Medicinal Marijuana Clubs Back 4 Suspects in Pot Case

Members of two Southland medicinal marijuana clubs are throwing their support behind two couples who were arrested last week when authorities raided a ranch in northern Ventura County and seized 342 pot plants.

Marijuana activists Lynn and Judy Osburn, 50 and 47, and Mark Davison and Carol Jo Papac, 28 and 50, were taken into custody Friday after an investigation uncovered the growing operation in Lockwood Valley, authorities said.

The foursome, all of whom were released on bail late Friday night, are members of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Cooperative, an organization that supplies marijuana for more than 800 medicinal users, cooperative leaders said.

They “need the support of the entire movement to prevail,” said Scott Imler, president of the cooperative, in a letter to members. “This represents a significant portion of our annual supply, and patients are already suffering for the loss.”

In addition to the cooperative, Andrea Nagy, the former owner of a Thousand Oaks cannabis club who continues to dispense pot to patients after reaching a settlement with prosecutors in February, planned to meet with the foursome to lend her support, sources said. It was unclear whether any of the seized marijuana was being grown for Ventura County patients.

“They are making claims they are doing all of this for these clubs,” said Eric Nishimoto, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. “All we care about is that it’s not legal and they broke the law.”

Cannabis club members expect the arrest to be the start of another legal challenge to strict restrictions that have been placed on medicinal users since voters approved Proposition 215.

The 1996 law allows seriously ill people to use pot to treat a wide range of symptoms, as long as they have permission from a doctor.

But court challenges have arisen because there are no set guidelines for how much marijuana a person can grow or where patients can obtain it.

In a Simi Valley case decided last week, a Superior Court jury in a civil wrongful-arrest trial unanimously agreed that police there had acted properly when they arrested retiree Rex Dean Jones, who is a legal user, on suspicion of growing 14 plants in his backyard.

The foursome in the most recent case, all of whom say they are legal medicinal users, have some experience on the issue if they decide to fight the arrest.

The Osburns, who live in Kern County, were active supporters of Proposition 215 and have written a book titled “Green Gold: the Tree of Life,” a history of pot use in major religions.

Lynn Osburn also beat a similar case in 1988 after he was arrested and charged with having a 200-plant pot farm, which was also found by authorities in northern Ventura County.

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Times staff writer Bob Pool contributed to this report.