News&Comment

US seizes pot-growing houses tied to China-based criminals

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. Hundreds of federal and local law enforcement agents have seized roughly 100 Northern California houses purchased with money wired to the United States by a Chinese-based crime organization and used to grow massive amounts of marijuana illegally, authorities said Wednesday. The raids culminated a monthslong investigation focusing on dozens of Chinese nationals who…
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From the field: Latest Sonoma County Gazette pot Op Eds

https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/letters-from-gazette-readers-april-2018 No commercial cannabis near homes I live in a RR (Rural Residential) area near Penngrove and Petaluma. We have paid taxes to live in this safe, tranquil residential area, originally zoned AR, since January 1989. My neighbors and I absolutely do NOT want the encroachment of cannabis growers in this area. None of us…
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Cannabis grows in violation of environmental laws

Dear Editor, The owners of two proposed cannabis grows in Bennett Valley are violating environmental or planning laws while the county allows them to continue to grow their lucrative crops. California Fish and Wildlife has determined that a grower on Matanzas Creek Lane has polluted and diverted a stream channel. Not long ago, the county…
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What you didn’t say, Mr Linegar,

To Sonoma County Ag Commisioner Mr. Linegar, I am writing this morning to comment on the quotes attributed to you in today’s Press Democrat article titled “Rural Neighbors Balk as Pot Farms Crop Up”. I was struck by what you did NOT say to reporter Julie Johnson. You did NOT say that you  are aware…
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Prop 64 decriminalized the PERSONAL use of marijuana

Prop 64 decriminalized the PERSONAL use of marijuana.  Anyone today in the State of CA is allowed to grow a more than adequate number of marijuana plants on their private property in order to use it for personal use.  Prop 64 did not give our County government any explicit voter approval to support, promote or…
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SOS Neighborhoods new TV Commercial

Watch for our new TV spot coming this week: https://www.sosneighborhoods.com/video/ And keep those letters to the newspapers, County Supervisors and staff coming in. This is your critical opportunity to keep Sonoma County from becoming a crime infested wasteland of pot grows and stoned drivers.

Why has Sonoma County chosen to be at the forefront of commercial pot production?

Other jurisdictions have tried it, or looked at it, and ran away Is it the cash? – an opportunity to gain some cash for county coffers? Or Is it a misguided idea that we are obligated to grow it here because it was legalized by Proposition 64? Either answer is a bad answer and a…
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From the Field: Lost our family get togethers

One member in Petaluma reports…. We have had a Christmas cookie bake at our house every year for the past 15 years.  6 families come together, the ovens are going all day and we open the doors and windows.  The smell of cookies is everywhere, and the kids run around inside and out playing and…
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From the Field: “OPEN LETTER TO THE SONOMA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

A recent member submission: “AN OPEN LETTER TO THE SONOMA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Dear Supervisors, My wife and I live on a 2.5 acre parcel on a quiet residential street in unincorporated Sebastopol. We have lived here for 25 years. We raised our daughter here. This is a neighborhood filled with children. Then, last…
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From the Field: A powerful letter recently submitted by member and Petaluma local Colleen Mahoney to the Board of Supervisors:

March 22, 2018 Supervisor David Rabbitt Board of Supervisors 575 Administration Drive Room 100A Santa Rosa, CA 95403 RE: Pending Applications for Commercial Cannabis Farms Sonoma County, Specifically Application No. UPC17-0095 Dear Supervisor Rabbitt, The Mahoney family has lived on our 60+ acre ranch at 2781 Middle Two Rock Road, Petaluma for over 4 generations.…
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