A case involving 80 pounds of processed marijuana was dismissed last week after a judge ruled that the search by a Nevada County Sheriff’s deputy’s of duffle bags hidden in a ditch was illegal.

The defendant, Garth Alexander Gryte, had been charged with transportation of marijuana and possession for sale in connection with an Oct. 29, 2013, arrest, after the deputy stopped to help Gryte as he fixed a flat tire.

Lt. Alicia Burget testified — during a hearing in Nevada County Superior Court on a motion to suppress the evidence — that she was driving on Highway 49 when she noticed Gryte out of his vehicle near Cement Hill Road; she said he was coming out of a ditch.

As wildfires continue to ravage the West Coast, concerns emerge for the marijuana industry.

It's getting tough to be a pot farmer. The West Coast's marijuana industry, already pinched by drought and facing sharp criticism over its water use, now faces another imminent threat: fire.

Evoxe Laboratories, the new and pioneering developer of medicinal cannabis consumption technologies, recently announced the debut of new products in California at select dispensaries along with partnerships with Sacramento’s TBD Music Festival and Irvine’s Safe in Sound Festival in September of this year. The company will rollout its products into additional major U.S. markets next year as it looks to expand its presence.

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) --

Police across the Valley have their eyes out for drunk drivers. But in this day and age, it's not just alcohol they're worried about.

"What's happening down the road is a lot of people are overmedicating themselves, and that's where they start becoming impaired. We're taking a special look at that, and it is a violation of the law," Clovis Police Officer Mark Bradford said.

Bradford is one of six drug recognition experts in the department. Officers are seeing a disturbing trend of more people being arrested for impaired driving. Recently, the department got a new tool to educate the public: marijuana goggles.

"A lot of people are really amazed on how much they feel impaired just putting those goggles on," Bradford said.

When it comes to sniffing out trouble, Scooby-Doo has nothing on Habo the German shepherd.

For the third time in less than two years, the police dog has sniffed out a marijuana growing operation at the same Placentia industrial complex.

The Placentia Police Department’s K9 unit dog alerted officers to the marijuana in the 700 block of Monroe Way. Officers had served a search warrant Monday morning and seized 600 live plants and 100 pounds of packaged marijuana valued at half a million dollars.

Placentia police Lt. Eric Point said Habo previously sniffed out marijuana in a suite of the complex in July and last year in April.

Two men were taken into custody in April in relation to the marijuana find.

Despite a pop culture reputation for paranoia or the munchies, millions of anxiety patients worldwide are turning to modern formulations of medical marijuana.

Cannabis’ ingredients have been proven to act on nerve cells to dampen anxiety and provide relief to sufferers — no smoke or high required. More and more patients are using sprays that sit under the tongue or medicated food. These products are often non-psychoactive, drawing in seniors, parents professionals and others turned off by a potential stone.

WILLOW CREEK

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife helicopter circled over steep timberland in Humboldt County’s coastal mountains, prowling for potential water diversions and environmental damage caused by what is arguably the state’s most lucrative agricultural product: marijuana.

The problems weren’t hard to find.

The pot farms below sprawled out with factory-like orderliness. From the air, the rows of budding plants resembled citrus orchards. Leveled terraces supported plastic-lined greenhouses capable of producing multiple marijuana yields. Giant water tanks stood nearby.

Lt. DeWayne Little, a veteran game warden with a muscular build and a shaved head, snapped photos of the clearings. The view unsettled him.

LOS ANGELES -- Founded by a doctor and a patient, MMJRecs.com is a brand-new app that enables California medical-cannabis patients to apply for and receive doctor recommendations via their mobile devices. It is staffed by a team of licensed physicians, complies with all HIPAA regulations, and employs the same cyber-security as banks, bringing the highest possible level of safety, comfort and relief to the ill. 

Patients can now receive doctor recommendations via the MMJRecs website, and the company next month will announce the launch of its app, which will enable patients to apply using their smart phones. The entire process can take as little as 20 minutes, and no office visit is required.

Aubrie Hill, 20, grew up in Huntsville but moved to California earlier this month to have legal access to medical marijuana to help treat her epilepsy.

The passion and the energy resonated from California to Alabama, the video interview providing a window into the raw determination that drives Vicki Hill.

She left 32 years of her life behind in Huntsville to relocate to northern California in search of a medical marijuana sanctuary for her 20-year-old daughter, Aubrie, who has suffered from epilepsy since she was 5.

As America's multibillion dollar cannabis industry continues to expand, the nation's drug cops are seizing less weed.

In 2009, the first summer of Barack Obama's presidency, a record 10.4 million marijuana plants were eliminated in America, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

California alone accounted for 7.5 million plants that year, according to the DEA's annual report on its "Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program," one of the biggest multi-agency law enforcement efforts in the country.