Fresno dispensary owner arrested for kidnap plot

 Dispensaries, Law Enforcement, Marijuana News
Nov 122010
 

Tower District medical marijuana clinic operator Rick Morse was booked into Fresno County Jail on Thursday after investigators uncovered an alleged plot by Morse to kidnap a Fresno city attorney. Morse, who was booked into and released from the jail three times earlier this year because of overcrowding, was being held on suspicion of battery and attempted kidnapping stemming from the incident in May. Sheriff’s officials said Thursday the attempted kidnapping count makes Morse ineligible for release despite overcrowding, the Fresno Bee reports. On May 17, Morse allegedly tried to arrest and handcuff Michael Flores, [...]

Fresno’s newest cannabis doctors on probation

 Pot-pourri
Oct 312010
 

Here’s how Pacific Referral advertised yesterday’s grand opening of its medical-marijuana clinic in central Fresno: with a bounce house and free refreshments. Here’s what the new business didn’t advertise, Barbara Anderson reports in the Fresno Bee: Its two out-of-town doctors are on probation with the California Medical Board — and both are prohibited from practicing on their own. That fact underscores what some experts say is an emerging problem as more clinics open in California to offer medical-marijuana evaluations: They can attract doctors who have troubled histories. While many doctors who recommend medical marijuana fervently [...]

Bud’s Blog: Time-out for Fresno’s cannabis laws

 Bud's Blog, Dispensaries, Legalization, Opinion, Ordinances
Oct 152010
 

The use and cultivation of medical marijuana, which was authorized by Prop. 215, are challenges to both the city and county of Fresno. It is the same challenge faced by cities and counties statewide, and their efforts to regulate medical cannabis have had mixed results. Just as they have in Fresno. The city first acted to ban dispensaries in 2004, then followed up with an ordinance that allows dispensaries “consistent with state and federal law.” Since medical cannabis remains illegal under federal law, the ordinance serves as a de facto ban on dispensaries. Faced with [...]

San Joaquin Valley officials keep wary eye on Prop. 19

 Government, Legalization, Marijuana Law, Marijuana News
Oct 102010
 

Many California voters are high on a ballot initiative that would legalize recreational use of marijuana. Valley officials are not, George Hostetter writes in the Fresno Bee. They’re wary about problems that Proposition 19 might create — and uncertain how it would work. But even though the measure would become law the day after it passes, local officials are not drafting pot regulations until the voters are heard on Nov. 2. “There are a lot of questions about how [Prop. 19] would be put into practice,” says Visalia City Attorney Alex Peltzer. “They’re going to [...]

Fresno man to face murder trial for pot-garden shooting

 Courts, Crime, Marijuana News
Sep 302010
 

A Fresno man will stand trial in the shooting death of a man suspected of stealing medical marijuana plants from a backyard garden, a judge said Wednesday in Fresno County Superior Court. Judge Edward Sarkisian Jr. made his ruling after three Fresno police officers and two homicide detectives testified at Phayvanh Dydouangphan’s preliminary hearing, the Fresno Bee reports. Dydouangphan, 47, fatally shot Stanley Wallace on Sept. 8 as Wallace and six other people drove away in a pickup from a marijuana garden at Dydouangphan’s home near Roeding Park, police said. Wallace was hit in the [...]

City of Fresno will team up with county on proposed pot-garden rules

 Marijuana News, Ordinances
Sep 172010
 

The city of Fresno may follow Fresno County in regulating where medical marijuana is grown after recent violence involving backyard pot farms, including a fatal shooting near Roeding Park. Fresno City Council Member Henry T. Perea on Thursday asked City Attorney James Sanchez to work with Fresno County officials on an ordinance that would regulate medical-marijuana cultivation. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an emergency ban on outdoor medical-marijuana cultivation in unincorporated areas, George Hostetter reports in the Fresno Bee. The ban, which took effect immediately, will last 45 days while county officials develop [...]

Warrant: Fresno grower admits to shooting pot thief

 Crime, Law Enforcement, Marijuana News
Sep 162010
 

A Fresno man has confessed to police that he shot at a man suspected of tying to steal marijuana plants from his home, according to search warrant documents made public Wednesday. “I got robbed … I shoot,” Phayvanh Dydouangphan said in broken English to a police officer who responded to the shooting at his home near Roeding Park on Sept. 8. Stanley Wallace, 40, of Caruthers was fatally shot, the Fresno Bee reports. Dydouangphan, 47, pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder Wednesday in Fresno County Superior Court. Judge Ralph Nunes set a pre-preliminary [...]

Second Fresno pot-grow shooting prompts call for county ban on cultivation

 Cultivation, Law Enforcement, Marijuana News, Medical marijuana, Ordinances
Sep 142010
 

Another attempted theft from a marijuana garden — followed by gunfire — took place Monday morning in southwest Fresno, less than a week after a fatal encounter involving a marijuana garden near Roeding Park, police said. Shortly before noon, several men jumped out of a van near Dunn and Fruit avenues, hopped a fence and snatched several plants from the garden. As they sped away, the Fresno Bee reports, someone connected to the garden followed in another vehicle. During the short chase, shots were fired from at least one of the vehicles before the occupants [...]

Fresno police seek 3 after pot-garden shooting

 Law Enforcement, Marijuana News
Sep 102010
 

Fresno police are looking for three people for questioning in the shooting Wednesday during the attempted theft of marijuana at a home near Roeding Park. Investigators would like to speak with Charles Boe, 47, and Richard Scott Young and Mark Williams, both 41, police told the Fresno Bee. All three are described as white. Boe and Young both are 5 feet, 10 inches tall and have blond hair and blue eyes. Boe weighs about 160 pounds. Young weighs about 215 pounds. Williams is 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs about 215 pounds and has brown [...]

Fresno marijuana physician could lose his license over allegations involving prescription drugs

 Marijuana News
Aug 182010
 

One of Fresno’s most prominent advocates for medical marijuana could lose his physician’s license amid a flurry of allegations that include prescribing a painkiller in exchange for sex. Osteopathic physician Daniel Brubaker, 62, is a former medical director of the Central California Blood Center who has been recognized for his research. More recently, as an orthopedic and pain-management specialist, he has made a name for himself by recommending marijuana for his patients. His Muscular Skeletal Medical Associates office on First Street in east central Fresno is one of three San Joaquin Valley medical offices commonly [...]

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