By: Eugene Davidovich

SAN DIEGO – Wednesday of this week marked the third day of arguments in the second medical marijuana trial of Jovan Jackson a founding members of the Answerdam collective, patient, and US Navy Veteran.

The second trial, just as the first is being held in state court. Both have drawn lots of local media attention, outrage and questions from patients, and have stirred up controversy and concern in the medical marijuana community across the state.

Some not familiar with the case, seem to assume Jackson violated the law. There are theories circling the community that he is charged with selling medicine to someone without a valid recommendation or that a patient with an expired recommendation got into the facility and bought medicine making that sale illegal. The second trial has baffled many, and as a result people are simply assuming the worse, that there has to be something that justifies two raids and two trials.

The maddening reality is that both arrests and trials of Jovan Jackson have yet to be justified.

In both the first and second trial Jackson has not been charged, accused nor has there been any evidence brought forth that he violated Prop 215, SB420, or any other state or local law with regards to medical marijuana.

Jackson helped form the Answerdam Alternative Care Collective formerly located in Kearney Mesa, a commercial area of San Diego. This facility as all others in the state, helped facilitate transactions between members and qualified medical marijuana patients. This means, it was a dispensing collective, commonly referred to as a “dispensary”.

In a commercial office park, in a very clean and inviting setting, patients who grew their own medicine and had extra, could bring it in and be reimbursed for their expenses and cost of the cultivation. Other members, who could not grow their own, bought the marijuana grown by other members.

Every single member of Answerdam was a qualified patient. All 1600 were screened, verified, and required to fill out the proper paperwork prior to joining.

Does that process sound familiar? It is to every medical marijuana patient in the state.

This is the same manner in which just about every dispensary in California operates. Some may have different forms, a nicer TV in the reception area, but overall the idea, theory, operation, business practice, interpretation of the law, or whatever you want to call it, is the same.

So how are they able to prosecute Jackson?

Well, in Jackson’s first trial, an undercover officer went to a local doctor, lied about his symptoms and condition, obtained a legitimate medical marijuana card and joined Answerdam. The undercover bought a small amount of medicine, paid in cash, and left.

A few months later in August of 2008, Jackson was raided, arrested and charged with sales and possession of marijuana for sale in connection with the Answerdam dispensary. Jackson refused to take a plea deal and as a result, his case dragged on for months, while Answerdam remained open to its membership.

A year after the arrest, on September 8, 2009 while out on bail and in court for yet another hearing on charges related to the first raid, Jackson was suddenly taken into custody. Judge Laceter ordered the incarceration, claiming that Jackson needed to go through a psychiatric evaluation after he insisted on dismissing his public defender and representing himself. The next day, on September 9, 2009 Answerdam was raided for a second time by the same detectives that raided the place a year prior.

Jackson passed his psychiatric evaluation, was held for an additional two weeks and then finally released, at which point he brought onboard Lance Rogers, a private criminal defense attorney, to represent him.

The DA filed the second raid under a new case, set it aside, and focused on prosecuting Jackson for the first raid.

In December of 2009, the jury for Jackson’s first trial was selected, evidence presented on both sides, and testimony heard from witnesses including the undercover...