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Blaze exposes marijuana factory
More than 1,000 marijuana plants, worth $200,000, discovered but owners, legality not known

By William Brand, STAFF WRITER | The Oakland Tribune | April 25, 2004

OAKLAND -- A one-alarm warehouse fire at 601 Jackson St. turned into a major marijuana seizure Saturday morning.

Firefighters discovered the warehouse was a maze of rooms -- each containing hundreds of plants in every stage of growth from sprouts to mature buds.

But as Oakland police bagged and carried out more than 1,000 plants with an estimated street value of nearly $200,000, a question remained.

Was the stuff illicit or was it legal?

Oakland Police Sgt. Caesar Basa said the building tenant told him the plants were being grown legally as medical marijuana destined for a cannabis club.

But the tenant was short on details, Basa said.

Police didn't arrest him, but the investigation is just beginning. He declined to identify the man.

A neighbor, Chuang Ma, said the tenant rented the warehouse about three months ago. "He said he was a musician and rented the building for music."

Ma said that a band previously occupied the building, and he heard music frequently.

Ma said he had never heard music since the new tenant moved in.

"This morning, we saw smoke coming from the roof. We went over and we saw two guys outside. They were calling on their cell phone," he said. "But we waited and the fire department didn't come."

Ma said he called 9-1-1 to report the fire, and he thought the two men also called.


Oakland Battalion Fire Chief Lorenzo Frediani estimated damage to the building at $100,000.

He said firefighters wearing masks and carrying oxygen had a difficult time finding the fire. There were no lights; it was totally dark and heavy black smoke filled the building to the floor.

It was a warren of rooms and there was a heavy odor of marijuana, Frediani said.

"The fire was contained to the room of origin," he said. But there was extensive damage to the roof and to wiring, he said.

Hours after the 8:52 a.m. fire, the strong odor of marijuana smoke and growing plants clung to the rooms.

Meanwhile, an official at the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club said she had no idea if the plants were legal medical marijuana. She said growers make their own arrangement with medical marijuana clubs.

"Those arrangements are usually confidential," she said.

Oakland currently has three clubs where patrons who have a letter from a medical doctor certifying that their condition warrants the use of marijuana as a stress and pain reliever can go to smoke and obtain the drug.

Currently, an initiative calling for regulation and taxation of cannabis for adult use in Oakland has been started by the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance.

The initiative also would make enforcement of marijuana laws Oakland's lowest priority.

However, possession and use of marijuana -- other than as a legally prescribed drug -- remains illegal under state law.

Contact William Brand at bbrand@angnewspapers.com .

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