The murders of six people involved in an illegal cannabis grow in San Bernardino County was horrific and garnered the County almost as much attention as did the mass shooting in 2015 that killed 14 people at San Bernardino’s Inland Regional Center.

A press conference about the six people killed at the illegal cannabis grow was held by San Bernardino Sheriff’s office on January 29 to announce the apprehension of five suspects who they believe committed the mass murders. The press conference was notable more for its vilification of Prop. 64 than an analysis of what happened.

At the press conference, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus made the following statement:

“What the supporters were saying about Prop. 64 is it would bring booming unregulated recreational marijuana under the rule of law and protect consumers and the environment. And it is recognition of decades of prohibition against aggressive enforcement of criminal laws that do not work. That’s false – 100%.”

No, it is not false – it is 100% accurate but only if Prop. 64 is allowed to work as intended which San Bernardino County, aided and abetted by the Sheriff’s and District Attorney’s offices, does everything in its power to sabotage, undermine, suppress and overturn.

Officer Dicus continued to vilify Prop. 64 stating:

“The reality is that Prop. 64, in the fine print, took illicit marijuana and moved it from a felony to a misdemeanor and the reality of this is by allowing that we have unleashed a plague in California and the plague is the black market of marijuana and certainly cartel activity and the number of victims out there.”

The apocalyptic intonation of “we have unleashed a plague in California and the plague is the black market of marijuana” was picked up and used as a headline and a lead-in in a number of articles and news broadcasts of this tragic event. The question that was not asked at the Press Conference and hence was not addressed was whether the “plague” of illegal marijuana grows was less, more or the same before Prop. 64 passed when it was a felony then it is today when it is now a misdemeanor.

Since illegal growers do not take out licenses to grow cannabis illegally, no one really knows how many illegal grows there are. To get some kind of answer, I have filed a Freedom of Information request with the San Bernardino Sheriff’s office asking for the number of warrants issued to search illegal grows, the number of plants seized and the amount of processed cannabis and dollars seized over the last 10 years by the Sheriff’s office.

The only real plague is the plague of stupidity and callousness of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s office evidenced by these attacks on Prop. 64 at an event that should have been mourning the loss of life over a plant and not attacking the very law that, if properly implemented, would substantially reduce this type of tragedy.

The bottom line of illicit grows and the other illegal cannabis activities is that San Bernardino County prohibits any commercial cultivation, manufacture or distribution of marijuana leaving criminal cultivation, manufacture and distribution as the only outlet for the majority of SB County residents.

San Bernardino County still has not learned the lesson of alcohol prohibition which gave rise to crime, corruption and murders. If San Bernardino County wants to put an end to illegal cultivation and its associated problems, it should follow the will of the voters of California and San Bernardino County by enacting reasonable regulations, licensing requirements and taxes for marijuana businesses that are similar to those regulating alcohol.

As dreadful as these murders were, perhaps there is a silver lining as this horrendous event might give us the room to once again bring the issue before the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors to enact regulations to allow cannabis businesses to open in the unincorporated areas of the County.

This will only happen if enough people put enough pressure on the Board to direct their Planning Dept. to develop regulations to implement the commercial business portions of Prop. 64. We have not done much in the way of cannabis advocacy at Inland Empire city council and county board meetings since the passage of Prop. 64, so it is high time that we start in again.

Bring back those old days of advocating for access to cannabis for medical marijuana patients when we would bring 60 to 80 people to a SB County Board of Supervisors meeting to harangue them for two to three hours during the Public Comment session over their senseless and ultimately losing lawsuit (at a cost of over $100,000 taxpayer dollars) to have SB 420 declared unconstitutional and its refusal to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate.

This time, with Prop. 64 as our battering ram and the deaths of six people hanging over them for their continued prohibition of commercial cannabis businesses, we will be advocating for access to cannabis for everyone and an end to the commercial prohibition that flies in the face of the will of the voters of California and San Bernardino County and only results in tragedies such as the six murders.

To that end, I am putting together a ZOOM meeting on Sunday, Feb.11 at 7 p.m. to discuss what we can do and how we can do it to fully implement Prop. 64 in SB County.

The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81294141754

To zoom in by phone call: 1-669-444-9171 and enter meeting ID # 812 9414 1754

Gem Montes of San Bernardino NORML will be joining us so please circle the date on your calendar for the Zoom meeting and Zoom on in – this is a call to arms. Riverside County allows cannabis businesses and it is time for San Bernardino County to do the same.

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For a variety of issues and reasons, the November 2024 election is about as momentous an election as there has ever been in our lifetimes. Before that election comes California’s primary election on Tuesday, March 5. With 15 other states holding their primary elections on March  5, this Super-Tuesday ballot extravaganza delivers over one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating conventions. It will most likely seal the nominations of both Biden and Trump – no surprise there.

In California there are many other elections. The big one is the nomination for the U.S. Senate. Have you seen your voter guide? The number of candidates running for the U.S. Senate is only exceeded by the number of grains of sand on a beach, but for the Democrats it is coming down to Representatives Barabara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff and for the Republicans Steve Garvey. .

CaNORML has released a Cannabis Voters guide for California's March 5 primary. It is very interesting to read, so to get a copy CLICK HERE.

If you live in Sonoma County, you have the opportunity to elect to the Sonoma County Superior Court one of the foremost civil rights and cannabis attorney's in California - OMAR FIGUEROA. We truly need people like Omar on the Judicial Bench. For more information about Omar and to help on his campaign CLICK HERE. If you know people in Sonoma County, take a moment and send them an email about Omar and suggesting very strongly that they vote for him.

Look for your ballot to arrive this week and then vote. Friends don’t let friends not vote, so get your friends, family members, co-workers and that strange person down the street to vote. BTW If you have not received your ballot by the 2^nd week of February, contact your local county Registrar of Voters.

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In November 2020, Oregon voters legalized the use of psilocybin. After almost 4 years, access is finally going to happen. You don’t have to be an Oregon resident to have this access but don’t look for stores opening on Main Street selling psilocybin. Although the uses do not have to be medical, getting access is only through licensed practitioners offering services in controlled and supervised locations.

A long time friend of mine, Terry Turner, moved from California to become a licensed psilocybin facilitator. You are invited to attend his FREE zoom seminar on Thursday February 15 at 5 p.m. Entitled “Portals of the Sacred”, the seminar is an amazing presentation you will not want to miss. Here is what Terry has written as an introduction to his seminar and the brave new world of Oregon’s legalization of psilocybin.

     Toward the end of his ministry, Ernest Holmes famously exhorted his fellow ministers saying, “We must always remain open at the top for fresh revelations”.  As a student of world religions, he was probably aware of the strong human tendency to codify revelation into creeds and doctrines and to slide into legalistic formalism.  “The letter [of the law] kills but the spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6).  With few exceptions, direct mystical experience has been absent from the mainstream of Western religion for the last 2000 years!  Legal access to psilocybin has the potential to change all that. In a 2008 study at Johns Hopkins University where volunteers were administered psilocybin under controlled conditions, 67% reported their experiences to be among the five most significant spiritual experiences of their lives and 72% reported mystical experiences that resulted in sustained changes in attitude, mood and behavior.

     In my 30-minute PowerPoint presentation “Portals of the Sacred”, I briefly explain what psilocybin is, how it works and give a brief outline of the 7,000 year recorded history of its sacramental use.  I conclude with a description of Psilocybin Services in Oregon—the first program of its kind in our nation offering supervised, controlled, non-medical state-legal access to psilocybin for adults over 21.  Oregon residency is not required.  Following a period of Q & A, participants will have the opportunity to experience the “sound arc” of a condensed 20-minute meditative “journey” with soundtracks used in the Oregon psilocybin service centers.

To Register for this free event contact Terry Turner at [email protected].  Include full name, phone number (optional), and email.

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If you have read this far, you must indeed be a dedicated reader and supporter of MAPP. Perhaps you might want to take one dedicated step further and become a member of MAPP's 420 Club and donate $4.20 each month surreptitiously and conveniently You can do that by CLICKING HERE. If you are more into making just a one- time donation, you can do that to by CLICKING HERE. Thanks for helping cover the expenses of our cannabis advocacy.