Federal Judge Gives Pot Grower Permission to Use Medical Marijuana on Probation

March 30^th, 2011

SACRAMENTO, CA -- It was a mix of good and bad news for medical marijuana grower Michael Lombardo in federal court yesterday.

The good news is that he wasn’t ordered directly to prison.

The bad news is that he’s scheduled to go there in six weeks.

The good news is that he was able to avoid the five-year minimum sentence that’s the usual punishment for growing over a hundred marijuana plants.

The bad news is that he was still sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

But, for now, it appears that the best news of all is that he’ll be allowed to use medical marijuana when he gets out.

After several long pauses and many signs of internal conflict, Judge Lawrence Karlton decided yesterday that state law – not federal law – shall apply in determining the legality of Lombardo’s substance use while on supervised release.

SACRAMENTO, CA -- The countdown to prison has begun for a former medical marijuana doctor and her attorney husband.

A judge this morning gave Marion “Mollie” Fry and Dale Schafer six weeks to surrender themselves to federal custody and begin serving five-year sentences for cultivation.

They are officially scheduled to turn themselves over to U.S. Marshals by 2pm on May 2^nd, 2011.

 Fry, a breast cancer survivor, and Schafer, a hemophiliac, both used marijuana for medical purposes under California’s Compassionate Use Act.  That state-level law didn’t protect them in federal court, however, and they were therefore not allowed to argue a medical defense to their charges.

Fry and Schafer were convicted at the end of a three-week jury trial in August 2007.  They’ve been permitted to remain out of custody ever since, while their case was on appeal.

Now, however, it appears that their fight on the appellate level is all but officially over.

Have we come a long way?

City Council members in Sacramento unanimously voted to support their most liberal proposal to date regarding medical marijuana dispensaries at their Tuesday, July 27, 2010 meeting.

Sacramento, California has quite a few medicinal cannabis collectives operating openly as storefront businesses in the city.  Elected officials had, thus far, been leaning towards a proposal that would have capped the number of dispensaries allowed in the city at 12.  Tuesday’s decision obliterated that cap. The limit of 12 was criticized by many as arbitrary.  The change was welcome news to a thriving local patient community that previously feared a local crackdown on its dispensaries.

Putting the cart before the camel

Sacramento, California, is a hotbed for cannabis.  Dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries operate in the city.  A local ordinance regulating dispensaries is being drafted, and is expected to be voted up or down by the city council sometime in late 2010.  In November, Californians will vote on Proposition 19, a state initiative that would allow localities to tax and regulate cannabis as they see fit.  The City of Sacramento has a $43 million budget deficit, and elected officials are eying cannabis revenues to potentially help reduce the city’s debt.  At their June 22, 2010 public meeting, the Sacramento City Council signaled wide interest in placing a marijuana tax on the November, 2010 ballot.  The pot tax was quietly placed by city staff on the council’s agenda, along with a broader, unrelated tax proposal.

ON April 8 it was reported that Maryland had changed their law to allow medical marijuana however MMA has since learned that this is not the case. Medical Marijuana is still illegal in Maryland and we apologize for the inaccurate information posted before.

"Mr. Keyes has a doctor's recommendation for medical marijuana that predates the citation. So in the interest of justice the people move to dismiss this case," prosecutor Keith McIntosh uttered quickly.

"Case dismissed,” replied Judge Bob McNatt.  “The law is clear in this area.  Mr. Keyes is entitled to the return of his property.  I will be signing the return property order."

13 months after her arrest in Operation GreenRx, Donna Lambert will face additional charges to her 7 felony count for medical marijuana

SAN DIEGO - On Friday, April 2nd at 1:30pm, Donna Lambert has been ordered to be arraigned on additional charges stemming from her arrest in the Operation GreenRx Sting in San Diego County last February 2009.  San Diego County is well known for its fierce attempt to overturn California's state medical marijuana laws. Advocates have long criticized the San Diego District Attorney's office for targeting and prosecuting medical marijuana defendants who collectively associate under the Medical Marijuana Program Act.    

Medical marijuana provider Virgil Grant III came to the attention of law enforcement in December 2007, when marijuana from one of his Los Angeles dispensaries was found in the possession of a young driver responsible for a fatal car accident.  Although Virgil had nothing to do with the accident beyond this tenuous association, the investigation triggered events that put him squarely in the cross-hairs of federal prosecutors.  Along with his wife Pshyra, Virgil was arrested in May 2008 on federal charges of running a drug-involved facility, money laundering and drug conspiracy.  These charges put the Grants in a difficult spot – although there was some hope that there would be a change of law once a new U.S. President took office, defendants in federal court have been unable to fight their charges by showing that they complied with state medical marijuana laws.  However, the Grants’ case never went to trial – instead, federal prosecutors offered Virgil a deal in which the charges against Pshyra would be dropped if he pled guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana.  As a loving husband and father, Virgil was unable to pass up such a deal.  He took the guilty plea, and in March 2010, Virgil was sentenced to six years in federal prison.

VIRGIL EDWARD GRANT  # 47375-112

FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION

PO BOX 3007

SAN PEDRO, CA  90731

In an unsurprising 3-2 vote, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors today  passed the highly controversial amendments to Mendocino County Code 9.31, extending the county's regulatory claims to include growing collectives.  The measure includes a possible exception to the 25 plants per parcel Nuisance Ordinance through which a collective may be able to get a permit to grow up to 99 mature flowering females, if the collective is able to jump through the highly complex series of 23 bureaucratic hoops in order to get their permit.

Supervisors Colfax and Pinches were the dissenting votes.

MMMAB has consistently opposed this measure, the validity of which now passes to the courts for determination.  A challenge to the existing MCC 9.31 was filed by Attorney ED Lerman on 9/11/2009 and will be heard by Judge Behnke in Superior Court on May 14.

In the meanwhile, keep your eye on Qualified Patients v. City of Anaheim, a case which is likely to impact the Mendo courts ruling on 9.31.  A decision in that case is expected around 4/20.


Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board
PO Box 2555
Mendocino, CA 95460

707-964-9377
http://www.mmmab.net

SACRAMENTO, CA -- Medical marijuana patient Matthew Zugsberger has an unusual reason for possessing three pounds of pot at the Sacramento International Airport on December 4th, 2008.  

He says he was attempting to take his personal stash to Louisiana, where he planned to have his ex-wife use her culinary training to cook up a variety of pot-infused foods for him to take back home and eat.   

No doubt this plan is curious and oddly labor-intensive.  But is it criminal?

That’s what Deputy District Attorney Satnam Rattu claimed during closing arguments in Zugsberger’s trial yesterday afternoon.  Although he lacked any conclusive proof of sales, Rattu appealed to jurors to use their common sense to find Zugsberger guilty of possession with the intent to sell and the illegal transportation of marijuana.