It has been a long time since Ricardo Montes and Luke Scarmazzo opened their medical marijuana dispensary in Modesto. But they are still paying the price. Montes and Scarmazzo are serving mandatory 20-year prison sentences for doing something that is now widely accepted: selling medicinal pot out of a retail store. Times have changed around them, but their circumstances have ...

A California marijuana grower was charged a $100,000 fine in March for polluting a local water source, state officials said. The fine is one of the largest ever imposed on a legal cannabis farm for a water violation. Brent Alan Vanderkam was accused of illegally clearing land for his pot plants and unwittingly washing 427 cubic meters of top soil ...

Sheriff’s deputies in Merced County destroyed about 400 marijuana plants they found in an elaborate commercial garden carefully hidden beneath a house on an almond ranch. Victor Arreola Barajas, 40, was arrested in the Hilmar area in connection with the raid. He was booked in lieu of $20,000 bail on charges of marijuana cultivation and utilities theft. Officers arrested Barajas ...

Medical pot shops have already been snuffed out like candles across California, making it harder – sometimes impossible – for thousands to get the medicine they need. Now local officials in towns and counties throughout the state are looking to attack medical marijuana from a different angle, and if they have their way, they could cut off all access to ...

More communities in California are turning to cultivation bans as a way to put the squeeze on marijuana providers and users, including the perfectly legal kind. An ordinance headed for a vote before the West Sacramento City Council would make it illegal to grow weed indoors without a city-issued permit. It’s an extension of an existing ban on outdoor grows ...

Two men were sentenced Dec. 21 for their ties to several medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento and Stockton. Lynn Farrell Smith, 63, of Stockton was sentenced to 42 months in prison for cannabis cultivation and sale. His co-defendant, Robert Duncan, 30, of Oakland was sentenced to 24 months in prison for similar crimes. Both men were sentenced in federal court ...

A prominent MMJ businessman who ran several dispensaries in Central California was sentenced to five years in prison this month, according to the Associated Press. Matthew Davies, 35, reached a plea deal with prosecutors that spared him a possible 15 year sentence. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, manufacturing marijuana, and distributing marijuana through his businesses ...

Yuba County is located in California’s Central Valley region, just north of Sacramento. Large portions of the country run along the Feather River. In the 2010 census, the population of Yuba County was estimated at approximately 72,155. Part of the Greater Sacramento area, Yuba County’s seat is Marysville. California State Marijuana Laws Govern Yuba County Under California laws – which ...

Tulare County is located in California’s Central Valley area with Fresno to the north. The county is known for its many natural attractions, among them Sequoia National Park, and portions of Kings Canyon National Park, and Mount Whitney. During the 2010 census, the population of Tulare County was estimated at about 442,179, which is a significant increase from the 2000 ...

Sutter County is located in California’s Central Valley, along the Sacramento River. The county is located just north of California’s capital which is Sacramento. Part of the Greater Sacramento area, Sutter County was estimated to have a population of approximately 94,737 in the census of 2010. The seat of the county is Yuba City. Marijuana Laws in Sutter County The ...