News&Comment

Calif. officials targeted in pot licensing probe

Ruben Vives and Robert J. Lopez Los Angeles Times TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury has issued subpoenas seeking information about cash and other payments to public officials and cannabis consultants as part of a criminal investigation into pot licensing in Baldwin Park and nearby cities, the Los Angeles Times has learned.…
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Cartels Using Narco-Slaves to Grow Illegal Marijuana on Industrial Scale in Oregon

Locals spooked, police overwhelmed That cannabis cachet just keeps on flowering… If this piece doesn’t make you barf, read this one about Chinese pot speculators decimating the Navajo Nation. BY SCOTTIE BARNES November 1, 2021 Updated: November 2, 2021 Seven years after Oregon legalized recreational marijuana, the market for cannabis is booming. But rather than propagate a legal agricultural…
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Calfornia North Coast illegal cannabis farms siphoning water amid drought

Previous SOSN post about legal pharmers stealing water from fire hydrants See the similarities? SUSAN WOODTHE NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNALSeptember 2, 2021 A bust of an illegal cannabis grow site within Sonoma Coast State Park has weeded out an even bigger problem for the North Bay suffering from a drought year — water theft. “Cannabis…
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Corporate cannabis is gaming Sonoma County and violating state and local laws, while supervisors rig permitting to avoid protecting Sonoma County’s environment

Sonoma County has succeeded in rapidly accelerating cannabis permitting by issuing ministerial ZoningPermits (ZP), cannabis permits that violate Sonoma County’s cannabis ordinance. Instead of benefiting“small family farmers,” purportedly the group Sonoma County Supervisors want to encourage, theCounty’s actions have in its place benefitted large cannabis operators such as CannaCraft and SPARC, asyou will see in…
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Law firm notice to Sonoma County: Stop illegal piecemealing of cannabis permits by large producers, environmental law violations…

Gaming the system with support of County officials is not OK in a well run County. In Sonoma it’s another story. “The first arises when the same applicant seeks ministerial and discretionary permits for the same site at the same time. A County planner advises that this is common practice among growers, because obtaining a…
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Law firm notice to Sonoma County: Stop systemic violations, lack of enforcement

Coming soon…. Evidence of collusion with cannabis lobby by County officials “I am writing to bring to your attention systemic violations of state and local cannabis lawthat are occurring in the Middle Two Rock neighborhood of Sonoma County, where myclients live. The undue concentration of permits in this area, as evidenced by the attachedaerial photograph…
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Press Release: Private Investigation Finds Allegedly Illegal Water Hauling During Drought in Sonoma County

The investigation found that cannabis cultivators in Sonoma County, California, are allegedly trucking municipal water during an unprecedented drought. PRESS RELEASE  OCT 29, 2021 11:10 EDT PETALUMA, Calif., October 29, 2021 (Newswire.com) – A private investigation firm retained by a resident of Sonoma County who belongs to SOSN, a coalition of neighborhood residents advocating common sense cultivation of commercial…
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Cannabis Operators Taking City Water, Continued

I have been following the saga of water being taken from a Santa Rosa hydrant on Scotland Court, Santa Rosa, and transported to 2260 Los Alamos Road, the location of a cannabis cultivation operation. To summarize, numerous eye witnesses on Scotland Court have since June seen a white pick-up truck with a water tank on…
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The county has gone rogue and needs adult supervision

Call for Department of Cannabis Control to step in Large corporate enterprises allowed to run slipshod, in violation of the ordinance The myth of the “little guy” small local producers Water use violations – anyone hear from the County on those? Tap Tap Is this thing on? Unsustainable water use at grows, during drought Inspection…
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Sonoma County supervisors extend cannabis cultivation permit moratorium

“One of the big questions supervisors had for Smith on Tuesday, was just how many multi-tenant permit holders are big companies taking advantage of the loophole, but Smith was unable to provide a concrete answer.” We gave you the answer, Andrew. We sent you the information. If we could find out, why didn’t you? Neighborhood…
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