Pot-truck bust signals legal confusion
1,875 pounds seized days before new law takes effect
Only days before the sale of recreational marijuana is legalized in the state, the California Highway Patrol’s bust of a truckload of pot from a newly licensed Mendocino County cannabis distribution collective raises new questions of what exactly the cannabis transportation laws are before retail sales become legal on New Year’s Day.
Two employees of Ukiah-based Old Kai Distribution driving a Nissan box truck were stopped and cited by the CHP about 5 p.m. Dec. 22, said Matthew Mandelker, co-founder of the organization, which has had a county distribution license since Dec. 19. They were pulled over because the truck’s side running lights were malfunctioning, but the 1,875 pounds of marijuana inside the vehicle led to an investigation.
The CHP called Mendocino County’s Major Crimes Task Force, which decided to seize the vehicle and its contents, said Officer Calvin Robertson, a CHP spokesman.
Though transport of marijuana is currently legal, nearly 1,900 pounds is an amount that could exceed the limits of state law, Robertson said. Under current law, the amount allocated for transport must be under 28.5 grams for individuals. For providers, it’s an amount that should seem reasonable to meet the needs of medical marijuana patients.
Joe Rogoway, an attorney representing Old Kai, said the amount was appropriate. The cannabis being distributed would serve hundreds of dispensaries and was going to mainly be used as oil for vaporizer pens, he said.
“What’s their magic num-
ber?” Rogoway said. “CHP doesn’t decide how much is too much. They’re not there to interpret the law. They’re there to enforce the law.”
Rogoway talked with county attorneys to negotiate a return of the cannabis, but was told the truck remained at the CHP’s Ukiah branch and the marijuana was being held by the Mendocino County Sheriff ’s Office, he said. The next step is to reach an agreement with those agencies, or file motions in court for the return of property.
It would be an expensive loss, the attorney added.
The 1,875 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle was collected from licensed cultivators at farms in the county. If it’s not recovered, the farmers will bear the brunt of the loss.
Despite the legal arguments, the marijuana remained in law enforcement custody Friday. Old Kai Distribution, a notfor-profit medicinal marijuana collective, argues that it had a local distribution license and was legally transporting the plant in compliance with a county ordinance. But the CHP said the company did not have state licensing — an additional requirement for transport that won’t be rolled out until Monday — and was transporting an amount that raised legal concerns.
The state’s official authority, the Bureau of Cannabis Control, started an online licensing application system on Dec. 8. The licenses become effective Monday and last 120 days, at which point distributors need permanent licenses.
Old Kai has already applied for a state license, Rogoway said.
Under the bureau’s regulations, there does not appear to be a limit of how much marijuana distributors can transport with the new license.
Mandelker, the collective’s
“CHP (marijuana) doesn’t is decide too much. how They’re much not there to interpret the law. They’re there to enforce the law.” Joe Rogoway, attorney representing Old Kai Distribution
co-founder, said his organization was complying with state law and a Mendocino County ordinance that granted a cannabis facilities business license for operations — including distribution — within the county.
“We are asserting our rights and believe we have the backing of the county and are conducting ourselves in compliance with the county’s ordinance,” Mandelker, said.
But it was a Mendocino County task force that seized the marijuana, which raises questions of just how much county support the collective has.
“Our fear is that essentially the law enforcement aspects of the county are not seeing eye to eye with the administrative aspects of the county,” Mandelker said.
It’s not clear whether the law is being violated, but the situation outlines the lack of understanding of the few regulations on the books, said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
If it was 19 pounds instead of 1,900 pounds, it might not have even become an issue, he said.
But despite the confusion and local legal battles that still surround medical marijuana, which has been legal in California since 1996, Armentano is convinced that in a couple of days there will be fewer questions of what the law is.
“To me, it’s fairly moot,” he said. “Come Jan. 1, these activities are now going to be for the first time fairly regulated.”