SAN ANDREAS - Jay Smith says Calaveras County is waging a war against medical marijuana and is doing so using unethical means.
Smith operates K Care Collective, a medical marijuana vendor. He and several others involved in medical marijuana pleaded for help this week from the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors.
Smith was arrested Jan. 4 on drug transportation and sales charges in the Valley Oaks Center parking lot in Valley Springs. He told supervisors he was tricked by a deputy who stole the identity of Robert Shaffer, a medical marijuana user from Ione.
Shaffer tells the same story, and says Deputy Steve Avila of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Department violated his privacy by using the document in the sting operation.
"I also fear my identity is being used in another of Avila's illegal ruses," Shaffer told the supervisors.
Dr. Philip A. Denney of Carmichael, who issued Shaffer's medical marijuana recommendation, said his office received a call from Smith, and that his staff confirmed that Shaffer had a valid medical marijuana recommendation, not knowing that someone else was using Shaffer's identity.
"It just smacks of entrapment and sleaziness to me. I think the cops have better things to do," Denney said. "It was completely deceptive, because they never did talk to me. They did not have Mr. Shaffer's authorization for any of this."
"For you to provide medical marijuana to someone, there has to be a caregiver relationship," Downum said. "You are totally outside the guidelines when you are meeting somebody in a parking lot and selling them drugs."
Note by Calaveras Cannabis: The above statement by Sheriff Downum is completely inaccurate and at odds with the Attorney General's guidelines and existing case law.
Hopefully Sheriff Kuntz gains a little more insight on this subject.
Posts
Thats Crazy! Why isnt anyone else covering this!!! Where is The Enterprise and Thepinetree ???
ReplyDeleteGrand jury will tackle identity theft! After filing numerous complaints with Calaveras County about a member of the Sheriff's Office, Robert Shaffer said he learned Monday that the Calaveras County grand jury would hear his case.
ReplyDeleteShaffer, 44, Ione, claims that his identity was stolen and medical records illegally made p...ublic by Calaveras County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Avila as part of a sting operation executed in January.
Avila posed as Shaffer, who had been arrested for selling marijuana and had his doctor's recommendation seized as evidence. Avila used Shaffer's legitimate medical recommendation, after altering the birth date, in order to appear to be a legitimate patient.The sting operation resulted in the arrest of San Andreas resident Jay Smith, who is now embroiled in a court fight over whether he was operating a legitimate collective.
full story at www.calaverasenterprise.com (todays paper)
Story:
ReplyDeleteGrand jury will tackle identity theft complaint
After filing numerous complaints with Calaveras County about a member of the Sheriff's Office, Robert Shaffer said he learned Monday that the Calaveras County grand jury would hear his case.
Shaffer, 44, Ione, claims that his identity was stolen and medical records illegally made public by Calaveras County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Avila as part of a sting operation executed in January.
For more of this story, click on or type the URL below:
http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/articles/2010/06/18/news/news02_grandjury.txt
the full article is www.calaverasenterprise.com
If anyone still runs this site, and is still interested in cannabis activism in the tri-county, please contact Collective Patient Resources at hughes@cpr.net and see our website at collectivepatientresources.org
ReplyDeleteWe are an active group of community members protecting and serving patients and their families in the motherlode. Tom Liberty