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[Photo by Bradley Allen: A cutdown cannabis plant in San Lorenzo Valley.]
Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Officers Raid San Lorenzo Valley Cannabis Gardens
By Bradley Allen (@BradleySA)
On the morning of Friday, August 14, dozens of residents of Boulder Creek gathered in a downtown coffeeshop in response to police raids of medical cannabis gardens. People took turns explaining what they experienced the prior day when members of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office’s newly formed Marijuana Compliance Team visited their homes and gardens.
Two of the medical cannabis patients whose garden was raided questioned why their 40 plants shared among three housemates was cutdown to only seven plants. Many people were very angry and stated that they had been growing in compliance with the county's current medical cannabis cultivation laws: "Ordinance No. 5176. Ordinance Adding New Chapter 7.126 Relating To The Cultivation Of Medical Cannabis."
On August 13, sheriff's officers targeted properties on Moonrise Road in Boulder Creek. There were also unconfirmed reports of raids on Amber Ridge Loop. Using a bullhorn, officers entered some of the properties, breaking through gates, with their guns drawn and announced, "We're here to cut you down."
A single search warrant for numerous gardens, signed by Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Paul Marigonda, had a list of 15 GPS coordinates, but no addresses or names.
No Respect for the Law: Chapter 7.126
Numerous reports strongly suggest that Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart and the Marijuana Compliance Team are operating in violation of the existing cannabis cultivation law, Chapter 7.126 of the Santa Cruz County Code. Reports that officers in many cases reduced gardens to 10 x 10 square feet or to only six plants suggest, at best, that officers are acting under the misimpression that a countywide cultivation ban is in effect, when in fact it is not.
Lowell Finley, an election law lawyer based in Oakland, explained in a typed statement provided to this author that section 7.126.040 of Ordinance No. 5176 allows up to 99 cannabis plants to be cultivated on a parcel in an appropriately zoned area, based upon minimum parcel size and maximum plant canopy restrictions.
Furthermore, Finley explains, "The only civil, as opposed to criminal, remedy that can be enforced by the Sheriff acting as the ordinance's Enforcement Officer, as opposed to the Planning Director, with a court or administrative hearing, is abatement as a public nuisance. And under the ordinance, abatement as a public nuisance requires ten days advance notice to the occupant of the parcel."
Multiple people said that even after asking officers, they were not told which laws were allegedly being enforced. Some people reported that the officers reduced their gardens to 10 x 10 square feet or six plants.
Chronology of Santa Cruz County Cannabis Cultivation Laws
Lowell Finley writes, "The Medical Cannabis Cultivation Ordinance adopted by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on February 25, 2014, as Ordinance No. 5176 has been in effect continuously since March 28, 2014, the 31st day after adoption. Ordinance No. 5021, passed by the Board of Supervisors of April 14, 2015, to replace Ordinance No. 5176 with a ban on most cannabis cultivation in the County, never went into effect. It was the subject of a successful referendum petition signature drive and was subsequently repealed by unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors."
On March 24, 2015, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 before an overflowing room to ban the cultivation of cannabis in all unincorporated territories of the county, with limited exceptions. The ban, adopted on April 14, was suspended after a successful referendum, before it was set to go into effect on May 15, 2015.
In light of the very successful referendum campaign, the Board of Supervisors had the choice of either repealing their ban or putting the decision up for a popular vote in a special election. At their August 4 meeting, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors opted to repeal their ban.
Marijuana Compliance Team: Let's Make a Deal
Despite the ban being repealed, officers with the Marijuana Compliance Team appear to be operating under the premise that gardens larger than 10 x 10 square feet are in violation of Santa Cruz County law. Several people reported that officers were making deals with them about how many plants the officers would leave standing. For example, one person stated that he and his friend helped officers carry away plants in exchange for the officers leaving them with a few extra plants.
Sheriff's officers not only left with cannabis plants, they also questioned people and confiscated a range of items, including cash, video recording equipment, and cell phones. A man being cooperative gave officers the combination to unlock the screen on his phone. The officers then told him he could retrieve it in a week.
In another raid, officers reportedly told people, "If you're cool, we'll leave you some plants. If you're a dick, we'll cut you down." The officer leading the raid allegedly said, "Tell me who blows wax in the valley." Wax is a term for concentrated cannabis oil extracted from dried flowers and leaves. The extraction method may involve the use of butane gas which can be dangerous in a closed environment.
It's The Same Old Thing
It was also alleged that Marijuana Compliance Team officers made sexually harassing statements to a patient whose plants were chopped down. While helping the officers carry away plants, as part of a deal, they allegedly called her "Sugar" and said she looked "strong."
The Marijuana Compliance Team raided at least one property in Felton on August 14. There are also unconfirmed reports of raids on Two Bar Road. Unless something changes, there are no signs of them slowing down any time soon.
Background Information and Resources
- January 2015: Cannabis Advocates Alliance Letter to Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors
- March 2015: New Cannabis Prohibitions in Santa Cruz County
- May 2015: Referendum Suspends Santa Cruz County Ban on Medical Cannabis Cultivation
- June 2015: Supervisors Leopold and Friend Propose Cannabis Cultivation Choices Committee
- Current Law: Chapter 7.126 Santa Cruz County Code for Medical Cannabis Gardens
Thanks for the carefully presentation of this important incident. It would have been interesting to see the argument made in court to obtain this completely bogus order - in an instance when where there is explicitly "No Duty to Enforce". If the Sheriff had no duty, why was he neglecting other duties to commit crimes against citizens and destroy private property?
Note the request to sieze computers and other electronic devices is FBI boilerplate.
They have secret JTTFs, and when they fail to force a secrecy agreement on a municipality, they have been known to go to local sheiffs in order to establish their presence.
There is considerable insolence among certain factions of the FBI, that have always been renegade, and decide who will be investigated and taken down, legally or not. In Michigan and FBI agent stated publicly "I don't work for Obama" after a questionable cannabis raid.
The only excuse for Judge Paul Marigonda serious error might be federal pressure, secretly applied, and the victims of these state crimes should have had an opportunity to challenge the order.
It looks like they have good reason to file a federal lawsuit based on the 4th amendment, regardless of whether they choose to even mention cannabis.
In many instances, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's office has reportedly cut all plants or left only a 10' x 10' area of canopy on each parcel visited, even if there were less than 99 plants present.
Some reports suggest that farms with more than 99 plants were charged criminally, and those with less than 99 were not.
One report was of an individual who had returned from the store to find their entire farm had been cut down.
Another report told of several properties along a rural road. Sheriffs drove up to every entrance gate on the road, and used a bullhorn to shout an order to those on the property to come down and open the gate, or else the sheriffs would cut the gate. Reports indicate those who came down to open the gate had their gardens cut down, and those who did not respond to the order were left alone. It is unclear if the sheriffs had a warrant in these situations.
The current Santa Cruz County Medical Cannabis Cultivation Ordinance is #5176, or Chapter 7.126 of the Santa Cruz County code.
Read it here:
http://www.codepublishing.com/ca/santacruzcounty/ (alternatively, search for Ordinance 5176 in the search field on the County website, upper right hand corner)
The recent ban on gardens larger than 10x10 sq ft was "repealed in its entirety" by the Board of Supervisors. This was in response to a successful referendum. This means the ban (ordinance #5201) never took effect. Read the full text of the ban repeal here: http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/BDS/Govstream2/Bdsvdata/non_legacy_2.0/agendas/2015/20150818-666/PDF/009.pdf
The following information is not legal advice. If you have legal questions please consult with an attorney.
Be Respectful. Police encounters can be tough, but always stay calm. It never pays to loose your cool during a law enforcement encounter.
Remain silent, do not answer questions. Politely ask them for a copy of the warrant. Ask to speak with your attorney. If you are asked questions by law enforcement, state that you do not want to answer questions and that you wish to speak with an attorney.
Have all medical cannabis paperwork ready and available to law enforcement in a booklet or folder. Only keep copies of papers in the folder, originals should be kept offsite.
Film the incident. Two good phone recording apps: Bambuser and Mobile Justice -California.
Bambuser simultaneously records onto the smartphone's memory and uploads the live video stream to a cloud server. Optional settings include streaming the video immediately to the user's Facebook wall.
Mobile - Justice California is a service of the ACLU. Video is only uploaded to an ACLU server. Optional settings allow geo-location data to be included, enabling alerts to be sent and received when nearby users are streaming video. After the incident, the user can file an attorney - client privileged report about the incident, and the ACLU will evaluate and consider providing representation.
Write down your account of the incident in detail after law enforcement has left the property. Memory recollection is sharpest in the moments directly after an incident, and writing this information down may be useful to you or your attorney.
Do not possess guns or ammunition at a medical cannabis garden.
Do not keep valuables or cash at a medical cannabis garden.
Do not possess or use illegal poisons or pesticides.
Respect the environment. Use prudent and reasonable water practices.
Do not manufacture butane hash oil. This is a felony and will invite law enforcement to your property or garden.
Keep photos of the medical cannabis garden and photos of any related paperwork on a cloud based file system. For those who do not know, storing information in the cloud means storing information on the internet, as opposed to on your PC, phone or camera. Keeping information on a cloud is easy, and there are many cloud based information storage options available.
Remember that any phones, cameras or computers may be seized in a raid.
Anyone observing law enforcement must do so politely and without confrontation. Identify neighbors who are willing to be citizen observers. Keep a phone list of neighbors. Peacefully observing law enforcement encounters can assist in deterring law enforcement from acting inappropriately.
Obtain counsel, and understand and follow the law. Make sure you have an attorney who understands California cannabis law and the local law. Familiarize yourself with California law (Proposition 215 and SB 420), the local law (7.126), and act in compliance.
All of the rules in County Code 7.126 must be followed. Be aware that the 99 plant limit should be followed, but there are many other rules in County Code 7.126. A few examples: Properties with less than one acre are subject to a 100 sq ft limit. Properties less than 5 acres in Residential Agriculture zoning are also limited to 100 sq ft. Properties in District 2 are prohibited from cultivating outdoors.
Watch "10 Rules for Dealing With Police". Flex Your Rights created this video to help citizens during police encounters. https://youtu.be/s4nQ_mFJV4I
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