4 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: OCTOBER 2017 I t’s a good thing we legalized weed. Now cops have enough money to go after the weed dealers! According to a recent article from ABC News, a California county audi- tor is accusing a sheriff of improperly spending some of the $1 million his depart- ment received in fees from legal cannabis growers to go after illegal cannabis growers. But Calaveras County Sheriff Rick DiBasilio dis- agrees with the auditor’s contention that he can only use the money his office gets from growers for back- ground checks and other permit-related activity. No one said get- ting out of the failed, monstrously expen- sive and increas- ingly politically unpopular “drug war” was going to be easy. DiBasilio says busting illegal pot operations is “nec- essary to regulate marijuana in the county.” While voters have spo- ken at the ballot box by passing Prop 64, local and state government officials have been desperately try- ing to figure out how to handle the new reality. Some California coun- ties have banned any rec- reational or commercial growing operations, while others, with an eye cast towards well-funded Colo- rado, are embracing grow- ers because they provide jobs and tons of revenue for state and local govern- ments. In Calaveras, residents are split down the middle. Some hate the county’s year-old decision to per- mit medical marijuana farmers who pay $5,000 application fees and pass background checks to operate. Politically it’s something of a local hot potato. Four of the five supervisors who en- acted the permitting process for growers last year have been replaced by candi- dates who vowed to repeal the ordinance and ban all marijuana opera- tions. But that might take a while, because the growers are suing the county, which has already received about $4 million from growers. It’s those fees that auditor Rebecca Callen said the sheriff improperly used to finance drug raids on grow- ers. Callen said in an inter- view with Capital Public Radio KXJZ that she has been warning the sheriff of her concerns but with no effect. She says it appears that the sheriff has spent about $120,000 on law enforce- ment activities not related to the marijuana ordi- nance. She says money collected from the permits should only be spent for things such as background checks and other permit-related activity. “So far there’s been very minimal corrective action from the sheriff.” In a prepared statement, the sheriff said he has “re- solved” the issue with the relevant parties. “We are aware of the concerns raised by the use of certain funds for eradi- cation activities, and have been in useful negotiations to resolve differences in the interpretation of applicable law,” Sheriff DiBasilio said. Sheriff versus auditor Voters back sheriff but questions remain Is Calaveras County Sheriff Rick DiBasilio misspending revenue received from mari- juana growers to go after those same growers? It’s funds from those fees that auditor Rebecca Callen said the sheriff improperly used to finance drug raids on growers that haven’t paid the government. “The biggest killer on the planet is stress, and I still think the best medicine is and always has been cannabis.” – Willie Nelson