Greasy Napa Officials Investigate and Arrest Pot Club Applicant

A man who sought to open Napa’s first legal medical marijuana dispensary in 2011 was one of two men arrested last week on suspicion of growing and selling marijuana, according to the Napa Special Investigations Bureau.
Mark Hammond, 50, of Napa, and Ryan Maeda, 29, were booked Jan. 12 into the Napa County jail in connection with alledgely growing marijuana for sale on an estate in the 2100 block of Soda Canyon Road, NSIB Lt. Leroy Anderson said.

Hammond represented a group that was among the three top applicants to operate Napa’s first a medical marijuana dispensary.
Officials had been dragging their feet for over a year in choosing 1 "preferred" pot club applicant until they recently used a ruling in Long Beach as an excuse to halt the process altogether. Officials charged all applicants for the pot club an outrageous $7,000 fee! That fee has not been returned to the applicants.
Napa's selection process was a sham and now this news regarding the bust of an applicant leaves citizens in Napa feeling their elected officials are ignorant to medical marijuana laws as well as it's benefits.
After a month-long investigation, NSIB agents on Jan. 12 executed a search warrant on the Soda Canyon Road estate, Anderson said. According to court records and NSIB, agents seized 70 marijuana plants growing indoors, along with 14 pounds of processed marijuana, and arrested Maeda.
At about the same time, agents arrested Hammond at his house in the 3200 block of Vichy Avenue in connection with the estate growing operation, NSIB said. Agents seized another 10 pounds of processed marijuana and about $13,000 in cash at Hammond’s house, Anderson said.
According to court records, agents who executed the search warrant also found a digital scale, packaging materials, tax forms for Maeda from Hammond and eight medical marijuana cards.
The timing of the investigation screams entrapment. Let's review the facts for a moment.
Napa has hearings on pot club. They decide 1 pot club will be allowed. A $7,000 fee is charged to each applicant. Applications are taken along with fees, 1 is chosen, then Napa puts the whole process on hold. A month later one of those applicants, is arrested.
Shame on Napa's mayor, City Attorney, and police dept. This whole situation reeks of underhanded dealings and leaves Napa's MMJ patients without local access to medicine.
Both Hammond and Maeda are out on bail and are scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 23, according to the Napa County jail.
Hammond said by phone Wednesday he could not speak because he was driving.
In his city application, filed Oct. 18, 2010, Hammond applied to operate Napa’s first legal medical marijuana dispensary as president and chief executive officer of Remedia Napa Valley.
A Vintage High School graduate and a general contractor, Hammond said Remedia would be a “locally owned and operated dispensary.”
“The dispensary will be operated as a mutual benefit corporation that will allow us to focus on our members as well as the community for many years to come,” Hammond wrote.
Anderson said the estate’s owner was not arrested and cooperated with authorities.