ASK THE LAWYER: Is marijuana illegal in California?

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Q: Is marijuana illegal in California or not?

- M.R., Rancho Palos Verdes

Answer: Both federal and California law hold that most possession and cultivation of marijuana is illegal. Under California law, a person who has just one ounce or less (other than of “concentrated marijuana,” which is of greater concern) can be charged with a misdemeanor and subject to a $100 fine; note, however, this relates to a modest amount. As to cultivation, a harsher sentence is available particularly if it appears the growing is with an intent to sell. With regard to medical marijuana, California law provides that those people under the care of a physician who have a prescription for it are allowed to posses and to cultivate a certain limited amount of marijuana for personal consumption. Federal law, however, does not recognize medical marijuana, and thus conflicts with California law.

Q: If I have a prescription for marijuana, it’s legal for me to smoke it right? What about driving?

- R.G., Culver City

A: Medical marijuana prescribed to a person by a doctor in California is legal under California Health & Safety Code Section 11362.5, but not under federal law. Further as to California law, it does not mean the marijuana can be sold for nonmedical purposes, or provided to someone who does not have a prescription. Nor does it condone, allow or make legal driving while under the influence of marijuana. California Vehicle Code

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Section 231512(a) makes it unlawful to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or any combination thereof.

Q: Can you legally grow marijuana in California just for your own use?

- T.S., Lakewood

A: California Health & Safety Code Section 11358 provides: “Every person who plants, cultivates, harvests, dries, or processes any marijuana or any part thereof, except as otherwise provided by law, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison.” If a person is cultivating marijuana for personal use, he or she may be eligible for a diversion program, as long as there is truly no intention to sell. As to medical marijuana, a limited permission exists under California law, but not federal law, to cultivate for personal medical reasons.

Ron Sokol is a Manhattan Beach-based attorney with 30 years of experience who has arbitrated and mediated many cases. E-mail questions and comments to him at ronsesq@aol.com or write to him at Ask The Lawyer, Daily Breeze, 21250 Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 170, Torrance, CA 90503. This column is a summary of the law, and not a substitute for legal consultation on any particular case.

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MedCare is a professional medical marijuana company. We are discreet and affordable. MedCare centers from Canyon Lake, California. We deliver to all of the Following Cities:Canyon Lake, Corona, Hemet, Horsthief, Lake Elsinore, Lake Mathews, Lakeside, Lakeview, Menifee, Mira Loma, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Murrieta Hot Springs, Norco, Perris, Quail Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Jacinto, Sedco Hills, Temescal Canyon, Wildomar, Grand Terrace, Highland, Colton, Moreno Valley, and many many more.

MedCare Delivers patients medical cannabis medicine to their homes. Handicap medical marijuana Patients are our primary patients. To receive your medication delivered to you call 800-420-4369.

‘Pot Farm’ on Facebook May Be Grossing an Estimated $150K/Month

 

‘Pot Farm’ on Facebook May Be Grossing an Estimated $150K/Month

 

Legalization Nation has a secret. In the wilds of the national forest, we’re growing pot. Lots of it. We got Afghan Dream. We got Time Warp. We got rows and rows of White Widow. We started with just a hippie tent and some seeds, but if this keeps up, we’re going to need a plane, and maybe a jacuzzi next to the A-frame house. We’re talking, of course, about Pot Farm — a free game playable on Facebook that’s less than a year old and is about to pass 1.5 million monthly users. And judging by industry estimates, it appears that Pot Farm grosses its secretive and likely small team of young developers an estimated $148,000 a month.

That’s because an average of 2 percent of free social gamers spend real money to level up faster and enhance their in-game abilities, according to Mark Rose of virtual goods marketplace PlaySpan. So if just 2 percent of Pot Farm players purchase the minimum amount of Pot Bucks per month (50 Pot Bucks for $5), then someone’s getting rich off very little work. It leads to the question: Why grow when you can code?

The definitive story of 2010 in video games was the takeover of the industry’s center of gravity by so-called “casual games.” Unlike the $100 million, two-year, 300-employee blockbuster shooter for an Xbox 360 that costs $60 retail, casual games can be hammered out for relative pennies, in short order, by one or two people. Millions of bored housewives play them for free in a web browser, and inside the walled gardens of Facebook and iPhone, casual games have exploded.

Zynga, the company that makes the 54-million user-strong Farmville, reportedly grosses more than $1 million a day selling people virtual goods like Farmville tractors and cows. They’re now worth more than Electronic Arts, the iconic, global gamemaker centered in the Bay Area. While blockbuster games have stagnated in annualized, franchise hell, casual games can afford to fail cheap and fast, and when they hit, as they did in Farmville, everyone wants to replicate it. Cue Pot Farm.

Farmville is said to be a knockoff of a smaller casual game. So it’s fitting that Pot Farm is a rip-off of Farmville, just re-skinned for the counter-culture, which is now a another way of saying “mainstream culture.” Start a fake Facebook account so no one’ll know of your questionable habit, accept the app, and begin. The loading screen features a bearded hippie giving the thumbs up and a groovy girl in Lennon glasses playing the guitar. “Totally Beta or whatever” reads a disclaimer.

Players start with a field and some seed money, and they level up by buying, planting, growing, and selling different strains of pot. Ranger Dick takes a user’s plants if the farm’s “protection” rating drops below zero. Pot Farm is essentially a game of math, with players computing each plant’s space, growth time, cost, profit, experience points, and protection in order to maximize leveling up. Rabid fans create complicated online matrices to compute the most optimal growth strategies, but that takes the fun out of figuring it out on your own.

And Pot Farm is fun. The game enjoys a startling user score of 4.8 out of 5 possible points, based on 107,006 reviews. Hard-core gamers sneer at all the moms snatching a bit of Farmville at home in the middle of the day. “That’s not gaming,” is a common refrain. Pot Farm proves that a game’s ability to transport the player is not contingent on graphics or budget. The game has grown from nothing to a 1.5-million-strong userbase on very little press or marketing.

In the spring, Social Times reporter Neil Vidyarthi scored the only known interview with Pot Farm’s developers, and even then, the gamemakers did not give their names or locations. They used a PR character named “Uncle Floyd.”

“We were watching this explosion of like, social media or whatever and Dave was like, ‘It’s a revolution, man, this is like the Sixties!’ There’s all these games and it’s really groovy because it seems like anyone can make them. So we thought if anyone can make them why not a couple of old hippies?” Floyd told Social Times.

Pot Farm’s developers — who appear to be a lot younger — did not return repeated requests for interviews from Legalization Nation. Maybe because, much like actual growers, Pot Farm on Facebook operates in a legal gray area.

Facebook developer policy clearly states that no application can “promote, or provide content referencing, facilitating, containing or using, … Illegal activity.” Besides calling into question the existence of Mafia Wars, the policy explains why months after its launch, Facebook restricted access to Pot Farm to players who say they are 21 or older. Growing pot remains illegal under federal law. According to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, in California in 2009, 17,008 people were arrested for felony sale/manufacture of marijuana, which can carry a sentence of four years in prison. However, medical marijuana remains quasi-legal in fifteen states including California, where Facebook operates out of. In fact, the highest structure to unlock in Pot Farm is a medical marijuana clinic.

No red tape for Pot Farm dispensaries

Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, along with a bunch of other Silicon Valley players, donated to California legalization initiative Proposition 19 this year. At the same time, Facebook proper is loathe to provoke prohibitionists. The company pulled “Just Say Now” ads over a pot leaf depiction. They also refused advertising from guru of ganja Ed Rosenthal.

According to message boards, Facebook has also made Pot Farm pull a hookah pipe item from the game. And the game doesn’t actually depict anyone ever smoking the plant.

“We have heard a few complaints,” Uncle Floyd told Vidyarthi. Six people formed a group demanding Pot Farm be totally removed. But Facebook is clearly making money off of the successful, breakout title, and the only thing that can ruin the truce would be a massive torrent of complaints, which the game is unlikely to get. And hopefully it won’t.

Like its inspiration, Farmville, Pot Farm supplies a weird form of psychic relief, a bit of mental breathing space for maybe five or ten minutes each day. It’s the equivalent of a lotto ticket, and a lot safer than a cigarette break.

Voltaire wrote in Candide “Let us cultivate our garden.” The idea being that people need a little patch to call their own, a place where they can tend something controllable in what is an otherwise uncontrollable, harsh world. Out on the dope farm, we can only hope things stay groovy.

MedCare is a medical cannabis delivery service. We bring your medications to you through a Delivery Service to Southern California.

MedCare offers Exclusive memberships, Marijuana Deals,Top quality medications, Cannabis sales, Femininized clones, amazing edibles, concentrates and more. All medication can be delivered to the comfort of your home.

We deliver to all of the Following Cities:Canyon Lake, Corona, Hemet, Horsthief, Lake Elsinore, Lake Mathews, Lakeside, Lakeview, Menifee, Mira Loma, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Murrieta Hot Springs, Norco, Perris, Quail Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Jacinto, Sedco Hills, Temescal Canyon, Wildomar, Grand Terrace, Highland, Colton, Moreno Valley, and many many more. Handicap medical marijuana Patients are our primary patients. To receive your medication delivered to you call 800-420-4369

California’s 420 College is Planning to Help & Train Arizona’s Future Medical Marijuana Professionals

long fight for marijuana rights saw another victory via this past November’s mid-term ballot, as Arizona voters pulled together in support of Proposition 203. This new piece of legislation expands the legality of marijuana in the state, and opens up opportunities for the nation’s rapidly expanding Medical Marijuana industry
As Arizonan’s usher in Prop 203, which will make available 124 dispensary licenses for the state, 420 College will be on the scene to help blaze this new trail with it’s brand of knowledge and professional expertise.

420 College is a California based Medical Marijuana Training Institute, which focuses on marijuana law, medical marijuana business, and provides an extensive discourse in general cannabis education.

With such a limited number of licenses up for grabs, time is of the essence. As a result, 420 College will be taking their show on the road to Arizona to help interested entrepreneurs get a head start on the application process, and a handle on the in and outs of this sometimes complex industry.

420 College’s track record of student success in California has been ahead of the curve, and many attendees have gone to start their own marijuana dispensaries and other related businesses. With these recent developments, the school now looks to do the same for those in Arizona.

From day one, the school has not only been educating interested individuals, it has also been providing assistance to it’s students through the many steps required to start up a medical marijuana business. 420 College’s staff includes experienced lawyers, doctors, and other marijuana professionals, which walk students through the various paperwork and permits, and provide assurance that their ventures adhere to local law.

In anticipation of the passing of Prop 203, these experts have teamed up with Arizona professionals to develop a comprehensive program for the newly legal state. 420 College will start things off with a seminar series in Tempe, Arizona on the 5th and 6th of February 2011.

Along with this type of thorough entrepreneurial and legal instruction, these seminars will also feature a discussion on the disparages between California and Arizona marijuana laws and a special cultivation workshop.

420 College’s overall objective has always been to extend education and community to those individuals interested in becoming a part of one of the nation’s fastest growing industries. As the cannabis movement spreads across the country, 420 College is making strides to stay in step and bring its expertise to wherever it’s needed.

 

Calif’s 3rd-largest city new medi-pot battleground

Talking to Teens About Marijuana—9 Do’s and Don’ts

Mary Jane won the popularity contest at your kid’s school this year. Students in a national survey said they strongly prefer marijuana to other drugs, and more junior high and high schoolers say they’re toking up.

The rise in 2010 was small but stood out because it registered across all three age groups sampled in the 36th annual “Monitoring the Future” survey of 46,000 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders. It also turned up at every level of use—in the last day, month, year, or ever. Seventeen percent of 8th graders, 33 percent of 10th graders, and 43 percent of 12th graders said they’d lit up at least once in their life, about one percentage point higher in all groups than in 2009. And one in 16 12th-graders got high 20 or more times in the previous month compared with about 1 in 20 last year, a jump of 25 percent.

[What Parents Need to Know About Pot]

Talking with your kids about drug use is no less important than talking with them about sex—and just as difficult. To a child who likes to push the envelope, a parent who strives for cool and casual may seem to be saying that drugs aren’t a big deal. Be rigid and judgmental with an adolescent, on the other hand, and chances are you’ll get nowhere. Experts have a few pointers.

You should:

Start early. Sharon Levy, medical director of the adolescent substance abuse program at Children’s Hospital Boston, has seen a user who first tried drugs as an 8-year-old. “I want my message to be out ahead of the other messages they’re going to be getting,” she says. With a young child, think of the discussion as one you might have about any safety issue and be concrete, as you would when instructing a youngster to look both ways before crossing the street, says Janet F. Williams, professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on substance abuse. Talk first about the dangers of smoking and segue to drugs like marijuana that also harm the body.

Make your message clear. State your expectations simply and concisely. Don’t leave room for confusion. Say something like, “My expectation is that you won’t use drugs like marijuana. I have high standards because I know you’ll meet them and do what’s right.”

Take advantage of “teachable moments.” They’re less threatening to the child and much more productive, says Levy. Talk about the front-page story about last night’s drug bust during breakfast. Listen for an applicable radio broadcast in the car, or point out a billboard advertising cigarettes or alcohol and segue into drugs. Seeing someone light up a joint in a movie or show is another great opportunity to ask what your teen thinks about it and whether it’s a problem at his school.

Maintain an arsenal of facts. This may mean doing research. The National Institute on Drug Abuse creates fact sheets for teens and parents on marijuana. Drill home key points: Marijuana is habit-forming and may be addictive, affects the brain and respiratory system, and might contribute to depression, anxiety, or cancer. Teens are often “in this impermeable, Superman adolescence where it’s, ‘Yeah, yeah, I know that, but I’m the exception,’ ” says Williams. Counter it with fact-based research—but be careful, she adds, not to let it dominate your conversation.

Tap into their vested interests. Point out to teens that using marijuana can jeopardize something they value or are working toward: a scholarship, their first-string playing time on the court, straight A’s, a perfect SAT score, passing driver’s ed, getting into a top college, getting a job. Take your pick.

You shouldn’t:

Lie. Be honest with your kids if they ask about your drug experience, says Levy. “Now, that doesn’t mean that you have to reveal everything that you did, or bare your soul,” she adds. Emphasize the negative consequences, perhaps why you regret it now, or how it hurt you in some way.

Think that once is enough. “Parents often ask me, ‘Well, how do you know how often you should bring these things up with your kids?’ ” says Levy. “And the answer is if they’re not complaining that you’re talking about it too much, then you’re probably not talking about it enough.”

Treat pot lightly. “It’s only marijuana” is how some parents think, says Levy. Be careful not to condone use in any way. No reefer jokes with a friend that your teen might overhear. “Kids definitely pick up on that message,” says Levy.

Underestimate your power. “The No. 1 thing that teens say—and they’re not going to say this to their parents—when they’re asked, ‘Why are you not using drugs? What’s holding you back?’ They say, ‘ ‘Cause my parents expect me not to use them,’ ” says Williams. “That’s the No. 1 reason. It’s still parental expectation.”

[7 Reasons Parents Should Not Test Kids for Drug Use]

MedCare is a medical cannabis delivery service. We bring your medications to you through a Delivery Service to Southern California.

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MedCare offers Exclusive memberships, Marijuana Deals,Top quality medications, Cannabis sales, Femininized clones, amazing edibles, concentrates and more. All medication can be delivered to the comfort of your home.

We deliver to all of the Following Cities:Canyon Lake, Corona, Hemet, Horsthief, Lake Elsinore, Lake Mathews, Lakeside, Lakeview, Menifee, Mira Loma, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Murrieta Hot Springs, Norco, Perris, Quail Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Jacinto, Sedco Hills, Temescal Canyon, Wildomar, Grand Terrace, Highland, Colton, Moreno Valley, and many many more. Handicap medical marijuana Patients are our primary patients. To receive your medication delivered to you call 800-420-4369

Phoenix Sets Guidelines for Pot Dispensaries

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We deliver to all of the Following Cities:Canyon Lake, Corona, Hemet, Horsthief, Lake Elsinore, Lake Mathews, Lakeside, Lakeview, Menifee, Mira Loma, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Murrieta Hot Springs, Norco, Perris, Quail Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Jacinto, Sedco Hills, Temescal Canyon, Wildomar, Grand Terrace, Highland, Colton, Moreno Valley, and many many more. Handicap medical marijuana Patients are our primary patients. To receive your medication delivered to you call 800-420-4369

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MedCare is a medical cannabis delivery service. We bring your medications to you through a Delivery Service to Southern California.

MedCare offers Exclusive memberships, Marijuana Deals,Top quality medications, Cannabis sales, Femininized clones, amazing edibles, concentrates and more. All medication can be delivered to the comfort of your home.

We deliver to all of the Following Cities:Canyon Lake, Corona, Hemet, Horsthief, Lake Elsinore, Lake Mathews, Lakeside, Lakeview, Menifee, Mira Loma, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Murrieta Hot Springs, Norco, Perris, Quail Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Jacinto, Sedco Hills, Temescal Canyon, Wildomar, Grand Terrace, Highland, Colton, Moreno Valley, and many many more. Handicap medical marijuana Patients are our primary patients. To receive your medication delivered to you call 800-420-4369

IRS Auditing Oakland’s Biggest Pot Dispensary

In an ominous portent of the clash between federal and state law over
medical marijuana, the IRS is auditing the Bay Area’s largest medical
pot dispensary, Harborside Health Center, The Bay Citizen has learned.

Steve DeAngelo, executive director of Harborside, said in an
interview today that the IRS initiated the audit a few months ago and
it has not finished. DeAngelo said he wasn’t worried about opening
the dispensary’s books, saying, “Our whole model is being compliant
and transparent; I don’t have anything to hide from the IRS.”

An IRS spokesman said the agency doesn’t confirm or deny whether
audits are taking place.

However, a Nov. 15 letter that Harborside sent to Sen. Barbara Boxer
asking for tweaks in tax laws that can result in near-crippling taxes
on pot dispensaries, conveys a bit more consternation about the
effects of federal tax law on its operations.

“Harborside Health Center currently employs approximately 80
individuals in Oakland, CA,” the letter reads. “Unless we can change
this law, these jobs are in jeopardy.”

Clean and well lighted, Harborside has exploded in popularity with
58,000 members and regular media coverage. The dispensary brings in
around $20 million in revenue each year, likely the most in the Bay
Area.

The IRS audits large companies on a regular basis, but in looking at
Harborside, DeAngelo believes the agency will be raising questions
about a section of tax code known as 280e. The section, which was
aimed at nabbing drug kingpins, prohibits companies from deducting
any expenses if they are “trafficking in controlled substances.”

“Our contention is that what were doing is legal and not trafficking,
and it’s not appropriate to apply it to us,” said DeAngelo. “This is
an industry-wide issue.”

Bob McEligot, a partner at the San Francisco tax firm Calegari &
Morris, explained that normal companies just pay tax on their profits
after deducting expenses such as payroll and rent. But if the IRS
found a medical pot dispensary to be trafficking in controlled
substances, then “they would be paying on their gross income with no
deductions at all,” said McEligot.

The difference could be enormous. A company the size of Harborside
could be paying taxes at a rate of about 35 percent without being
allowed to deduct expenses.

Luigi Zamorra, chief financial officer at Harborside, said that tax
code section 280e is antiquated and should be changed to account for
the new medical marijuana industry.

“This law was enacted a long time ago before there was a medical
cannabis industry, and it was written as a back door punishment for
thug-like drug dealers,” said Zamarra. “We would like a full
exemption.”

Zamarra has come up with a method of accounting that allows
Harborside to deduct almost all its expenses except for cost of the
actual transaction in which money is exchanged for marijuana. It’s
detailed in an article entitled “Medical Cannabis Dispensaries:
Minimizing the Cost of IRC Section 280E.”

The seminal tax case on the issue was Californians Helping to
Alleviate Medical Problems Inc. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue,
in which a judge ruled in 2007 that a pot dispensary could deduct
expenses from all of its other activities apart from buying and
selling marijuana, such as care-giving, yoga classes, rent and the
like. You can read the opinion here.

Zamarra acknowledged that his accounting methods push the envelope
beyond that case. “I anticipate a long road before an agreement is
reached,” with the IRS, he said.

MedCare is a medical cannabis delivery service. We bring your medications to you through a Delivery Service to Southern California.

MedCare offers Exclusive memberships, Marijuana Deals,Top quality medications, Cannabis sales, Femininized clones, amazing edibles, concentrates and more. All medication can be delivered to the comfort of your home.

We deliver to all of the Following Cities:Canyon Lake, Corona, Hemet, Horsthief, Lake Elsinore, Lake Mathews, Lakeside, Lakeview, Menifee, Mira Loma, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Murrieta Hot Springs, Norco, Perris, Quail Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Jacinto, Sedco Hills, Temescal Canyon, Wildomar, Grand Terrace, Highland, Colton, Moreno Valley, and many many more. Handicap medical marijuana Patients are our primary patients. To receive your medication delivered to you call 800-420-4369

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MedCare is a Medical Marijuana Delivery Service to Southern California. MedCare offers Exclusive memberships, Marijuana Deals,Top quality medications, Cannabis sales, Femininized clones, amazing edibles, concentrates and more. All medication can be delivered to the comfort of your home. MedCare is a professional medical marijuana company. We are discreet and affordable. MedCare centers from Canyon Lake, California. We deliver to all of the Following Cities:Canyon Lake, Corona, Hemet, Horsthief, Lake Elsinore, Lake Mathews, Lakeside, Lakeview, Menifee, Mira Loma, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Murrieta Hot Springs, Norco, Perris, Quail Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Jacinto, Sedco Hills, Temescal Canyon, Wildomar, Grand Terrace, Highland, Colton, Moreno Valley, and many many more. MedCare Delivers patients medical cannabis medicine to their homes. Handicap medical marijuana Patients are our primary patients. To receive your medication delivered to you call 800-420-4369.

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