Major Cannabis Crackdown

We have over 10% unemployment, two wars and catastrophes all over the world and we are running around worrying about people smoking pot. What a waste of time and energy. Even if smoking pot is half as bad as the hysterical anti -marijuana folks say it is certainly no worse than alcohol or a wide variety of prescription and non prescription drugs. Google aspirin overdoes or acetaminophen overdose and you'll see that far more people die from aspirin or "tylenol" than from pot.

Here's one link.

http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30

"Even if smoking pot is half as bad as the hysterical anti -marijuana folks say it is certainly no worse than alcohol..."

I knew someone years ago who smoked a lot of pot and I never saw her become unreasonable. She would just get spacey and fall asleep. When she drank alcohol, she would turn nasty and confrontational.

By the way, a family friend left our house in Solvang and took the pass toward her home which is on Paradise Road and she had to pull off the road because of several people weaving all over the place. Since we don't have marijuana dispensaries in the valley I'm guessing they came out of one of the bars.

Once again, I don't see the Drug Warriors who are anti-dispensaries uttering a word against the proliferation of bars.

Amen Noletaman....

wow that's santa barbara for you good job worthless sheriffs get those scary medical users they are so violent and scary are u kidding me? Maybe try getting the real drug dealers........oh i forgot that's to much work for you....have to have it handed to you. hope you feel real good about taking peoples medicine away from them.good work,you good for nothing idiots,I hope you sleep well at night knowing you are making sick people suffer. But im sure you well have a "good " reason......smells like sh!t to me

One last comment. I do NOT fault the police. They have to enforce the law as is written and by and large they do a hell of a good job. This is a problem for our elected officials at the federal, state and local level, of administrators, district attorneys and higher ranking police officials. Legalize it, tax it and take the profits away from the gangsters and criminals. Remember what a failure Prohibition was.

Yeah, let's remember prohibition. By focusing solely on the production and distribution, demand never went down. This caused alcohol to be even more profitable for those criminals that managed to be successful. Our current situation is that most everyone acknowledges that cannabis is not terrible as far as vices go. Unfortunately, this leads to a willingness to wink at its usage without considering that the profits go almost completely to organized crime (primarily Mexican Mafia and Nuestra Familia here in California).

Until the prohibition changes at a *federal* level, turning a blind eye to its non-medical usage simply makes our streets and neighborhoods less safe.

I agree with all that's been said here.

One of the main reasons this relatively harmless drug is still criminalized is that the "right people" aren't making money off it.

Someone was complaining about one of the dispensaries handing out fliers at a nightclub. But really, if a big pharma company got a patent on marijuana, we'd see commercials on tv for it.....complete with the ridiculously long list of potential side effects.

Thank goodness for the 420 law. It was a step in the right direction to finally start the decriminalization of marijuana. Many decades overdue. And yes, the liquor and pharmacuetical industries stand to loose a lot of money once it finally is legalized. It behooves the dispensaries to follow the letter of the law. If they are not abiding by the law they ought to be busted. In order to get this harmless herb legalized we need to do all that is required while we try to legalize it across the table. If not, they are going to give pot a bad rap. Let's do it right so that all who want can imbibe responsibly and legally.

Since violent, sexual, and property crimes are almost non-existent in Santa Barbara its a good thing they went after all these evil pot smokers. Just what we needed to keep our streets safer; good job.

It's the fact that "On Patrol" got picked up by the Fox affiliates. Forget about what SB used to be like those days are over. Disgusting if you ask me. SB cops used to be the coolest anywhere. Just another city with jerks for cops. Yay TV.

It's been 8 months since a man in a motorcycle helmet walked in off the beach in Faria and stabbed Pregnant Davina Husted and her husband Brock to death in front of their child. 61 year old Wendy DiRodio was stabbed to death in the Ventura Keys a week later. Ventura County Sheriff's told the press that a break in the case was about to happen. In the weeks that followed, no arrests were made and no suspects were ever identified. Later in Ventura County, 19 year old Melissa Rodriguez was found in the roadway in a pool of blood with a gunshot to her head. Again, no arrests were made and no suspects were ever identified.

Two weeks ago Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks issued a press release .... 51 year old Joey Brack was arrested in his home. He was growing pot and had whopping 3 pounds of marijuana in the home. The several month investigation of Mr. Brack also revealed he was not paying for electricity. He was booked and held on $675,000 bail. Today, our Sheriff proudly announced more arrests related to medical marijuana dispensaries in Santa Barbara. I for one, am pleased to see arrests being made and press releases issued which demonstrate that our County is safe and major lawbreakers will be held accountable.

It is interesting that the D.A.s office has the time and resorses to pad there work load- as the sheriff has done with fony press releaseses. what happens to the pot? does it blow away in the wind like they claim happened on
E. Camino Cielo I know the retirement plans of the D.A. and sherifs has tanked and they are looking for ways to keep this cash cow going-but in a time when we are cutting school budjets-these people are geting all they can .This is why the D.A. race will be so important

I was prescribed medical marijuana 3 years ago for a medical condition. It has helped my condition immensely. I continue to function well at work and at home with minimal adverse side effects.

I suppose now I will be driving to LA to get my medication.

I only have one comment for the Santa Barbara D.A and Police Department: please find something truly constructive to do with the resources that voters have granted you. You lose our respect and support when you focus time and energy on victimless "crimes''.

These should prove to be interesting cases in court. Will cost way more to prosecute than they hauled in. So will the city sell the marijuana to the "approved" dispensaries ?

@MusselShoalsResident
Your post makes absolutly no sense.... are you claiming that Joey Brack shot and murdered those people while growing pot to sell to medical marijana patients?? Probably not, so I can only assume you are trying to say that these murders show that we are not safe and that these raids somehow make you feel more safe... right? If so, you are an idiot. Patients are still going to purchase pot. After the raids they cannot do it at a locally owned and operated store that pays the city/county sales taxes, instead they will be forced to do their transactions on the black market.

Tell me, do you feel more or less safe when there is an increase in black market transactions in your neighborhood??

CompassionPlz: I think MusselShoals was being sarcastic like me. There are murderers on the loose, but our powers that be would rather focus their energies towards pot shops. Maybe the murders frequent those?

AZ2SB-

In all probability, the murderers profit from some of those. If the pot shops aren't on the up-and-up, they need to be taken down.

At first I thought he/she was serious. I am now sensing a thin whisp of sarcasim in MusselShoalsResident's post.

thanks AZ2SB

I agree shogarth, but I also believe there are higher priorities than taking down pot shops.

Let's have a look at the people, businesses and organizations that benefit financially from the illegaliztion of marijuana, whether medicinal or universal.
One woman who speaks out at every hearing owns an "alternative medicine/homeopathy business" which she sees as threatened by dispensaries.
Then there's the rehab clinics who keep their coffers full from court ordered clients, often times marijuana related. These are just two examples.
And WHY are churches included in the location guidelines??? Churches are given way too much relevance in the policy decisions of this city and country; and it is completely inappropriate if unconstitutional that they are included in the location guidelines.
I hope Mayor Schneider isn't going to be just another schmuck for the cry baby reactionaries and a shill for the corporatists. Let's hold all these people's feet to the fire and demand they respect the wishes of the voters.