2H0613694... That's the number on the card issued to St. Helenan Grant Carter by the Division of Health in Napa County authorizing his use of marijuana.
The marijuana, he says, calms the rage within him that he says has been there since 1968, when, as a 9-year-old, he discovered his father dead on the floor from a heart attack. Carter likened his condition to post-traumatic stress for war veterans.
"I was mad," he said. "I watched every boy have a father but me. I was a violent child. I was acting out and I didn't care. I was in foster homes and reform schools all over the United States and I got in a lot of legal trouble. Robbery, auto theft ... "
At age 14, he said he ran away from home and hitchhiked across the U.S. At age 21, he became a convicted felon for holding up a liquor store and served time in Tuolumne County before his case was plea-bargained down to a five-year suspended sentence.
Carter said he didn't realize at the time that he was looking for something but didn't know what it was.
"Then I found it ... marijuana," he asserted. "It's been a gift. I gravitated toward marijuana and, as I grow older, I find that the reason I do this is, it works. It takes the edge off the anger."
With his record, jobs have been hard to come by. He drove a cattle truck. Before that, a lumber truck.
"I topped trees, I was a climber, a risk-taker," he said.
Finally, he's legal
As Carter sat in his patio, a row of six healthy marijuana plants rooted in buckets was in plain view. He said he wasn't worried about someone stealing the plants because he has a 'round-the-clock surveillance camera' trained on his patio.
"I've been doing it (marijuana) all my life. I've had to do it secretly until recent years, but that's what worked for me. I had to live that lifestyle," he said.
The card changed all that, he added, making it possible for him to speak "legally and open" about his use of "pot." The plants in his patio were purchased from a legal source in Lake County. Previously, he said he brought his marijuana from illegal sources.
"More people are doing this around here than you realize, other people like me," said Carter. "I just wanted to come out and say, 'Hey, it's OK!'"
He would not find unanimous agreement on the OK part. Medically approved or not, doctors and law enforcement officials continue to debate the effects of marijuana use.
Carter said he got the medical authorization needed to obtain his card from a doctor in Lake County.
"I don't wish to rub it in anybody's face, but I think we need a medical (mari-juana) dispensary right here in Napa County."
Cities rule
That will not happen in Napa County any time soon.
Calistoga has enacted a moratorium barring a marijuana dispensary through April 1, 2010, said Calistoga senior planner Ken MacNab, and will probably establish a permanent ban before next April.
The American Canyon City Council voted 3-1 on April 21 to enact an ordinance banning the establishment of a medical marijuana dispensary by prohibiting any use illegal under either state or federal law.
St. Helena is just now looking into the issue. Police Chief Monty Castillo, said planning director Carol Poole, recently attended a workshop on the marijuana dispensary issue, but has yet to report back to the city.
St. Helena Police Sgt. Chris Hartley said he didn't know Carter, "but if he is on medical marijuana, we have to honor his card."
Hartley said that St. Helena police abide by state law on the "medical marijuana" issue, although the federal government has been known to arrest and prosecute card-carrying users.
"If the feds want to come in and do their own thing, more power to them," said Hartley, "but we honor the California guidelines."
Gary Pitkin, commander of the Napa Special Investigations Bureau, said he has never heard of Carter. But as a commander for an agency intensely involved in tracking down illegal marijuana, he casts a jaundiced eye on anyone cultivating the plant.
"In Napa County for the last seven years we have seen an exponential increase in the amount of marijuana cultivated. We've gone from eradicating 15,000 plants a year to over 100,000," Pitkin said.
Attendant with that growth, he added, has been an increase in marijuana-associated crime.
Is Carter courting trouble with law enforcement by going public with his use of marijuana?
"I don't know," Pitkin said. "We'll find out."
John Lindblom photo Crane Carter of St. Helena tends one of the six marijuana plants on his patio, which he can cultivate legally after obtaining a card authorizing his use of medical marijuana from the Napa County Division of Health.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The St. Helena Star
Author: John Lindblom
Contact: The St. Helena Star
Copyright: 2009 Lee Enterprises
Website: St. Helenan Goes Public With Pot Use
The marijuana, he says, calms the rage within him that he says has been there since 1968, when, as a 9-year-old, he discovered his father dead on the floor from a heart attack. Carter likened his condition to post-traumatic stress for war veterans.
"I was mad," he said. "I watched every boy have a father but me. I was a violent child. I was acting out and I didn't care. I was in foster homes and reform schools all over the United States and I got in a lot of legal trouble. Robbery, auto theft ... "
At age 14, he said he ran away from home and hitchhiked across the U.S. At age 21, he became a convicted felon for holding up a liquor store and served time in Tuolumne County before his case was plea-bargained down to a five-year suspended sentence.
Carter said he didn't realize at the time that he was looking for something but didn't know what it was.
"Then I found it ... marijuana," he asserted. "It's been a gift. I gravitated toward marijuana and, as I grow older, I find that the reason I do this is, it works. It takes the edge off the anger."
With his record, jobs have been hard to come by. He drove a cattle truck. Before that, a lumber truck.
"I topped trees, I was a climber, a risk-taker," he said.
Finally, he's legal
As Carter sat in his patio, a row of six healthy marijuana plants rooted in buckets was in plain view. He said he wasn't worried about someone stealing the plants because he has a 'round-the-clock surveillance camera' trained on his patio.
"I've been doing it (marijuana) all my life. I've had to do it secretly until recent years, but that's what worked for me. I had to live that lifestyle," he said.
The card changed all that, he added, making it possible for him to speak "legally and open" about his use of "pot." The plants in his patio were purchased from a legal source in Lake County. Previously, he said he brought his marijuana from illegal sources.
"More people are doing this around here than you realize, other people like me," said Carter. "I just wanted to come out and say, 'Hey, it's OK!'"
He would not find unanimous agreement on the OK part. Medically approved or not, doctors and law enforcement officials continue to debate the effects of marijuana use.
Carter said he got the medical authorization needed to obtain his card from a doctor in Lake County.
"I don't wish to rub it in anybody's face, but I think we need a medical (mari-juana) dispensary right here in Napa County."
Cities rule
That will not happen in Napa County any time soon.
Calistoga has enacted a moratorium barring a marijuana dispensary through April 1, 2010, said Calistoga senior planner Ken MacNab, and will probably establish a permanent ban before next April.
The American Canyon City Council voted 3-1 on April 21 to enact an ordinance banning the establishment of a medical marijuana dispensary by prohibiting any use illegal under either state or federal law.
St. Helena is just now looking into the issue. Police Chief Monty Castillo, said planning director Carol Poole, recently attended a workshop on the marijuana dispensary issue, but has yet to report back to the city.
St. Helena Police Sgt. Chris Hartley said he didn't know Carter, "but if he is on medical marijuana, we have to honor his card."
Hartley said that St. Helena police abide by state law on the "medical marijuana" issue, although the federal government has been known to arrest and prosecute card-carrying users.
"If the feds want to come in and do their own thing, more power to them," said Hartley, "but we honor the California guidelines."
Gary Pitkin, commander of the Napa Special Investigations Bureau, said he has never heard of Carter. But as a commander for an agency intensely involved in tracking down illegal marijuana, he casts a jaundiced eye on anyone cultivating the plant.
"In Napa County for the last seven years we have seen an exponential increase in the amount of marijuana cultivated. We've gone from eradicating 15,000 plants a year to over 100,000," Pitkin said.
Attendant with that growth, he added, has been an increase in marijuana-associated crime.
Is Carter courting trouble with law enforcement by going public with his use of marijuana?
"I don't know," Pitkin said. "We'll find out."
John Lindblom photo Crane Carter of St. Helena tends one of the six marijuana plants on his patio, which he can cultivate legally after obtaining a card authorizing his use of medical marijuana from the Napa County Division of Health.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The St. Helena Star
Author: John Lindblom
Contact: The St. Helena Star
Copyright: 2009 Lee Enterprises
Website: St. Helenan Goes Public With Pot Use
