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Solano DA’s office drops charges against marijuana dispensary operator
Salubrious, a medical marijuana dispensary, is shown in August 2011 at Rockville Corners on Suisun Valley Road. The criminal case against shop's owner was dropped this week, ending more than a year of legal maneuvers over the legality of medical marijuana dispendaries. (Brad Zweerink/Daily Republic file)
FAIRFIELD — After a two-year legal battle, Solano County prosecutors gave up their pursuit of multiple felony charges against a man who briefly operated a marijuana peddling enterprise at Rockville Corners in an unincorporated part of the county.
Steven P. Lowe’s woes began in February 2011, when sheriff’s deputies raided his shop he had named Salubrious and seized more than a pound of marijuana and 11 verdant marijuana plants. The raid came after undercover sheriff’s deputies made three separate cash contributions to Salubrious, according to testimony at a probable cause hearing.
Lowe was arrested on four felony charges and got out of jail after posting $45,000 cash bond.
Lowe’s attorney, James M. Silva, a specialist in marijuana cases, said prosecutors dropped all charges against Lowe on Tuesday.
“I appreciate the professionalism of this District Attorney’s Office about this issue of the law,” Silva said Friday. Silva pointed to appeals courts rulings in late 2012 clarifying the legal impact of marijuana collectives and the status of caregivers and distributors.
At Lowe’s probable cause hearing, an expert on operating medical marijuana centers testified that anyone who came to Salubrious with a doctor’s note for medicinal marijuana and who filled out a membership form was considered part of a collective. A volunteer at Salubrious said most members of the collective were not buying marijuana, but were instead giving “cash contributions” when obtaining their medicine.
After Lowe’s arrest, Solano County supervisors voted to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in rural areas.
Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jsullivandr.
Jess Sullivan
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