DRUGS

Landowners are struggling to understand marijuana cultivation laws throughout the state of California. Some municipalities are granting licenses for legal (at least per state law) marijuana cultivation with the permits often have detailed requirements, including obligating the owner to maintain the premises in a secure manner, carry insurance and not cultivate outdoors. Certain areas and types/sizes of buildings are usually off limits.

 

A word of caution. Should you lease your property to a person in the business of marijuana cultivation that begins with a legal permit but later becomes illegal, usually for failing to fulfill the requirements of the permit, you could be liable for significant civil penalties. In one Northern California city for example, an illegal marijuana grow will incur civil penalties equal to $500 or more for each plant seized. For commercial operations that have gone afoul of their permit requirements this can mean multi-million dollar penalties for the property owner.

 

You are now asking yourself, “if I have leased this property and its problems why is it my issue?” As the property owner, you have an affirmative duty to make sure your property is used and maintained legally. Additionally, you are the likely deep pocket with a leasee who is often bankrupt.

 

The attorneys at Bergstrom and Bruce can help answer questions about marijuana cultivation and your rights as either a landlord or tenant. Do not lease the property and walk away. Have a solid lease agreement. Be involved and ask questions. Your financial well-being depends on it.

 

A further word of caution. If arrested for a crime, politely decline to speak to police. Here’s a story to illustrate.

 

In 1881, near Yreka in Siskiyou County, Charles Earl Bowles, an English born bandit known as Black Bart, committed his sixteenth robbery of a Wells Fargo stage coach. Mr. Bowles would go on to relieve the early armored cars of their loot another dozen times often leaving poems at the scene of his crimes to identify himself and thumb his nose at law enforcement. Black Bart, despite the self-incriminating evidence, was never captured.

 

Such audacity is hard to fathom today. Anonymity has become more difficult with the proliferation of security cameras and the use of modern investigative techniques ranging from the collection of DNA evidence to the mining of social media.

 

While we do not condone actions such as those carried out by Mr. Bowles, the attorneys at Bergstrom and Bruce believe that you are the most important link in protecting your rights. Too many cases have been lost by statements coerced by law enforcement. If confronted by police, please follow these two simple rules. First, be polite. The officer is doing his or her job and it does not serve your interests to be confrontational. Second, politely decline to answer any questions. You are not going to talk yourself out of trouble. More likely, you will incriminate yourself in a crime you may not have committed.