Prosecutor says medical marijuana manager hid behind law
The manager of a medical marijuana collective hid behind a law designed to help patients legally obtain the drug so he could make money, a prosecutor said Friday, but a defense attorney said the prosecution would not be able to prove the charges against his client.
Jovan Jackson, 31, was arrested after a pair of raids at “Answerdam Alternative Care” on Convoy Court in Kearny Mesa last year. Jackson is charged with selling marijuana, possession for sale of marijuana and possession of ecstasy. Deputy District Attorney Chris Lindberg told jurors in his opening statement that the case against Jackson was not about medical marijuana.
“This case is about making money, plain and simple,” the prosecutor said.
During the raids, officers found credit card receipts for more than $150,000 in sales at Answerdam, Lindberg said. The prosecutor said the case was not about marijuana patients but was “about profits.”
“He (Jackson) was running a business,” the prosecutor told the jury.
Lindberg said an undercover San Diego police officer was able to get a medical marijuana recommendation from a doctor and then bought marijuana on two occasions at Answerdam, which, according to its records, had 1,649 members.
The prosecutor said the undercover officer paid $20 to join Answerdam and immediately was able to buy the drugs. A raid on Aug. 5, 2008, at Answerdam turned up five to six pounds of marijuana and a receipt in Jackson’s name for a $100,000 transaction to an investment company, Lindberg said.
Agents also searched the defendant’s home and found some marijuana by his bed and 17 ecstasy tablets, according to the prosecutor. Lindberg told the jury that Jackson took advantage of a law that allows medical marijuana patients to legally buy the drug from a collective that grows it to meet those needs.
But defense attorney K. Lance Rogers told the jury that the undercover officer signed up for the medical marijuana collective under false pretenses, using a fake name and getting a false medical recommendation.
Rogers said Lindberg wouldn’t be able to prove that Jackson “stood out” from other members in the collective.
“This is about Answerdam. This is not about Mr. Jackson,” the defense attorney told the jury.
Jackson, an eight-year Navy veteran, faces up to five years in prison if convicted, Lindberg said. Two months ago, 31 people were arrested during raids at 14 medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego County.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said the collectives appeared to be run by drug dealers trying to make a “fast buck.”
The number of medical marijuana dispensaries went up recently, in the wake of San Diego County’s failed attempt to overturn the state’s 1996 medical marijuana law and U.S. Attorney Eric Holder’s directive that federal agents only target medical marijuana storefronts when operators violate both state and federal laws.
This story was written and edited by City News Service.
Tags: Bonnie Dumanis, chris lindberg, Jovan Jackson, k. lance rogers, medical marijuana collective, medical marijuana dispensaries, san diego district attorney, SDNN
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Comment by: James S Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:16 pm
The cops lied to the doctor and then lied to the collective. I thought that was against the law. They do not even look at or know what the law says.
11362.775. Qualified patients, persons with valid identification cards, and the designated primary caregivers of qualified patients and persons with identification cards, who associate within the State of California in order collectively or cooperatively to cultivate marijuana for medical purposes, shall not solely on the basis of that fact be subject to state criminal sanctions under Section 11357, 11358, 11359, 11360, 11366, 11366.5, or 11570.
11366. Every person who opens or maintains any place for the purpose of unlawfully selling, giving away, or using any controlled substance which is (1) specified in subdivision (b), (c), or (e), or paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 11054, specified in paragraph (13), (14), (15), or (20) of subdivision (d) of Section 11054, or specified in subdivision (b), (c), paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (d), or paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 11055, or (2) which is a narcotic drug classified in Schedule III, IV, or V, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than one year or the state prison.
This says that what Jovan did was legal but what the DA is doing is wrong. They are only about advancing thier careers and not doing thier jobs. When will they stop waisting millions of our tax dollars attacking legal mdeical maijuana? I see that colledge students can’t afford classes but we can spend millions of dollars on arresting sick and dieing people. The pirosn guard union and the CNOA are more important than the citizens of California in thier minds. Find out the truth.
Stop terroizing the people of California
Comment by: Lauren Z Posted: November 20, 2009, 9:41 pm
Most of these “medical marijuana dispensaries” are lies, just a way for drug users to get their dope by skirting the law. This whole idea of medical marijuana is just like fibromyalgia. It is a disease only in the minds of those that want to be sick, but doesn’t exist in any form of physical ailment.
And what’s worse is they people can ingest their drugs and then hop into their cars to drive impaired on our roads with impunity.
There are dozens of these places in San Diego county - like CalMed420. Give me a break, this isn’t a medical dispensary, it’s a drug dealing outlet.
The voters were mislead on what medical marijuana would devolve into. Either completely legalize pot and accept the consequences or do away with these places. This middle of the road, lets look the other way and hope it doesn’t become too much of a problem is absurd.
~ Lauren Z
Comment by: Concerned Citizen Posted: November 20, 2009, 9:48 pm
The police violated the law. Demand that they be prosecuted. Send Bonnie Dumas to work with Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Phoenix. One of Sheriff Joe’s (America’s Toughest Sheriff) deputies was caught stealing papers from a defense lawyer ’s file in a trial in Phoenix recently. A video camera recorded his actions. People like this show a strong disregard for the system that they should protect. They keep the rest of us safe by picking, choosing, and ignoring the laws themselves. They know better than the doctors, judges, the patients, and all the rest of us. Don’t expect Bonnie and her crew to be honest. Her job is to lie to people! Honesty was discarded long ago to be able to prosecute people of an otherwise victimless crime.
The tact is to accuse dispensaries of not being nonprofit if they do not have detailed financial records (Los Angles) and to accuse them of making too much money if they do keep records (San Diego). In both places they consider anyone assisting a patient to obtain marijuana to be a drug dealer.
In the end, be grateful for Bonnie Dumas. She disgusts people to the extent that they are likely to vote to remove criminal penalties for growth and possession of marijuana in the next November election. Don’t be fooled, its Bonnie and the Mexican Cartels against the dispensaries and the people of California. Who’s on First Base?
Comment by: LLLou Posted: November 21, 2009, 9:03 am
LAURENZ:
Are you clairvoyant ? How can you know that “most” of these dispensaries are “lies”? While I will agree with you that there is a lot of stretching of the truth here , how is that any worse than the lies that are behind ALL of the laws regarding Cannabis . Our Federal government has no problem ruining peoples lives if they are caught with Cannabis, why wouldn’t people want to do whatever it takes to protect themselves ? Maybe some day our government will draw it’s collective head out of it’s collective ass and legalize Cannabis, until then I say protect yourself any way you can. And yes , I am a MM card holder , as opposed to an Eric Holder.
Comment by: TBear Posted: November 21, 2009, 12:39 pm
Just wait until life hands these opponents of Medical Marijuana their own dianosis of (god forbid) Cancer or AIDS, chronic pain, spinal injury, Hep C, and the un-ending nausea that is a constant side effect. Go to your Dr/Specialist and roll with the plan He has created especially for you to save your life- you must go thru treatment if you want to live- and WHILE he is putting your body thru hell, you’ll be begging your Dr. for “something, anything that works” to stop the pain, nausea and vomiting. Good luck with that… been there and done that. Thought it’d never happen to you huh? Me either. If I were you ( just saying from experience) I’d think about smoking one or having a brownie…