Off The Record

THE JACKALS of the local media, especially at the big-toothed Press Democrat, are always happy to see pot raids on the locally prominent, especially the locally prominent they politically oppose. But one would think the children of the politically prominent would be of no interest to the bold boys of the Rose City daily, but not Angela Pinches, daughter of Supervisor John Pinches, who was pot-popped in Redwood Valley recently. If she weren’t the daughter of the pot-friendly supervisor her citation, which is routine, would have gone unremarked. According to above-the-fold stories in both the Ukiah Daily Journal and the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, more than 100 pot plants belonging to Ms. Pinches were seized, leaving her with the 25 plant maximum allowed by Mendocino County rules.  She was not arrested, merely cited. According to Major Crimes Task Force Honcho Bob ‘Nish’ Nishyama, there were 44 mature plants growing outside on the property and about 88 plants — ranging from seedlings to two-foot plants — growing indoors. Apparently, a sheriff’s deputy patrolling in the Redwood Valley area stopped a pickup at about 3:45pm Sept. 12, when he saw children riding in the truck bed. The driver said she didn’t have her license, but the deputy followed her to Ms. Pinches’ home so she could go inside and get it. The deputy noticed the pot plants in the yard while waiting for the driver, who was not Ms. Pinches, to return, and asked the children about them. The children allegedly said the plants belonged to their mother, but that they weren’t allowed to talk about them. Ms. Pinches soon appeared and the deputy asked her about the plants. The deputy confirmed that Ms. Pinches had a medical recommendation to use marijuana. Ms. Pinches was cited and released because the cops didn’t want to leave her children untended or confiscated by Child Protective Services, a courtesy not always extended to pot growers. Supervisor Pinches told the Ukiah Daily Journal that he believed the raid had something to do with his political views on legalizing marijuana. The DEA’s Nishyama predictably denied that Mr. Pinches’ views on marijuana had anything to do with the raid on his daughter. Ms. Pinches told cops that she “planned” to join a cooperative which would allow her to grow up to 99 plants, but hadn’t gotten around to it. The case is “still under investigation,” and the District Attorney’s office has not yet made a charging decision.