?

The city inspector falsely accuses Chadd McKeen of boasting about how much money he was going to make when in fact, he twists Chadd's proposed plan to help resolve the city's budget deficit and turns it into something negative.  They should have done their research and now should really look into Otherside Farms' books to see that there is no money being profited and what the REAL intentions of Otherside Farms were, that is to help resolve the city's deficit, while at the same time helping sick patients as well as others in need (Otherside Farms took money donations in a Feed-a-Family jug along with our Rick Simpson cancer cure, also taken during the raid and collected as "evidence".)

"This is a very simple breakdown of my "10% city fee/tax plan" and you can see the massive amount of revenue that could be generated for the municipalities if they allowed dispensary's to operate. This could generate a huge amount money for our economy, not to mention, our Country gained its Independence in part from Cannabis, research it!

Now of course they're going to reverse engineer this and say, "what about all the money the dispensary's will make?" Well, if they operate how they're supposed to, and there will be money to regulate that from the 10%, it will be put back into the collective, like how Harborside does up North and we do on a much smaller scale here at OtherSide Farms.

I am a problem solver and have reached out to the city so many times and I am beyond puzzled. I spoke of this almost 2 years ago in the OC Weekly cover story I was featured in, "Growing Pains"."



Read the article from OCWeekly in 2010 and see that Chadd McKeen has been trying to present his plan with the city for quite some time: "McKeen says his lawyers have “attempted numerous times to sit down with the city” to discuss the collective side of Otherside Farms, only to be told the city’s attorneys “don’t have time.”

“I find that odd since the city is being sued—a lot—and to me, that’s worthy of a conversation, at least,” McKeen says.

“I am the man with the plan,” McKeen states. “The problem is, the cities are perfectly content fighting the lawsuits, which is ridiculous given the current state of our economy.”"

Isn't that at least worthy of a conversation?

Cannabis Indica: The Essential Guide to the World’s Finest Marijuana Strains, Volume I

Our friends at Green Candy Press have recently released Cannabis Indica: The Essential Guide to the World’s Finest Marijuana Strains, Volume I, their first book in a series of six that sets a new standard for cannabis strain guides. As you turn through its pages, you will find a great guide featuring genetics from over 100 different seed breeders and strains from various countries, such as Afghanistan, Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, India, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and all throughout the United States. Each book in the series looks to highlight 100 breeders and 100 strains.



Such an extensive strain guide shows us how much the seed industry has evolved over the last couple of years. A lot of your favorite seed companies can be found in this book, but it also opens your eyes to some of the new up-and-comers starting to make a name for themselves with high quality genetics. The works of well respected companies, like DJ Short, High Bred Seeds, Holy Smoke Seeds, Paradise Seeds, Sagarmatha, Serious Seeds, and even Subcool and TGA get their props, as well as our local San Diegan companies, OtherSide Farms and Riot Seeds.

“I think it is difficult to pick any one country, as each one has a thriving and interesting cannabis community doing fantastic work,” explained S.T. Oner, editor of Cannabis Indica. “From a North American perspective, it can seem as if the USA and Canada have the most forward thinking breeders in the world, and we are treated to some real talent over here. But once you start scratching the surface of the worldwide scene, you will be amazed at what is going on globally.”

“Europe is a veritable hotbed of activity at the moment and it is not just limited to the Netherlands and Spain anymore; France, Germany, Switzerland and the UK are all getting in on the act and producing some amazing strains. I really love the Mazar-I-Sharif from Ukraine’s Bomba Seeds that is featured in the book, and the story behind it is so interesting. A soldier brought it back from Afghanistan after he was done fighting there. He was a pacifist forced into the army, and bringing the plant back was his way of honoring the local breeders and growers that he had connected with.”

“But beyond Europe too, there is some fantastic work being done with the climate in places like South Africa and Australia, giving rise to plants that we just could not grow in North America. Russia also has a surprisingly great scene. My favorite breeder there, Original Seeds, is so passionate about landrace strains that it is hard not to be impressed. It was particularly nice for me to be able to include a Danish company, Zenseeds, as when I went over there, I was blown away by the quality of genetics and the skill of their breeders and growers.”

Oner is a highly successful grower, chef, and author of the best-selling cannabis books Marjuana Chef Cookbook and Marijuana Outdoor Grower’s Guide. This resource guide, six-part series takes an in-depth look at an unprecedented number of new and established cannabis pioneers and the plants they are famous for. Their list of 100 breeders and 100 strains compiles more than all previous strain guides combined. The information found within the pages of this book is invaluable to connoisseurs, enthusiasts, growers, patients and vendors alike. This is a perfect resource guide for those looking to identify specific strains, helping them zero in on the best cannabis to treat their particular medical condition.

“Because of the legal aspects of growing in Europe, they tend to have freer access to good genetics; but that doesn’t necessarily mean that their genetics are superior,” Oner said. “Some of the best genetics I have found come from extremely small-scale breeders and growers who live in countries where the penalties for cultivation are extremely harsh. This book is really about the worldwide culture of marijuana strain breeding and the benefits to be had from looking further than your own front door for seeds and clones as well as bud. I am really into the work being done in California and Australia at the moment, and they are two places to watch when it comes to breeding.”
Oner’s research for Cannabis Indica did bring him into contact with breeders from all across the globe, but he is well aware of our own domestic efforts in breeding superior and designer strains. He did have some kind words for active seed companies in California, even mentioning a few of our local efforts here in San Diego with Riot Seeds and OtherSide Farms.

“I love the scene in California, especially the San Diego area where I cannot get over the wide variety of high quality genetics available. One of my favorites in the area is the fantastic Clockwork Orange by Riot Seeds (pages 50-51). That strain is amazing and people should definitely check out the work being done by those guys. Really cool stuff.”

“OtherSide Farms also has great stuff in your area, like their Olivia Kush (pages 144-145). These are breeders and growers to watch out for, especially for cannabis enthusiasts and medical patients in the San Diego area where NUG Magazine is based. You have a great scene there.”
The introduction at the beginning of the book was written by Greg Green, best-selling author of The Cannabis Grow Bible and The Cannabis Breeder’s Bible. The introduction goes on to give us a crash course on the breakdown of what an indica truly is. It explains its differences from sativa, both in effects and growing characteristics, something us patients are becoming more familiar with. It grazes the subject of growing differences between strains and the effects that ruderalis has had, as it is starting to be bred into the stronger and more potent strains.
Green identifies indica’s genetic history and how most indica genetics are rooted in Afghani or Kush origins. The plants’ resilience, reliable genetics, and impressive results mirror that of the will and energy of the people of Afghanistan. From one of the most battled for and war torn regions of the globe, comes the killer herb we look for in its potency, couch lock, and body relaxing properties.

“The genetics harvested from Afghanistan are some of the best indicas out there,” Oner commented, on Green’s introduction. “When I talk about the heyday of the scene in Afghanistan, I am obviously referring to the ‘60s and ‘70s. Before things got so crazy over there, they had a very interesting and knowledgeable scene and a lot of talented breeders. I am a strong supporter of landrace plants and I think we should give massive respect to local growers in that area who have maintained these plants for centuries. I do not think that a bunch of Westerners should go over to steal their genetics, obviously. More so, we should embrace growers in that region and have a healthy exchange of work and passion for the plant to promote a more global cannabis culture.”

That is exactly what Green Candy Press is doing with their six-volume strain guide, helping promote a global cannabis culture that continues to grow. Their attempts to document these strains and their breeders have revealed that the talent among the industry continues to evolve today. This is no advertising book, every strain and breeder is documented by the merit of their work and product. This book gives them the appropriate platform to showcase what they are capable of in the world of cannabis. Even at 100 strains and 100 breeders, Oner still felt inclined to give some honorable mentions to those that did not make the cut for Volume I.

“Honestly, I could have had 200 different strains in this book, but I wanted to keep it down to 100,” admitted Oner. “It was difficult to cut some breeders and strains, but it turned out to be necessary and it is by no means a reflection of the strain or breeder’s merit. I am a real fan of Eddie Funxta’s work and I would have loved to get his strain ‘Funxta’s Get Rite’ in the book. It was a bummer, but Eddie was totally cool about it and he is going to be featured in my next book. I am planning on doing six volumes of this strain guide and he is definitely in volumes 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. I want people to look at these books in 20 years and get an accurate picture of all of the incredible genetics available in our lifetimes, like the definitive encyclopedia of strains, you know? The Encyclopedia Pottanica. –Haha!”

Cannabis Indica: The Essential Guide to the World’s Finest Marijuana Strains, Volume I is the first in a series of six. The next in the series, Cannabis Sativa: The Essential Guide to the World’s Finest Marijuana Strains, Volume I, will be out in May 2012. Oner is currently working on it as we speak, diving into the interesting histories of how these various strains have been acquired.

“I am a huge sativa fan and so many sativa strains have interesting histories, with some like the Chems being totally shrouded in folklore,” says Oner. “I am currently talking to breeders and gathering the content, so it is an exciting time for me and I learn something new everyday. To do these books is really a dream come true for me.”

To NUG Magazine and our readers, Oner had some final words for us.

“I really love the scene in San Diego and I always have a blast when I visit,” revealed Oner. “OtherSide Farms and Riot Seeds are great breeders and growers in the area, and I would love to see more San Diegans support these guys in their work…because they have really cool genetics. I would always encourage smokers, growers and breeders to remember why they love this plant and to give back to their local scene when they can. I hope your readers enjoy my books and I would love to hear from more growers and breeders down there. I would also love to hear whether ‘San Diego’ really does mean ‘A whale’s vagina,’ or not…if they can clear that up for me. Haha! Gotta love Anchorman! Peace, and thank you San Diego. You have a great scene and you are blessed with some fantastic genetics there!”

Cannabis Indica: The Essential Guide to the World’s Finest Marijuana Strains, Volume I is available in all good bookstores and on Amazon. Storefronts can get copies from Homestead Book Company and Quick Distribution.

For more information, please visit: www.greencandypress.com

Source: Green Candy Press Releases A Six-Volume Strain Resource Guide

OtherSide Farms featured in the new issue of SKUNK Magazine!

Also check out our featured Olivia strain in the book, "Cannabis Indica World's Finest Strains" on Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Cannabis-Indica-Essential-Marijuana-Strains/dp/1931160813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298832377&sr=8-1

OTHERSIDE FARMS is in a book!  Featuring their Olivia Strain!

OTHERSIDE FARMS in the ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL:




Medical Marijuana Information Center’s McKeen: calls full legalization “inevitable”

An industry has cropped up around marijuana here.  It’s made up of companies that offer goods and services to dispensaries and growers that provide marijuana under California’s 1996 law allowing its medical use.  One company teaches how to grow pot. Another runs a website that helps people find dispensaries. Another helps dispensaries with tax issues and runs a hemp products marketing business.  Most are small. Some are publicly traded on low-profile, over-the-counter stock exchanges.  They’re part of a larger pot industry here that includes growers, dispensaries, head shops and even lawyers, marketers, consultants and software management providers.  Some company executives are classic entrepreneurial types—risk takers who have a passion and a mind for business.  There also are shady operators out to make a quick buck on a business that’s expanded well beyond medical use to casual marijuana smoking.  Getting an idea of the size of the industry here is hard. In California, the business of pot is estimated at $14 billion in annual sales. Based on OC’s share of the state’s population, pot could be a billion-dollar-a-year business here, including black market and quasi-legal sales.  It isn’t for the feint of heart.  The business operates in legal limbo, which raises the stakes for entrepreneurs who are plowing time and money into businesses.

Federal Conflict
Medical marijuana is legal in 15 states and the District of Columbia. But it’s still illegal to possess or sell it for any purpose under federal law.  In Orange County, there have been periodic federal raids, while several cities have shut down clinics as they try to ban them outright.  Most pot entrepreneurs are betting on a growing industry that eventually will become legal nationwide.  “It’s inevitable,” said Chadd McKeen, owner of Costa Mesa-based Medical Marijuana Information Center.  McKeen’s company teaches people how to grow marijuana. Its weekend classes go for $300.  The company also offers consulting services to dispensaries setting up shop in other states.  One of the county’s largest medical marijuana companies is Costa Mesa-based General Cannabis Inc. It recently acquired WeedMaps, a website dubbed the “Yelp for pot” that helps people locate dispensaries.  General Cannabis also offers a slew of business services to the industry.  “We’re real strong believers in this industry,” Chief Executive Jim Pakulis said.  WeedMaps lists dispensaries online for a fee. It had $3 million in revenue in 2010.  General Cannabis also manages 11 California clinics where doctors see patients and provide medical marijuana “recommendations”—doctors don’t actually prescribe pot because of conflicts with federal law.  The company provides a credit card processing service to dispensaries, filling another gap in an industry that faces issues of legitimacy.

“(Banks don’t) want to work with anyone in the industry,” Pakulis said.  In November, General Cannabis processed $400,000 in credit card sales, according to Pakulis. It processed $700,000 in December and $1.2 million in January, he said.  “We’re slowly getting our running legs,” Pakulis said. “Now we’re starting to process in non-cannabis industries as well.”  General Cannabis employs 65 people. In March, the company is set to move to a larger, 20,000-square-foot space in Newport Beach, which has become a hub for companies catering to the pot industry.  Operating in the industry’s gray areas is challenging, according to Pakulis  “We appreciate and respect the federal government,” he said. “We certainly think about the repercussions. But in the same breath, we march on every day because we believe we’re doing the right thing.”

Publicly Traded
General Cannabis is one of about 25 marijuana companies that are publicly traded on low-profile stock exchanges where financial reporting and other requirements are minimal.  Medical Marijuana Inc. is another.  The Foothill Ranch company was the first marijuana business to become public.  One of Medical Marijuana’s first products was a tax remittance card, which makes it easier for dispensaries to collect state sales tax. It’s also working on an inventory tracking system for dispensaries.  It runs what Chief Executive Bruce Perlowin calls the “Hemp Network,” selling products made from the marijuana plant. The marketing model is like that of Avon Products Inc. and others.  Perlowin recruits Hemp Network sellers at trade shows that he puts on. He’s appeared on TV and radio shows, including CNBC’s “Marijuana Inc.”  documentary.  He also represents the pot industry’s conflicted character.  As one of the largest pot smugglers in the U.S. during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Perlowin ran a group that smuggled in $50 million worth of pot annually.  In all, he smuggled more than 500,000 pounds of marijuana in fishing boats, offloading it onto his own dock in the San Francisco Bay. He served nine years in prison.  While in prison, Perlowin said he earned five degrees.  “From day one, I saw it as an unprecedented opportunity to learn, grow and study,” he said.  “It was a very productive time.”  His partner, company President Don Steinberg, also is a convicted drug smuggler.  Perlowin uses his notoriety to market his company.  “One day marijuana will be legal, and we’ll be the largest distributors of marijuana in America—again,” he said.

Regulation
Ironically, the industry’s viability largely rests with something most businesses hope to avoid: regulation.  “Regulation is the future,” said Brea lawyer Anthony Curiale, who sued Anaheim for banning dispensaries. “It’s kind of like strip clubs and adult book stores. You can’t ban them outright, but you can regulate them.”  Clear rules from cities would allow dispensaries to operate under set guidelines, which would be a boost to secondary companies.  Curiale won a round when an appeals court rejected Anaheim’s argument that federal law allowed it to ban dispensaries.  But there’s still much left unsettled. Sacramento created a lot of uncertainty when medical marijuana guidelines were drawn up, according to Curiale.  “That’s what we’re fighting over now,” he said.





Source: Orange County Business Journal  By Sherri Cruz; Sunday, February 27, 2011

The History/Political Science Department of Vanguard University is presenting a panel discussion on Prop 19, the legalizing of marijuana in California, in Needham Chapel on Thursday, Oct. 28, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Panelists include:
 Judge Jim Gray
OtherSide Farms owner Chadd McKeen
Retired police captain Dave Brooks

Professor Darren Guerra Vanguard wrote to it's faculty,
"We invite you to attend and encourage your students to attend if this is a topic that you or they find interesting. It should be an educational evening."

Let's support Vanguard University for being a leader in promoting serious sociological discussion. We want this to be a very successful event so let's show them we appreciate their open minds!

If you need any further information please visit www.OtherSideFarms.com or call 949 515 475

Six leading OC medical-marijuana and pot-legalization advocates leave no turn unstoned in examining the ballot initiative

By NICK SCHOU
Thursday, Oct 21 2010

About the only thing anyone can agree on when it comes to Proposition 19 is that it would allow any California resident 21 years and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational purposes. Of course, that’s not all the ballot initiative would do, assuming its myriad other provisions—like the one saying people can only grow 5 square feet of pot plants or the one providing stiff jail terms to people who knowingly sell weed to kids—withstand post-electoral legislative amendments and court challenges. Depending on whom you ask, Prop. 19 would either send a powerful message to both Sacramento and Capitol Hill that the seemingly never-ending war on drugs has been an abject failure, or it would open the floodgates to a massive epidemic of marijuana use, with stoned teenagers dozing off in class and high-as-a-kite motorists creating carnage on freeways from Eureka to San Diego.

Leaving the doomsayers aside, the more interesting and important debate over Prop. 19 pits advocates of marijuana legalization and drug-war reform against folks who have a vested interest in the 1996 Compassionate Use Act (also known as Proposition 215), which famously opened the door to what’s now a burgeoning industry providing medical marijuana to anyone with a valid doctor’s recommendation. With that divide in mind, we talked to a half-dozen local legalization advocates and medical-marijuana experts to find out what they make of Prop. 19 and how they’ll vote come Nov. 2.



Kandice Hawes,
President of OCNORML
Few people are more passionately in favor of Prop. 19 than Hawes. The president of the Orange County chapter of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law) first became an activist when she was arrested in 2003 and charged with felony pot possession during a road trip to Las Vegas. The bust ended the then-Cal State Fullerton student’s government-funded college scholarship. Since then, Hawes has tirelessly worked to end the government’s campaign against marijuana, a crusade she says she’s willing to continue for the rest of her life if necessary.

I think Prop. 19 is the most important issue on this ballot. We haven’t had an initiative like this since 1972—and it was also called Prop. 19, coincidentally. If this doesn’t pass, we won’t have a chance like this for 20 years. We don’t have the fund-raising ability to do it again. We have this chance now. Governor [Arnold] Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill making possession of an ounce just an infraction. He did that so people won’t vote for Prop. 19.

It’s a political move. Even the Democrats are starting to watch this movement and see how it is mobilizing young people to vote, people who are possible Democrats, and they are seeing movement to do this in other states. This will keep people out of jail and save money for our state. And people in the medical-marijuana community are starting to come around and support Prop. 19. They’re worried people won’t want to get recommendations, but people will want to have more than 1 ounce, so the medical-marijuana industry will survive. It’s important for everyone to be open-minded and vote yes on Prop 19.



Chadd McKeen,
Owner of OtherSide Farms
McKeen, who was the subject of a Weekly cover story earlier this year (see Matt Coker’s “Growing Pains,” May 21) is one of the most opinionated voices in the medical-marijuana community. He and his wife, Alysha, both of whom are medical-marijuana patients, intended to open a dispensary in Costa Mesa; the city, however, banned such businesses. They opted instead to open a farm inside a former jewelry store, where they teach other patients how to grow their own medicine rather than pay for it, something that hasn’t exactly pleased folks who own and operate dispensaries or medical-marijuana-delivery services.

At first, I was very much for Prop. 19, and then I found out things about how it was written. There needs to be clarification on how it will affect medical marijuana. Then again, it doesn’t matter what happens in California because it’s still illegal under federal law, and that’s why you can only get a doctor’s recommendation because you can’t prescribe a Schedule 1 drug. If you go on the [Drug Enforcement Administration] website, marijuana is up there with heroin. Schedule 2 is crack cocaine, speed, ice, and I don’t care where you come from, but I think you can all agree crack and speed are not safer than marijuana. Did you know you can write a prescription for crack cocaine? Well, according to the DEA, you can. We need to remove marijuana from Schedule 1. If you can write a prescription, you can go fill it, and then marijuana can be sold legally.

Besides, Governor Schwarzenegger just decriminalized marijuana by making it just a ticket for under an ounce, so what’s the point? [Orange County Superior Court Judge] Jim Gray told me, “Chad, the bottom line is, it’s a step in the right direction; we can make changes later on.” I agree with that, but I am fearful that if it does pass, it will get completely out of control. Everyone will want to buy or grow marijuana. It won’t hurt my business; everyone will be in my class. Kids will be growing it. What works well now is that there is still a taboo on marijuana, so it is kept down low, down in your pocket. Now, people will want to smoke out, like walk out of a bar and smoke half a joint, and then throw it on the ground, and little Bobby or Jimmy will walk up and take it. People will be stealing it, jumping over fences and ripping off plants. I’m not sure which way I’m going to vote. It could come down to the wire.



Sean Breen,
Medical-Marijuana Doctor
Based in Irvine, Breen is a former Navy Corpsman who saw combat during the Iraq war. A New York native, he moved to California specifically to establish a practice specializing in writing recommendations for medical marijuana. When he was first contacted by the Weekly to participate in this survey, he expressed strong opposition to Prop. 19.

Is it going to be the worst thing in the world if marijuana is legalized in California? No, but if Prop. 19 didn’t leave it up to the individual cities to decide whether to allow it, it would be much better. But from a pure medical-marijuana perspective, I think you will see a lot of dispensaries and doctors go away. About 65 percent of medical-marijuana users are really recreational users anyway. From a purely selfish standpoint, I’d want to keep it illegal to have people keep going to clinics, but that’s selfish.

I called the Yes on 19 campaign yesterday and asked, “If marijuana goes legal, will medical-marijuana collectives be able to sell to anyone, or will they still require people to have doctor’s recommendations?” They couldn’t answer the question because they said it will be up to the cities to decide what to do. Is Irvine going to allow this? I see this debate going on forever until they actually have concrete laws on this. If it’s legal to drive 55 mph in California, it’s legal in the whole state; you can’t have this be legal in Oakland and illegal in Irvine.

I’ll probably vote for it, even though up until now I’ve been against it, but only because it is kind of ridiculous that you can’t come home and take a couple of hits off a pipe and go to sleep legally. But that’ll probably do our clinics in. But here’s where I am right now: I don’t care either way. I don’t smoke pot, so it doesn’t affect me. If it goes legal and clinics can’t survive, I’ll do something else.

Everybody wants marijuana to be legalized. There are no people working in dispensaries who want people arrested, but they want to feed their kids; they have spent the past five years building a medical-marijuana clientele. That’s the only reason they want to keep it the way it is. Any other reason is just bullshit.



Chris Glew,
Attorney
When he isn’t appearing in court on behalf of marijuana growers or smokers who’ve been arrested for possessing too much marijuana, Glew is usually there arguing on behalf of dispensary owners fighting lawsuits filed by cities seeking to ban their businesses. In his free time, he fields emergency phone calls from growers and dispensary owners being raided by police. Glew, who doesn’t smoke pot, works out of his law office in Santa Ana, Glew & Kim, and credits his busy schedule to the vagueness of current medical-marijuana laws, a problem he says may only be exacerbated by the passage of Prop. 19.

I think Prop. 19 represents an opportunity for people to express their feelings about marijuana being illegal, and it’s a good outlet for people to come out and say they are opposed to the prohibition on marijuana. I’m a tweener; I’m standing on the fence. Prop. 19 creates a lot of problems because it is another ambiguous law that will create a lot of legal controversy. The biggest issue I have is it is only legalizing possession of 1 ounce, which is now only a $100 fine, and that is a far cry from legalization. It’s a feeble attempt in the overall effort.

Right now, only medical-marijuana patients are allowed to possess a “reasonable” quantity of marijuana. Under the new law, there is a 1-ounce-possession limit that will be for recreational use only. But you often find when setting standards for amounts of marijuana possession that people will start to cite new standards, and now, conservative prosecutors and judges might start to reference 1 ounce as the limit for everyone. I’m not saying you should vote no just because it says 1 ounce, but I am leery about how it would affect medical-marijuana patients.

However, it’s hard to criticize any positive momentum, and one can only hope and pray that all legal issues from the passage or non-passage of 19 are determined in our favor. But I’m a pessimist because I’ve seen how the Compassionate Use Act has been conservatively construed in California by judges. I represent a broad spectrum of clients from collectives and growers to cancer patients and everyone in between. Ninety percent of people who ask me about the bill say it will legalize marijuana, and I say no, it will legalize just an ounce. The unfortunate consequence of that restriction is that a lot of people will find themselves out with a pound and will think they are complying with the law—to their own detriment.



Jim Gray,
Retired OC Superior Court Judge
Perhaps the most famous drug-legalization advocate in the country who comes from a law-enforcement background, Gray spent years as a judge presiding over drug-related offenses before he came to the conclusion the war on drugs was an unqualified disaster. A former Republican, Gray ran on the Libertarian ticket for the U.S. Senate in 2004, losing to Barbara Boxer. Not surprisingly, he supports Prop. 19.

Passing Prop. 19 would send the message that we are going to regulate and control marijuana and take revenue and control away from juvenile gangs and Mexican cartels and give that power to municipalities, which will make marijuana less available to children than it is today. You can ask anyone under the age of 21, and they will tell you it’s easier for them to get marijuana than alcohol because people who sell marijuana don’t ask for identification. We will make marijuana less available.

This race is going to be close, and we’re going to need every vote we can get. I believe it is one of the most important elections of my lifetime. It will sweep the country when it passes in California and will lead to the repeal of marijuana prohibition, which has been such a complete failure. I have heard from the opposition that this will be a disaster for medical marijuana, but that’s a separate issue and has nothing to do with Prop 19. That has to do with Prop. 215.

People vote for their own economic self-interest, and people in the dispensary business know full well they will lose their business. That’s fine, but it’s not a reason for others to vote against it. The key question I have not been able to answer if Prop. 19 passes is whether my two stepsons will be out of business. Why? Because they sell medical marijuana.



Jeff Byrne,
Marijuana Grower, President of the Orange County Director’s Alliance
Byrne’s OCDA is a group of Costa Mesa dispensary owners, which includes recent Weekly cover-story subject and City Council candidate Sue Lester (see “The Cannabis Candidate,” Oct. 1). Earlier this year, the group filed a lawsuit against the city, which prohibits the operation of dispensaries, demanding Costa Mesa cease code-enforcement actions against its members. Unlike many medical-marijuana providers, Byrne says he plans to vote in favor of Prop. 19.

I know the recreational user is hiding in the closet. When they get in the voting booth, they will come out of the closet. I think it’s a poorly written law, and it’s just going to bring on the lawsuits, and we will sort it out in court. We’ll just have to plug forward. It doesn’t really change anybody’s way of doing business except for law enforcement and the way the state pulls in taxes. It won’t change my business or the way I am serving my patients, but it will put the cities in the position of having to do something to make sure it’s happening properly. I try not to worry about it because I have no control over it.

The only people who are against Prop. 19 are in the medical-marijuana industry and are scared of Philip Morris taking over. That’s the most foolish, myopic argument, and I hear it every day. If Philip Morris wanted cannabis to be legal, they’d make it legal. They sell poison that kills people and have no problem with that. They don’t care; they are too busy making millions of dollars on poison. It doesn’t make any sense to think Philip Morris wants in on this business.

Currently, my distribution is a closed-circuit deal of patients. Now, all of a sudden, will I be able to give it to anyone over 21 if I just swipe their driver’s license? That’s the kind of stuff we will sort out in court. But anybody who already wants cannabis can get cannabis today, right now, within half an hour. So it’s really about community control. This law puts it back on the cities to decide how the production and distribution of cannabis will be handled. Will it be a black market, or will it be regulated? Who knows?

In my gut, I think it’s going to be a landslide in favor of Prop. 19. I am going to vote yes and let it get sorted out in court. Let’s just push forward. It’s going to be a big mess—and a great windfall for the attorneys out there.

Source: Prop. 19: More Than a Nickel Bag of Opinions

Medical marijuana patients can legally grow their own plants, and many are happy to tend their semi-secret gardens. Businesses such as Otherside Farms and Golden State Greenery help set up grow rooms at residents' homes.

By Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times
October 2, 2010

Joanne Clarke, a legal secretary in her late 50s, leads the way down a pale green hallway in her modest Costa Mesa home, past a small guest room on the right and a blue tiled bathroom on the left. At the end of the hall, she opens a door, pushes aside a thick black curtain and ducks inside.

"Isn't this wild?" she says, gesturing to the high-tech marijuana grow room she and her husband recently installed. "This used to be my daughter's bedroom."

Wild is one word for it. Bright is another. Unexpected, yet another. What had been a teenager's tropical-themed room is now a beaming, humming, indoor plant laboratory complete with silver reflective bubble wrap on the walls, blinding grow lights, ventilation ducts hanging from the ceiling and marijuana plants in various stages of development neatly labeled with names such as Platinum Kush, Purple Diesel and Blue Cheese.

"They are like our children," Clarke says, gazing proudly at the elegant fronds that look familiar and exotic all at once. "We talk to them."

Clarke's grow room is legal — in the state of California, anyone with a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana can grow it in limited quantities — yet it still feels clandestine. Although she's open about using pot (crushed and placed in capsules) to help manage the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, she and her husband haven't shown the room to any friends. "Ninety-five percent of the people I know are fine with it," she says, "but it's that 5% that I worry about. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable."

Just as California has seen a rise in small-scale backyard vegetable gardeners in recent years, marijuana activists and growers cite a similar, if much quieter, rise in medical marijuana patients growing pot for themselves.

The reasons are varied: Buying medical marijuana at a dispensary can be expensive and uncomfortable for those who don't identify with marijuana culture, and now that the city of Los Angeles has declared that just 41 of the remaining 169 dispensaries are eligible to stay open, finding a convenient place to buy marijuana is becoming increasingly difficult, especially for those with a debilitating illness. The organically minded are concerned about chemicals that might be in marijuana they don't grow themselves, and still others worry about where their pot came from. "I don't want to fund terrorism," one home-grower says.

Some gardeners — and many do see this simply as a form of gardening — say they get the same soothing pleasure from tinkering with grow lights, temperature controls, fertilizers and additives as others get from nurturing prized rose bushes or carefully pruning bonsai trees.

"My husband can spend hours a day in our grow room," Clarke says. "For him, it's fantasy land."

The new breed of home marijuana grower comes in all different forms, whether it's a 25-year-old rooftop gardener taking as much pride in his first harvest of okra as in the marijuana that grows alongside it or a 75-year-old retiree cheerfully growing cannabis on her senior-village balcony. Pony-tailed boomers are geeked out on the fact that it's actually legal to grow this stuff, and at least one new grower called up the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener help line for Los Angeles County to ask for advice on growing "grass." (The master gardener on duty misunderstood the question and recommended a drought-tolerant grass. When the caller explained he was talking about grass, she told him she couldn't help: Master Gardener policy.)

Otherside Farms, a marijuana information and education center founded by Chadd McKeen in Orange County, teaches medical marijuana patients how to grow their own pot and also helps people install grow rooms at home. McKeen says half the people who take the weekend-long class on growing marijuana, which he teaches twice a month, are older couples.

"My market isn't the 18- to 25-year-olds — they already know everything," he says. "My demographic is 50- to 60-year-olds."

When he first started installing grow rooms in homes, McKeen was constantly worried that each job was a setup.

"I thought everyone was a cop," he says.

But over time he's become accustomed to the embroidered-sweater-wearing, lighthouse-poster-hanging, older pot smoker who makes up the majority of his clientele. "This is what the marijuana user looks like," he says.

The grow rooms that McKeen installs are generally replicas of the rooms he has in his storefront headquarters in Costa Mesa, even down to the bright orange Home Depot utility buckets he puts mature plants in. Most of the rooms he installs are in second bedrooms, which he usually divides in half to create two different environments — a "veg room" where the plants grow and a "bloom room" where a change in lighting and temperature encourages budding. He said the rooms generally cost about $15,000 to set up.

Golden State Greenery, another company in Orange County that helps novices build grow rooms at home, offers the "California 5-by-5 special," a 5-by-5-foot grow tent that can be set up in a living room or garage. The tent is black on the outside to keep light and heat from escaping, and to keep the structure as discreet as possible. But inside, it's lined in reflective silver to maximize the light source. For $2,500, the company says it can have new clients ready to grow their own cannabis within four hours.

All this fancy (and expensive) growing equipment isn't technically necessary. It is possible to grow marijuana outdoors in Southern California. If planted in the spring, a seed or clone will generally produce one harvest in early fall. Many people have had success with simply sticking a plant on a balcony or tucking one among the tomatoes in the backyard.

"Pot is actually easier to grow than tomatoes," said one man in San Diego, who like many people contacted for this article has a doctor's recommendation and is growing legally but still asked to remain anonymous. "There's a reason they call it 'weed.'"

But for many home growers, the best place is inside. An indoor growing system offers environmental controls that would be impossible to get outside — no snails or caterpillars, less chance of powdery mildew. It also offers the possibility of four harvests a year rather than one. Another reason: Marijuana plants, even just a few, are still magnets for trouble even though medicinal pot has been legal since 1996.

"We tell our students it's kind of like before: You don't plant it in your front yard or your front porch, and you don't show it off," says Jeff Jones, a prominent marijuana activist who teaches grow classes in Oakland and Los Angeles. "There is still the home invasion issue, and your neighbor to the left or to the right might want to steal it from someone who has a VIP pass to grow something that is not legal for others."

At a recent "traveling party," when neighbors went around to one another's homes to check out new additions or garden makeovers, a friend asked Clarke if she and her husband would be showing off their new grow room. Clarke declined.

"It's still hard for people to understand this is legal," she says. "So now when people ask about our new hobby, we just laugh and say my husband is growing a few plants for me. People know we're doing it. They just don't know the full extent."

Source: A new breed of home marijuana grower