The Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana says it usually helps customers deal with pains and diseases. But Thursday night, the group known as WAMM asked you for help. Valerie Corral organized the fundraiser at the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Company, "WAMM is often financially marginalized. We have some difficulties and often it's month to month."

Jason Christ thinks I waited too long.

The less time physicians spend with medicinal-pot seekers the better, according to Christ, executive director of Montana Caregivers Network.

The San Jose Mercury News is reporting Friday that Jose Penaloza-Soto was dressed in camouflage when he was confronted July 21 in a wooded section of the N3 Cattle Ranch. Deputies say Penaloza-Soto refused to obey commands in English and Spanish to drop what appeared to be a hunting rifle.

Sheriff's Sgt. Rick Sung said Valencia was shot by an "unknown assailant" while tending goats on property above Uvas Reservoir.

For the third time in the past week, fires in San Jose resulted in the discovery and seizure of residential marijuana-growing operations. Such operations are not uncommon in the city, according to police.

Council members also heard a PG&E presentation on the SmartMeters being installed in the community and named Interim City Manager Greg Greeson interim city clerk following the resignation of Kelly Buendia.

This joint venture agreement has been executed with Smokefree Innotec Inc (Pink Sheets: SFIO | PowerRating), which is in the business of designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing hi-tech, nicotine and non-nicotine cigarette-like delivery devices which are completely smoke and vapour-free and tobacco-free.

Some 60 individuals joined the San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate.com online/telephone discussion to listen and ask questions about the societal consequences if voters pass Prop. 19 on the November ballot. You can listen too. Just click on the icon above.

After a work accident in 1994, Bendula, of Tracy, is now one of about 400,000 Californians who have medical marijuana cards. For Bendula, he smokes between 3 and 5 grams of pot a day to help alleviate his pain.

It doesn't, however, change the difficulty of finding a job where drug tests and screenings are required.

There were no injuries, no arrests and no residents at the scene. San Jose police detectives were trying to locate the owners of the three bedroom, two bath home at 1548 Lochner Drive in East San Jose.

Mr. Perlowin is addressing the crowd on topics ranging from Medical Marijuana Inc's proprietary business programs to the political atmosphere in California and Michigan. MJNA has leased out the SilverDome in Pontiac, Michigan for the Halloween weekend to host the largest medical marijuana conference ever held in Michigan. Mr. Perlowin will address the challenges medical marijuana has in the newer pro medical marijuana states.

HempCon 2010 featured vendors and informational booths on everything from medical marijuana's benefits to growing options.

There was information about medical marijuana, places set up to explain the current laws and booths aimed at pushing Prop 19 -- the November ballot issue to legalize pot for recreational purposes. Visitors could also learn about pot clubs in the Bay Area, growing weed at home and what equipment is needed to start an indoor farm.

A post on MediaLeaf's website said the Gilroy clinic has temporarily closed as MediaLeaf's board of directors meets with an attorney to evaluate the clinic's options after a judge ruled the dispensary is operating illegally.

Calls from Action News to MediLeaf operators had not been returned as of 2:30 p.m. Monday.

MediLeaf, which opened in November and has dispensaries in Willow Glen and San Jose, remained open up until last week but closed Monday following a July 29 prohibitory injunction stopping operations at the city's only nonmobile medical marijuana dispensary at First Street and Westwood Drive.

"All these taxes!" exclaims Gutierrez, 65.

She likely won't be alone in her exasperation: Of the 21 local measures that will appear on the Santa Clara County ballot in November, 13 are asking for money.

The East Side Union High School District where Gutierrez lives is seeking a $98 annual parcel tax that would pay for teachers and programs; her local community college is asking for $268 million in bond sales for campus upgrades.

Mr. Perlowin is addressing the crowd on topics ranging from Medical Marijuana Inc's proprietary business programs to the political atmosphere in California and Michigan. MJNA has leased out the SilverDome in Pontiac, Michigan for the Halloween weekend to host the largest medical marijuana conference ever held in Michigan. Mr. Perlowin will address the challenges medical marijuana has in the newer pro medical marijuana states.

But you could step across the street away from the convention center's South Hall, nestle back in the shade and light up -- as dozens of devotees did.

In a press release, Lucero said the new San Jose location at 4140 Steven Creek Boulevard is the medical marijuana dispensary's "biggest ever" and that Buddy's is looking to "establish a permanent home in this wonderful community."

All the measures are designed to dig the city out of its structural budget deficit, which contributed to a record $118.5 million general fund deficit in 2010-11.

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday, with a 7-4 vote, approved a measure that will place the tax on the ballot. If it's approved, it will be the highest medical cannabis tax in the state.

Proponents of the tax see it as a revenue source for the cash-strapped city. But medical marijuana patients and activists fear a 10 percent tax is too high and will drive those in need of the medication to neighboring cities where the prices will be lower.

And in an effort to rake in more tax revenues, the council agreed to place a measure on the November ballot that would tax medicinal marijuana sales up to 10 percent, which would be the highest rate in the Bay Area.

If Proposition 19 is approved by voters in November, the state's largest cash crop - with an estimated annual value of $14 billion - would be sold and taxed like alcohol or cigarettes. According to the state Legislative Analyst's Office, Prop 19 could potentially yield hundreds of millions in tax and fee revenues as well as significant savings in corrections spending.

Voters will decide whether to let the city impose a tax of up to 10 percent of gross receipts on businesses in San Jose that sell marijuana, either legally or illegally.

Proponents see the business tax as a revenue source for the cash-strapped city.

A poll conducted last month indicated that 66 percent of likely voters were in favor of a 10 percent tax, and 68 percent were in favor of a 3 percent tax.

As one Obama administration official told the Los Angeles Times in March:

"If you are operating a medical marijuana clinic that is actually a front, we'll come after you. But if you are operating within the law, we are not going to prioritize our resources to go after them."

"You have to be able to balance the needs of three constituencies," says Pat Dwyer, the ex-Palo Alto police chief who's now a law enforcement liaison to Santa Clara County's mental health department. "You serve the community, the city government and the people who follow you in the organization."

The council directed staff to draft a strategic plan for putting the city back on its feet amid a shrinking tax base, state raids and rising public safety and other personnel costs. Santa Cruz faces a $2.2 million shortage and is expected to sustain structural deficits for years to come unless employee costs are shaved and revenues are raised.

Five proposed ballot measures, two of them controversial, go to the rules committee today to be placed on the council agenda. Having unexpectedly been tossed some hot potatoes by Mayor Chuck Reed, the committee should flip them all forward to the council to decide what gets served up to voters in November. The call must be made next week to meet the ballot deadline.

The ten percent medical marijuana tax, if approved, would give San Jose the highest medical cannabis tax in the state. Proponents say this would put an undue burden on patients.

But the proposal — one of five possible measures the City Council will consider next month — drew fire from marijuana providers who say the 10 percent level is excessive. Critics also question the morality of taxing what they consider medicine.

"Ten percent is just ridiculous," said David Hodges, founder of the San Jose Cannabis Buyers Collective. Dozens of similar operations have sprouted in the past year since Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio proposed licensing and taxing medicinal marijuana operations.

"The marijuana doesn't bother me," said the 69-year-old Miller, whose bar advertises itself as being as close to the Old West as you can get. "The shootouts do."

I've seen the prohibition's terrible impact at close range.

Today, the City Council will consider lifting a smoking ban at San Lorenzo Park for five hours Sept. 25 to allow authorized pot users to medicate inside open-air tents designed to create privacy. The item is on the council's consent agenda, indicating that it may not be as controversial as in years past.

"For the city, it's a matter of course," Mayor Mike Rotkin said.

About 11 deputies from the Santa Clara and Alameda county sheriff's offices were combing the hills above Mines Road when a suspect was shot and killed about 10:25 a.m., according to Sgt. Rick Sung, a spokesman for the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.

A business going by the name of Green Shores Patient Center opened in the 100 block of West Franklin Street earlier this year. After Action News ran a story about the clinic earlier this month, police said the business stopped operating out of the building.

Sheriff's Sgt. Rick Sung says three deputies opened fire on the man after he pointed a rifle at them around 10:25 a.m. Wednesday.

After the shooting, Sung says deputies uncovered 20,000 marijuana plants, with a street value of estimated between $60 and $80 million.

Authorities have not released the name of the suspect, or of the deputies involved in the shooting.

Two San Jose men were arrested Wednesday and a third is wanted in connection with the large-scale commercial growing and selling operation, according to Sgt. Mark Yanez, who headed the investigation.

The probe began when a deputy on a routine alarm call at a Live Oak warehouse smelled marijuana and reported the odor to the sheriff's drug unit, which Yanez oversees.

“We are talking about very rugged terrain up in the mountains,” Santa Clara County Sheriff’s spokesman Rick Sung.

Buddy's new address is about five miles outside of Mountain View at 1283 Old Mountain View Alviso Road.

Kent Lee Maxon is accused of a string of recent bank robberies, including Monday's heist at Comerica Bank on Mission Street, police Capt. Steve Clark said.

Buddy's Cannabis Patient Collective, Mountain View's only medical marijuana dispensary, has launched a new line of gourmet "edibles" whipped up by a French chef in the South Bay.

Meanwhile, founder Matt Lucero is preparing to close the dispensary's doors Wednesday under a court order while trying to work out a deal to end his litigation with the city.

San Jose is already home to about 60 medical marijuana dispensaries and over the weekend, another one held its grand opening. But this one is standing out for another reason.

The CannAcademy, a leading Cannabis trade school has opened a new campus in San Jose at the MedMar Healing Center.

CannAcademy founder Jade Kine said he will be starting with 20 students per class.

"He's looking for another suite in Hollister or San Jose," said Greg Dolan, who owns the building at 335 San Benito St., where Scott McPhail opened the dispensary against the city's wishes in December 2009. McPhail did not respond to phone and e-mail requests for an interview by press time.

The decision means some of an estimated 60 dispensaries open in the city will need to either close or move.

One such medical marijuana club, the Holistic Pain Management Institute, is located next door to a school for some 60 children who attend the Vietnamese-American Academy.

Members of the medical cannabis community organized the protest as a way to draw attention to tonight's San Jose City Council emergency meeting to address regulations on dispensaries and patients' rights.

The city, which is brimming with nearly 70 pot shops, is considering a proposal to cap the number of dispensaries at 10 and ask local voters to approve a 3 percent tax on pot businesses per $1,000 in gross receipts.

"This is something that many cities have been struggling with," City Manager Rick Doyle said. "Everything's on the table and we're trying to get guidance."

Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio are recommending that city staff shut down collectives within 500 feet of sensitive sites.

"It is a very sad day for the sick and ill in Mountain View," said Matt Lucero, a former corporate attorney who opened the medical marijuana dispensary in April.

Brad Ahikian said he will propose the new location, which he didn't identify, when he submits a new application to the county on Monday, June 21. His original plan was to locate the clinic at 2991 El Camino Real, in the building now housing the Hannig Law Firm. The site is near Selby Lane, next to John Bentley's restaurant.

A Red Cross spokeswoman said there was no way to verify that. Then a Harborside spokeswoman said the Red Cross had approved the news release in which the claim was made.

”We need to get regulations in place here very quickly, as opposed to waiting months on end,” said Erika Taylor Montgomery, the spokeswoman for the San Jose Cannabis Buyers’ Collective. “We don’t want a situation here in San Jose like they have in Los Angeles, where there are now over 500 collectives operating.”

It's not clear if the Holistic Resource Center has actually begun operating yet, said San Mateo Deputy Police Chief Mike Callagy, but the group's application has been approved.

There were the parents and teachers worried about the proximity of the dispensaries to schools and the patients and operators who dismissed the city's proposals as too prohibitive.

In the initial draft ordinance city officials proposed limiting the number of collectives in San Jose to 10, selected by lottery — an idea jeered by some.

The city Planning Commission voted 4-3 on Thursday in favor of amending the zoning ordinance related to medical marijuana dispensaries to expand operating days to include Sunday, which would permit the drug to be sold 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

Task force agents made "several covert buys" through contacts employed at one medical marijuana dispensary, task force Cmdr. Lt. Marc Alcantara said.

One of the men arrested, Orlando Pohahau, was employed at a medical marijuana dispensary, although Alcantara would not say which one.

“We are not purposely targeting dispensaries,” Alcantara said. “We are targeting illegal drug sales.”

During the investigation, agents arranged several "covert buys" of marijuana, methamphetamine and two handguns, said Lt. Marc Alcantara, commander of the task force. They seized more than a pound of processed marijuana, small amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine, the guns and paraphernalia associated with drug sales.

Lane Sharon, a Santa Cruz resident, had a rifle, a shotgun and two handguns in his bedroom, police reported.

A driver for the Green Access collective then loads packages of marijuana bearing names of strains like Bubble Berry and Grapefruit and heads out, often to San Mateo County, to make a delivery in what is an increasingly common way for medical marijuana to change hands.

George, 17, has been a band trumpet player for six years and for three years has been first chair with a concert band and jazz ensemble. He's also a battalion commander with Encinal High School's Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program.

There, ounces of marijuana buds are sold from petri dishes carefully labeled with names like Afgooy, White Rhino and Big Purple. A joint is $5 to $8, and an eighth of an ounce of weed is around $60, compared to $50 on the street.

Commissioners Anne Wyatt and Carlyn Christianson voted to approve the minor use permit for the dispensary proposed for Lindon Lane by Robert Brody of Los Angeles and Tom Meredith of Long Beach.

Blue Heaven set up shop in Moss Beach in July 2009 before licenses were required, but two months later the county established new regulations for dispensaries. Although Blue Heaven is threatened with closure because it doesn’t follow the new ordinance, the dispensary is putting up a fight.

Two or three men entered the South Bay Cannamed Patient Association in the 300 block of Commercial Street around 12:40 p.m. and robbed the business at gunpoint, police said.

One of the medical pot shops already has more than 2,500 clients and is objecting to the town setting a limit on its number of patients.

This local debate is rooted in voter passage of Proposition 215 in 1996. It is worth noting that two-thirds of Corte Madera's voters backed Proposition 215's legalization of the "compassionate" use of medical marijuana.

Although Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy ruled against the medical marijuana collectives, citing a lack of evidence to issue a ban on city officials from sending the letters, he did not throw out the case entirely. Murphy will listen to arguments from both sides at a hearing June 25.

Buddy's Cannabis Patient Collective opened April 10 in Mountain View, Calif., the San Jose Mercury News reported Thursday.

Attorney General Jerry Brown made the announcement on "Operation Knockout" in Salinas, an agriculture-driven city in the heart of the nation's Salad Bowl that has been plagued by violence in recent years.

Now the Silicon Valley city is teeming with cannabis club start-ups. An internet pot club site lists 55 in town, from Amsterdam's Garden to Green Skunk Xpress, from The Leaning leaf to Purple High.

The City Council on Tuesday night approved a recommendation by Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio to put an ordinance back on the plate in a couple months that could eventually lead to taxing and regulating medical cannabis clubs in the city.

That's the self-description offered for the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, the subject of a new independent film, La Vie En Verte.

The marijuana-growing collective, founded in Santa Cruz after the passage of the Proposition 215 medical marijuana law, catered to severely ill medical pot users, including dying AIDS and cancer patients.

That's the question California voters will face in the fall now that the ballot measure has qualified for the November election.

The state's political candidates got to face it Saturday. And their answers — more or less — were no, no, no and no.

The City Council voted 4-0 during its regular meeting to approve the moratorium, effective immediately. It gives the council 45 days to decide future actions regarding medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

Only a handful of residents spoke out about the ordinance change, which has been in the works since last June, when the city instituted a temporary ban on new pot shops. Stuart Kriege, whose application to open a third dispensary prompted the study, declined comment Tuesday.

Roger was behind bars at Elmwood without bail for 5 months. Once bail was allowed, it was set at a ridiculous $105,000. We petitioned the court and it was reduced to $55,000. Many Thanks to my dear friend Allen for putting up enough money so I could be freed or I would still be there.

Superior Court Judge Robert O'Farrell issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the city, requiring MyCaregiver Inc. at 554 Lighthouse Ave. to shut down, said Assistant Monterey City Attorney Christine Davi.

One club is relocating. The San Jose Cannabis Buyers Club was told to leave its location at 373 Monroe Street to a new one four miles away on Stockton Street.

The owner of the marijuana dispensary Purple Cross RX says he started a petition to recall the mayor of Hollister following a lawsuit from the city.

Mayor Richard Ortiz said Tuesday that a one-year moratorium would buy time for the city while courts resolve apparent conflicts between state and federal marijuana laws.

In a four to one vote, the City Council has voted to expand it's moratorium on pot dispensaries by one year. That means the city can take its time to consider regulations while the legal system sorts out cases in other communities.

At their meeting Tuesday night, Mountain View City Council members voted to ban pot clubs for now, but they made it clear they intend to eventually allow them after city officials develop some restrictions.

"There is an interest in making this available — medical marijuana — for those that need it, absolutely," Council Member Laura Macias said. "We just want to make it safe and affordable."

"I was very clear in the lease with regards to if I get any scrutiny from the city and if you [Purple Cross] can't defend yourself, then I'm going to take action to get you out," said Greg Dolan, who owns the building at 335 San Benito St., located between Third and Fourth streets. "From their perspective, they put an awful lot of money into this. They have to leave, and I think they're dragging it out."

As with most things, legalization of marijuana is not as simple as it might seem. Changing the law itself may take little more than an initiative such as the one soon to qualify for the California ballot. But precisely how would the law work?

The budding entrepreneur, who offers a selection of marijuana topical creams, pot cookies and green, leafy plants, envisions a thriving collaborative where local growers can make a living serving the medical needs of the community.

The marijuana issue has so many tentacles. There's AB 390, a state bill sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) that would legalize and tax marijuana at

$50-per-ounce. There's New Jersey's passage of a carefully crafted medical marijuana bill. There's the Obama administration's "don't look, don't prosecute" policy on dispensaries.

In addition to MediLeaf, which opened at First Street and Westwood Drive on Nov. 9 without a permit, online medical cannabis directories reveal that multiple medical marijuana services do business in Gilroy, including at least three that are based within city limits and do not have business licenses. While the purveyors of these dispensaries said they do no need licenses to operate within the city, Gilroy staff and officials said this is incorrect.

In a letter to the dispensary's operators, the city said that "unfortunately, the information you provided on your application and to the Planning Division was not complete. The city learned through your recent interviews with the media that your business is actually operating as a medical marijuana dispensary. You withheld this critical piece of information from the city."

The cooperative is obligated to get a city business license if it has a physical location in Capitola and earns more than $2,000 a year, said City Attorney John Barisone, adding, "If it's in L.A., we don't care."

Capitola Cannabis has a Web site where verified medical marijuana patients can apply for membership and take advantage of free delivery service of organic medical cannabis. Patients pay for the marijuana.

Y2K proved to be nothing.

But the past 10 years still gave us lots of sleepless nights. It turned out to be a decade of worry.

America became vulnerable to a group of Middle Eastern terrorists armed with box cutters, delivering the country's most devastating blow since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

We learned that what goes up, not only comes down, but can come down with a thundering boom. Home prices, stock portfolios and the number of job openings all dropped precipitously.

MediLeaf directors embraced and heaved sighs of relief Tuesday after a Santa Clara County superior court judge ruled that the medical marijuana dispensary in Gilroy will remain open for now.

"We're alive," MediLeaf director Neil Forrest told the Dispatch minutes after the hearing, his voice shaking slightly after the Judge Kevin Murphy voiced his decision.

Murphy shut the door on the city's first legal attempt to close down MediLeaf, which opened at 1321-B First St. last month between Rock Zone and Antdawg Universal Strength Headquarters at First Street and Westwood Drive without a business license.

Goyko Kuburovich, 49, who owns MediLeaf, said he was cited twice for allegedly not complying with an inspection warrant.

To date, the city has no licensed production houses. Current regulations require that in order to obtain a permit for a medical marijuana production house one must have a medical marijuana dispensary permit and that the production house must be at a location separate from the dispensary.

On Thursday, November 19, 2009, the Santa Cruz Planning Commission will hear testimony and discuss the medical marijuana dispensary ban. This will have drastic impacts on patients in Santa Cruz.

But Mayor Chuck Reed warned Wednesday that they remain illegal under current city law and that any that open are doing so at their own risk. A committee Reed leads that sets council agendas considered Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio's proposal to regulate and tax marijuana dispensaries. City officials said they would return to the committee in January to lay out the steps needed to craft such an ordinance.

That's why it's puzzling to us that two county supervisors Tuesday opposed asking for state financial help in rooting out illegal marijuana grows.

The supervisors, Neal Coonerty and John Leopold, believe it's a waste of time and money to use law enforcement resources on marijuana cases. Their opposition did not stop the other three supervisors from requesting the $275,000 state grant, which, if the county lands the money in competition with other counties, would allow an additional officer on the Sheriff's Office narcotics enforcement team, along with a part-time prosecutor who would attempt to put large-scale growers behind bars.

The dispensary claims its a nonprofit, so it doesn't need to get city approval to operate.

Gilroy officials disagree, and are issuing the dispensary a "cease and desist" order this week.

City Manager Tom Haglund said Tuesday evening that he expected a cease and desist order to be issued against MediLeaf - a medical marijuana dispensary that popped up Monday night at 1321 First St. without the city's permission - within 24 hours.

Two of the five county supervisors, who must sign off on monetary requests, voted Tuesday against the sheriff's funding plan, citing the enforcement of marijuana laws as a low priority and almost dooming prospects of the new crime-fighting funds.

~ Mark Twain

Twain's wisdom came to mind as I read a recent article by new Dispatch columnist John Larson (another new club member; welcome!) about medical marijuana dispensaries.

Legislation the Carmel Democrat plans to introduce this week, the Truth in Trials Act, seeks to commit the president's directive to law by making it tougher to prosecute people who smoke or sell pot for medical reasons in states where it is legal. In California and 13 other states, local laws permit the drug, though federal law bans it.

"This (directive of the president) isn't an executive order. It's not law, and it could change with a new attorney general or a new president," said Farr, who represents most of Santa Cruz County. "Our bill would codify this (directive)."

Valerie Corral, co-founder of WAMM, a nonprofit collective for seriously ill medical marijuana patients, told council members Tuesday that patients needed a spot to smoke if necessary at Saturday's celebration of medical marijuana. She said the group would erect tents near the sidewalk for patients with prescriptions to smoke privately during the annual celebration in San Lorenzo Park.

The city currently has 2 dispensaries, WAMM and no licensed grow houses. In order to open a production house one must first have a dispensary operating in the city.

Weedmaps is a founder of The Dispensary Defense Group, headed by Richard Cowan, former Director of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

But one entrepreneur, who hopes to open a shop on Mission Street, wondered if the extension instead would drain city resources and dampen Santa Cruz's full tourism potential.

In 1995 she was a buyer for The San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club. After The Club was raided in 1996 and patients were being robbed and beaten as they returned to the streets to obtain medicine, she started a delivery service in her 1984 Saab (with no reverse) and a donated pager. It was named Compassion On Wheels and affectionately known as The Holy COW.

But there she is, the star of a controversial television advertisement from the Marijuana Policy Project — stumping for the legalization and taxing of pot in California.

The plants had a potential street value of $6.5 million, officials from the San Benito County Sherriff's Office said.

There are two existing dispensaries currently operating in the Harvey West area of Santa Cruz. However, local medical marijuana patient Craig Canada reports that he buys his medication from dispensaries in San Francisco where the prices are more competitive. Proponents of medical marijuana hope that additional dispensaries in Santa Cruz will result in more affordable prices locally.

Lisa Molyneux, owner of Greenway Compassionate Relief Inc. in Harvey West, should ask the city's planning commission on Thursday to approve plans for a new, 430-square foot commercial kitchen so the dispensary's two pastry chefs can bake brownies, cookies and truffles in a controlled space next to the shop. Now, the two chefs are using other commercial kitchens around town which Molyneux said she can't control as tightly as if she had her own.

The ruling upholds a Santa Cruz County Superior Court jury decision that found medicinal marijuana user Roger Mentch, 53, guilty of cultivating and possessing marijuana for sale.

The ruling upholds a Santa Cruz County Superior Court jury decision that found medicinal marijuana user Roger Mentch, 53, guilty of cultivating and possessing marijuana for sale.

The city's smoking ban is being lifted temporarily so medical pot patients can light up at a weekend marijuana festival.

The City Council decided to suspend the smoking ban for a few hours Saturday after medical marijuana patients pleaded for permission to light up at the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana festival at San Lorenzo Park.

The decision came after testimony from more than 20 patients who reasoned and pleaded with the Santa Cruz City Council to allow them to inhale their medication while partaking in Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana's annual WAMMfest. Some accused council members of growing old and more conservative, while others said Santa Cruz was losing both its compassion and its weirdness.

The Santa Cruz City Council, so far, says no and we agree.

Here's the reasons why.

The one-day exemption would allow medical marijuana patients to light up during the annual Wamm Festival at San Lorenzo Park at the end of the month, but city council members have tabled the issue for another two weeks.

"It's not like a recreational marijuana event," said Councilman Mike Rotkin, who supports the temporary lifting of the city's 3-year-old ordinance that bans smoking in parks.

Several complaints from neighbors led to the execution of a search warrant, which turned up about 67 pounds of marijuana and a marijuana grow system with fans, special lighting, filter systems and a watering system.

WAMM co-founder Valerie Corral called the ruling "hopeful." WAMM had its medical marijuana seized by federal agents in a 2002 raid.

The fire was reported around 8:40 p.m. at 15707 Highland Drive at Alta Vista Way in unincorporated Santa Clara County. Firefighters were able to contain the fire by about 9:30 p.m. but officials said the residents would likely be displaced because walls were torn down during the suppression.

Farr, who is seeking his ninth term in the House of Representatives in the November election, lists among his contributors medical marijuana advocates, a national Realtors group, one of Monterey County's leading slow-growth voices and a Salinas attorney from a firm that often represents real estate developers.

Maldonado, 20, was shot and killed by deputies July 10 as they attempted to secure a marijuana plot targeted for eradication.

Two other armed suspects fled the area and remain at large. They are described as men in their mid-20s.

Wednesday, the sheriff's office reported that eradication efforts at the pot farm are finished. Lt. Ed Wise said about 40,000 plants were destroyed Tuesday, including 28,352 plants found in one of the three pot gardens.

Sheriff's officials estimate each plant, when mature, could have an estimated street value of $3,000 or a maximum of about $116 million for the 40,000 plants.

Members of the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, which is comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, had entered a large garden last Thursday when they encountered three armed suspects. At least one sheriff's deputy opened fire and one suspect, whose identity has not been released, was fatally shot, according to the sheriff's office.

Two Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation, said Lt. Ed Wise, a sheriff's department spokesman. The deputies' names have not been released.

Trujillo reported that one person died and two other people were on the run. Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies said they were searching for two Hispanic men in their 20s who fled after being in involved in the shooting.

First, the profitability and feasibility of illegal pot cultivation has been generally immune to swings in the economy, with growers exhibiting enough ingenuity to exploit both good and bad housing markets.

A DEA spokesperson could not comment on details of the warrant served at 3333 Telegraph, near 35th Street, where a sign out front reads "Digitized Medical Records," except to say it was part of an ongoing narcotics investigation.

When firefighters responded to a report of smoke coming from an attic of the house Tuesday evening, they found marijuana plants growing throughout the three-bedroom residential home.

Authorities say there were nearly 200 marijuana plants, with an estimated street value of up to $1 million in the house.

The blaze was first reported as an attic fire at 6:40 p.m. at 2318 Shade Tree Lane and a second alarm was quickly called, Stallard said.

Police say after officers arrived at a home in central San Jose Saturday morning, they forced their way in because they thought there was a shooting victim inside.

Officers didn't find anyone inside the home, but they did find about 500 marijuana plants.

“I took that community support for granted,” she said. “ I was very fortunate to have that kind of childhood.”

That changed Tuesday, when the board of supervisors cut those fees in half - a move praised by "compassionate medicine" advocates and public health officials alike.

Beginning today, qualified county residents will be charged $150 for cards granting them immunity and the freedom to carry their medicine without police harassment.

Then one day she learned that the busy corridor in front of her business was slated for an overhaul. And Caltrans, the state agency responsible for the project -- which normally builds highways, not city streets -- wasn't going to maintain pedestrian crosswalks during the road work and planned to cut down trees and put up soundwalls.

The cost for a medical marijuana identification card will be reduced to $150 from $294 starting this month until April 2009. At the end of the pilot program term, the public health department will conduct a participation level review to determine if the lowered fee resulted in increased participation.

In the warm spring sunshine, scores of people hiked up Empire Grade or found hidden paths to the meadow, trekking like glassy-eyed pilgrims on a journey to their promised land. April 20, known as 4/20, is a day of celebration in cannabis culture.

According to a memo sent to faculty and staff Thursday by Executive Vice Chancellor David S. Kliger, UCSC will take numerous measures to block unauthorized vehicles from entering campus and parking, as well as parking along Empire Grade, the 1.2 mile stretch between the main and west gates. Students also will not be allowed to have overnight guests tonight or Saturday.

The Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to make the switch from county to state cards for patients starting April 21. This carries important implications for medical marijuana users, extending the protection they receive in the county to almost everywhere in the state.

With the added protection will come a rise in cost, which worries supporters of the state card and medicinal-marijuana advocates.

But the California State Athletic Commission has refused to license him for the fight. And the reason, according to EliteXC President Gary Shaw, is that Diaz has a prescription for medical marijuana. His manager Cesar Gracie says Diaz uses marijuana to combat attention deficit disorder:

Five years after the county established its own identification card program for people who use medical marijuana, local health officials want to begin issuing state cards.

"Our cards legally are only binding in Santa Cruz," said Rama Khalsa, director of the county Health Services Agency. "People do travel outside of Santa Cruz and felt it was important to have the state program."

The county's card costs $35 and more than 1,600 of them have been issued since the program was launched in August 2003. Those cards were valid for three years.

A worker at GreenTeam's recycling center on Charles Street found an entirely different type of green while sorting through refuse Friday, police said - a garbage bag with 5 pounds of marijuana.

Police estimated the value of the marijuana at between $1,500 and $3,750, depending on the quality.

Too often dispensaries are a gateway for people with questionable medical ailments to obtain marijuana and then sell it on the streets, supervisors said.

"While I am empathetic to patients with serious and terminal illness, the marijuana dispensaries have attracted both criminal and nuisance problems to the communities where they operate," said Supervisor Mary Piepho of Discovery Bay.

While federal law prohibits the sale and use of marijuana, state law allows its sale and use for medical purposes since 1996.

The bondsman - who police did not identify - on Tuesday night was trying to track down someone who skipped out on bail when he thought he spied marijuana plants growing inside a home where he believed the suspect once lived.

He called police at around 10:30 p.m. to report his find. When officers pulled up to the home on the 5300 block of Fraschini Circle, they said could smell marijuana from outside the house, officer Jermaine Thomas said.

In an effort to overcome the obstacles raised in the raid tactics the DEA employed in earlier attempts to circumvent a compassionate community of medical cannabis connoisseurs, the feds have resorted to sending letters to landlords who rent commercial space to medical cannabis providers, first in Southern California back in July and more recently here in the Bay area. Landlords who own space occupied by medical cannabis dispensaries in Marin, San Francisco, and Alameda counties received letters the second week in December.

The chopper flew sheriff's deputies and State Fish and Game crews to grow sites contaminated with pesticides. The chemicals used by pot growers are washing into streams and rivers, according to Lt. John Nores with Fish and Game.

In recent weeks, DEA agents have sent letters to their landlords warning them of jail time, stiff fines and even forfeiture of their property if landlords allow tenants to peddle pot.

The letters have "definitely caused a panic," said Nathan Sands, a spokesman for the Compassionate Coalition, a medical marijuana education group.

Sacramento-based agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have sent nearly a dozen letters out in the last month to dispensaries' landlords in the latest effort against medical marijuana.

However, medical marijuana advocates - who saw about 200 DEA letters roll out near Los Angeles this summer - say federal officials are being too heavy-handed against something California voters approved a decade ago.