September 26, 2012, 12:05 AM
As California's outdoor marijuana growing season nears its end for 2012, drug officials are reporting a sharp decline in crop seizures for the second year in a row. The latest figures show that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are on track to eradicate an estimated 1.5...
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September 10, 2012, 12:05 AM
Smoking pot as a teenager can double a man’s risk of getting testicular cancer. But cocaine use can reduce the risk by half. These are just some of the conclusions a team of researchers at the University of Southern California came to after interviewing more than 350 men, 163 of...
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August 14, 2012, 12:05 AM
For years, legalization advocates have argued that marijuana is America’s leading cash crop, outranking corn, wheat, soy and a host of other heartland staples produced on an industrial scale. Bringing pot production above ground, the argument goes, could produce a $30 billion tax bonanza...
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July 13, 2012, 2:05 PM
Toxic chemicals used to rid rodents from illicit marijuana gardens in the Sierra Nevada range and elsewhere in California may have inadvertently poisoned dozens of vulnerable weasel-like mammals called fishers, according to a new study released today. Biologists from UC Davis, the nonprofit...
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April 6, 2012, 7:01 PM
On Oct. 13, the Drug Enforcement Administration raided Northstone Organics, a medical marijuana co-op farm in Mendocino County.
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February 14, 2012, 12:20 AM
This week, officials in Mendocino County, Northern California, are expected to pull the plug on an unusual program that put pot growing under supervision of the local sheriff. It was the first effort of its kind in the nation and proved a success, at least in the eyes of many locals. But, as...
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January 23, 2012, 12:05 AM
California drug enforcement agents say they are closing in on the suspected marijuana suppliers to pro football player Jerome Simpson, four months after the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver received a 2.5-pound package of Northern California pot sent to his suburban Kentucky home. The...
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November 28, 2011, 12:05 AM
Federal prosecutors are stepping up efforts to seize property from landowners who lease space to medical marijuana operators amid a widening crackdown on California's pot industry. The latest action involves the Fairfax-based Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, one of the state’s...
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November 10, 2011, 12:05 AM
Lawmakers soon may enlist the nation's spymaster to help fight Mexican drug traffickers and others who use federal land in California and elsewhere to grow marijuana. A provision of the 2012 intelligence authorization bill calls on the director of national intelligence to assess and report...
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October 19, 2011, 7:35 PM
Marijuana is transforming California’s Central Valley as pot has become a more lucrative crop than almonds and grapes in the nation’s most productive farm belt, Fresno County Farm Bureau officials say. Now, federal authorities are sending letters to landowners who lease farmland to...
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September 3, 2011, 12:26 PM
As residents around Fort Bragg confront the loss of two community leaders, the Mendocino County SWAT Team and supporting law enforcement units continue the manhunt for the shooting suspect. Aaron Bassler, 35, is wanted in connection with the Aug. 26 killing of city Councilman and former Fort...
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July 5, 2011, 2:36 PM
Law enforcement agents in six northern counties are preparing for the largest series of marijuana raids ever conducted in this part of California. Operation Full Court Press will unleash hundreds of local, state and federal agents into the Mendocino National Forest later this summer. The...
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July 5, 2011, 12:05 AM
Wearing a black cocktail dress and maroon high heels, Jessica Ryan balanced a check-filled leatherbound guestbook in one hand and a mojito in the other. A secretary for one of the top medical marijuana lobbyists in Sacramento, Ryan flashed a smile as she greeted each of the roughly three dozen...
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July 1, 2011, 12:37 PM
A long-awaited Justice Department memo suggests the Obama administration supports renewed law enforcement action against some of California’s biggest medical marijuana operators. “Persons who are in the business of cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana, and those who...
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June 20, 2011, 2:33 PM
As soon as today, Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to release a letter clarifying the Justice Department’s policy toward the 16 states that have approved medical marijuana laws. Of particular importance to California is whether federal authorities will tolerate states...
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