SB COUNTY COPS GONE WILD & MAPP MEETING

MAY 5 MAPP MEETING FEATURES PSYCHIATRIST PRESENTATION PLUS DISCUSSION ON PATIENT RESPONSES TO SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY COPS GONE WILD

The situation in San Bernardino County has become a Wild West free-for-all with law enforcement busting collectives and patients and the county's elected officials unwilling or powerless to stop them. We will be discussing what approaches we need to take to address this malicious situation.

Presentations will be made by Cheri Sicard, our San Bernardino advocate, and by Dustin whose
delivery service in Rancho Cucamonga was raided and he was arrested and imprisoned.

I strongly advise extreme caution in any dealings with police in San Bernardino County. There is no doubt now that they still refuse to recognize California's medical marijuana laws and feel they can ignore them with impunity. We are contacting attorneys to find out if they actually can and what actions can be taken to rein them in.

Our featured speaker is Dr.Chirstopher Fichtner who will be discussing his new book
Cannabinomics. Dr. Fitchner recently made a presentation before the Wildomar City Council as part of the Council's investigative process. Dr. Fitchner will have copies of his new book available for purchase and will be personally autographing each book after the meeting.

The Riverside/Inland Empire MAPP meeting on Wednesday, May 5 begins promptly at 7:30 p.m. and is held at the THCF Medical Clinic, 647 Main Street in Riverside 92501.

Lanny Swerdlow
Directior Marijuana Anti Prohibition Project

BAD NEWS - Medical Marijuana Raid in Rancho Cucamonga

On Tuesday, the same day over 60 patients and advocates rallied and spoke before the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors, a small delivery collective was raided in Rancho Cucamonga.

Phelan, Chino and now Rancho Cucamonga. It's San Bernardino Cops Gone Wild! Here's how the operator of the Collective described the raid:

My name is Dustin and I own and operate a legal, licensed delivery service called High Times 420 Delivery (www.hightimes420.com). Last night my house was raided. I only had approximately five ounces of medical marijuana that were separated in different glass jars.

Officer Dean and Officer Lopez and six other police from the Rancho Cucamonga Police Dept.
called the "smash" unit came to my house, raided it and took my cash, money, business cards,
cell phones, computers and a lot of other stuff. They tossed my whole house. I asked for a search warrant and they told me don't worry about it. They had me handcuffed for four hours on the curb while they tossed my house, cars, travel trailer, motorcycle.

They finally showed up with a warrant. The officers stole $4,000 cash from my girlfriend's safe. It was her checks she was saving up and had her check stubs in there. They claim there was no money in the safe and only my Rolex watch. The cops are corrupt.

I provided them all my legal documents, patient ID forms, patient rec forms. I was totally legal - they didn't want to hear it.

Although I only had about five ounces, they used the glass jars as weight and ended up booking me for 3 pounds and charging me with possession with intent to sell. I just got out of jail on a $50,000 bond. This is my first arrest ever. It sucks cause I am also a bail bondsman.

Dustin will be meeting with his attorney on Thursday. He will be at the Wednesday, May 5 MAPP meeting in Riverside and will bring us up to date on this latest travesty perpetuated by San Bernardino County law enforcement. Stay tuned.

The Riverside MAPP meeting is at 7:30 pm at the THCF Medical Clinic and Patient Center @ 647 Main Street, Ste. 1B, Riverside, CA. 951-782-9898.

CHINO SUPPORT RALLY TOMORROW 4-14-10

Thank you to those who joined us in our court support efforts last week at the Chino Superior Courthouse for those volunteers and staff being held from the recent raid on the San Bernardino Patients Association.

SBPA has currently re-opened as an advocacy center and will be hosting their first support rally tomorrow evening. Patient members of the collective who were arrested and detained during the raid will be on hand to discuss their stories. The rally will be held at SBPA-3757 Riverside Dr. Ste B Chino, CA 91710 and will begin at 6:30 PM. Come out to show your support for the patients involved, and hear about why San Bernardino needs regulations, not raids.

Yours in solidarity,

Angela Smith, Co-Director, Yes-We-Cannabis

Chino Raid Update

From: Lanny Swerdlow, Director Marijuana Anti Prohibition Project

CHINO COLLECTIVE OPERATORS TO BE ARRAIGNED MONDAY

The two operators of the SB Patients Association collective remain in jail along with three
employees and possibly one or two patients stemming from the raid by San Bernardino Sheriff'
officers on Tuesday, March 30. Although a couple of those arrested were able to post bail, most
remained in jail with a combined bail total exceeding $10 million.

There has not been much more information available from what was in the last email newsletter. I have received a number of emails from members of the SBPA very upset at the loss of their source of medicine. Several of these emails were from low income individuals expressing how
compassionate SBPA was in providing low cost or even free medication to them. SBPA was one of
the relatively older collectives and operated in compliance with the Attorney General
Guidelines.

In a story published in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, which is printed at the end of this
newsletter as well, the SB Sheriff's office has issued a press release with some really weird
wording. It is very unusual for the Sheriff's office to issue any kind of press release unless
they realize what they are doing is pissing off a lot of people and that these people complain
to their elected officials and so to cover their butts they put out a press release touting
their heroic acts of bravery and the evilness of the evil they have just vanquished.

As more information becomes available, I will send it out in a newsletter, but in the meantime,
court support is being sought at Monday's arraignment hearing at 7:45 a.m. at the Chino Superior Court, 13260 Central Ave in Chino, CA 91710.

It is not known which courtroom the hearing will be held in, but supporters will be out in force
with rally signs. Having gone through trials myself and with way too many patients, I know how
empowering it is to have friends and supporters on hand when standing before a judge, so if you
can make it, please come.

New Inland Valley Daily Bulleton Article

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin has published a new article on the Chino raid.

ACTION ALERT! -- Help Those Arrested in Chino

Friday, April 2, 2010
Good afternoon,

As we are awaiting information in regards to those still in custody from the Chino raid, here are a few ways you can help.

1. Below you will find a list of the phone numbers and the emails of the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors. We need to light up their phone lines this afternoon and fill their in boxes this weekend with requests for regulations, not raids!

2. This morning, both the San Bernardino Sun and the Daily Bulletin posted articles (Links Below) about the Chino raid, and the aftermath. There have been multiple negative comments posted since then. We need to reply with positive responses and make sure our voice and opinions are heard. Remember-Regulations, not Raids!

We will keep you posted on pending court support. Actual arraignments have not occurred yet but may happen as early as this afternoon or as late as Monday morning.


Spread the word, we stand together.


Angela Smith, Co-Director Yes-We-Cannabis

RESOURCES

SB Sun Article Here

Daily Bulletin Here

San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors

Brad Mitzelfelt

1st District

SupervisorMitzelfelt@sbcounty.gov

909-387-4830

Paul Biane

2nd District

SupervisorBiane@sbcounty.gov

909-387-4833

Neil Derry

3rd District

SupervisorDerry@sbcounty.gov

909-387-4855

Gary Ovitt

4th District/Chairman

SupervisorOvitt@sbcounty.gov

909-387-4866

Josie Gonzales

5th District/Vice Chair

SupervisorGonzales@sbcounty.com

909-387-4565

HOW DO I FIND OUT WHAT DISTRICT I AM IN?
Check out these district maps to find which supervisor you should write to (if you already don't know).

District 1 Map -- Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt

District 2 Map -- Supervisor Paul Biane

District 3 Map -- Supervisor Neil Derry

District 4 Map -- Supervisor Gary Ovitt

District 5 Map -- Supervisor Josie Gonzales

Chino Raid and Court Update

Friday April 2, 2010
Good morning,

Thank you to those who rallied at Chino Superior Court today for those still in custody from this weeks raid on San Bernardino Patients Association.

Deputy D.A. James Hoffman stated that thus far charges were to be filed against seven people, those not charged would be released later today. The D.A. advised that there is very little information available in the discovery at this time as many reports are still being filed.

We will keep you posted on pending court support. Actual arraignments have not occurred yet but may happen as early as this afternoon or as late as Monday morning.

Also, the Daily Bulletin has posted an article about the raid that can be read HERE

Spread the word, we stand together.

Yours in solidarity,

Ryan Michaels, Director Yes-We-Cannabis

Court Support Needed Friday!

From: Angela Smith, Yes-We-Cannabis

Good Evening,

Here is the latest information that we have in regards to the Chino Raid:

At this time formal charges have not been filed by the San Bernardino District Attorney's office against the operators of SBPA, though they are still being held in custody. Even so, they are due to be arraigned tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. in the Chino Superior Court, Department C-2, 13260 Central Ave. Chino, CA 91710.

We need your support in the courtroom to show that we will not stand idly by and let San Bernardino County stand on the rights of qualified patients.

Please email info@yes-we-cannabis.org for additional information.

Take care and stay safe,

Yours in solidarity,

Angela Smith

Latest Info on Chino Raid

From: Ryan Michaels, Yes-We-Cannabis

Good afternoon,

We are slowly gathering more information about the actions of San Bernardino County Sheriffs and Chino Poice involved in a raid on a local medical cannabis collective, here are the updates so far:

1. On Tuesday evening March, 30, 2010, 15 minutes prior to closing as many as thirty officers in raid gear swarmed the facility through front and rear doors, badges were covered.

2. Paper bags were placed over the cameras.

3. Two operators, husband and wife, and eleven employees were on-site at the time and all were detained and arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to sell.

4. All marijuana, computers, patient files, and some furniture was taken.

5. Currently ALL parties are being held on a four million ($4,000,000) bond, we are awaiting updates from attorneys and bail bondsmen today to see how they will proceed for release but a number of personal contacts are involved working to get the operators released.

6. Chino Police and San Bernardino County Sheriffs reportedely arrested patients as well, and in fact set up a checkpoint in the parking lot from which they searched and arrested a number of individuals who were coming to the collective yesterday. Arrests were made for a variety of charges including simple possession.

It is unfortunate to have to report news of this nature, but I am hopeful from the incredible response from all across Southern California and now the nation, we are working to coordinate a response that is in-line with the desires of the operators, we will not stand idly by and let San Bernardino County stand on the rights of qualified patients.

Take care and stay safe,

Yours in solidarity,

Ryan Michaels
Director, Yes-We-Cannabis

Happening Right Now! 8PM, 3-31-10

ACTION ALERT:
From Ryan Michaels, Yes-We-Cannabis

Good evening Inland Empire,

Today we have received multiple reports from patients and several individuals with personal relationships with the operators of San Bernardino Patients Association, Chino, CA indicating that the facility has been raided by San Bernardino County Sheriffs in conjunction with Chino Police.

At this time it is unclear what parties are still being detained but initial reports were that two operators, five employees, and eleven patients total had been arrested.

Additionally, members of law enforcement have setup a checkpoint in the parking lot and are stopping, searching, and arresting as many as eleven patients. We have not been able to get to the location of SBPA to confirm this checkpoint, anyone with photos or confirmation should
contact info@yes-we-cannabis.org ASAP!

The Inland Empire medical cannabis community can not stand idly by while patients are being detained - safe access to medical cannabis is a provision of the law. I hope to have more news to share soon and I am grateful to those who have been helpful and able to offer us this valuable information.

Sincerely yours,

Ryan Michaels