Press Release: Public Safety Emergency in Mendocino (CA)

Release Date: March 20, 2007 Contact: Steve Kubby (707) 964-7743 (Media only, please) UKIAH, CA -- Calling the new Mendocino Marijuana Policy a "Declaration of war against sick, disabled and dying Mendocino citizens," a local group of private citizens, headed up by Steve Kubby, took the Board of Supervisors to task for violating the specific instructions from the voters regarding marijuana policy. In a letter provided with this press release, Mr. Kubby explained to the Board, why their actions were such a threat to patients and why Measure G has already decided the issue. The group of concerned citizens is asking the Board to declare a Public Safety Emergency and has given the Supervisors 15 days to correct their illegal activities. ### March 20, 2007 Board of Supervisors Office 501 Low Gap Road, Room 1090 Ukiah, CA 95482 Dear Supervisors, On Nov. 8, 2000, Mendocino County voters approved Measure G, calling for the decriminalization of personal use and small scale cultivation of marijuana. Measure G is now a legally binding, county ordinance, which clearly sets out a specified set of directives to be followed by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, spelling out for the Board how they are required to act and not act in relation to the small scale cultivation and use of cannabis in Mendocino County. Measure G passed by a margin of 58-42%. Seven years later, we find that the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors has thus far neglected or declined to comply with your constituents' specific instructions as embodied in the Measure G ordinance, to wit: * Section 4 of Measure G instructs the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to "lobby state and federal governments for the immediate decriminalization of the personal use of Cannabis, specifically by repealing Sections 11357, (possession), 11358, (transportation), and 11359, (cultivation), of the California Health and Safety Code." We are not aware of any communications from the Board addressed to the state Legislature or any member thereof, or to the Governor, or to the US Congress, or to any State or Federal regulatory agency, pursuant to this clear and unambiguous instruction enacted into law by your constituents. If any such communications exist, we ask that you publicly divulge the content forthwith. If no such communications exist, we request an explanation on your part as to why you have failed to act as lawfully required. * Section 5 of Measure G instructs the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to "use its budgetary authority to ensure that the Sheriff's Office makes no arrests and issues no citations for violations of the above state Health and Safety Code sections in any single case involving 25 or fewer adult flowering female marijuana plant or the equivalent in dried marijuana." Additionally, Section 6 of Measure G clearly states that "[n] either the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, nor the Sheriff, nor the District Attorney shall spend or authorize the expenditure of any public funds for the investigation, arrest, or prosecution of any person, or the seizure of any property in any single case involving 25 or fewer adult flowering female marijuana plants or the equivalent in dried marijuana, nor shall the Auditor Controller or the Treasurer- Tax Collector approve any such requests for such expenditures of public funds, or authorize or approve the issuance of any form of payment should such expenditures be made." We are aware that a number of such arrests and prosecutions have taken place in the period intervening between the passage of Measure G and your receipt of this letter. Further, we are aware that the source of payroll and operations funding for the officer(s) making such arrests may be Federal and State, rather than county government. We regard this tactic as an attempt on the part of the Board to subvert its responsibilities to the voters of Mendocino County. The Board's budgetary authority, broadly construed, extends not only to making and disposing of local appropriations, but to the acceptance or refusal of Federal gifts, grants, and other monies such as those used to fund the law enforcement activities in question, and to the decision to fund, or not fund, the employment of any given individual by the Sheriff's Office, any type of litigation by the Prosecutor's office, or any type of disbursement by the Auditor Controller or the Treasurer-Tax Collector. We believe the arrests and prosecutions in question have been made with the acquiescence of, if not the knowledge and cooperation of, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, constituting an illegal abuse of the Board's budgetary authority. It is also our belief that the Board has no authority to override a voter initiative, nor can the Board restrict the legally allowed activities of Mendocino County citizens, which are described in Measure G, insofar as Measure G provisions are consistent with California state law. Furthermore, we believe there has been an increase from 15 marijuana cases under review a year ago, to 120 cases under active prosecution today, an unfortunate result of Sheriff Tony Craver retiring and District Attorney Norm Vroman dying. For those unfortunate citizens caught up in the temporary leadership vacuum that resulted, their suffering is certainly real and demands your attention, especially now, when the Board is contemplating illegally modifying a voter initiative by slashing the county limits to the absolute minimum allowed by state law. * Section 8 of Measure G requires the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to "instruct the Sheriff's Office and District Attorney to report on December 1st of each year regarding marijuana law enforcement and prosecution activities engaged in by themselves and by state, federal, and/or other law enforcement agencies within the County of Mendocino." We are unaware of any such reports or of any action by the Board to so instruct the offices in question. When Mendocino County's government officials so blatantly and consistently violate the instructions of their constituents, as lawfully and unambiguously expressed in Measure G, such actions create a PUBLIC SAFETY EMERGENCY that requires immediate and serious action. Specifically, we are asking the Board to demonstrate its commitment to follow Measure G by immediately passing a resolution that sets the county guidelines for medical patients at "25 plants, or its equivalent in dried marijuana," as specified in Measure G, and that the Board will begin immediately with compliance to the requirements set forth in the ordinance. Please understand that lives and property are on the line here and this Public Safety Emergency creates real hardships and suffering for your constituents. When Mendocino Sheriff's deputies destroy the medicine of bona fide, card-carrying patients, it is sick, disabled and dying patients who suffer the hardships on their health and finances, even if their case is dismissed and their property is eventually returned. Your constituents get no warning when they are raided, nor any chance to address the issues before being dragged off, booked, charged, assets seized, bank account frozen and publicly humiliated. Bona fide patients must still live in fear in Mendocino and will continue to do so until this Board sets the county guidelines - in accordance with Measure G. We ask that the Board immediately declare a Public Safety Emergency and act promptly to uphold Measure G as the guideline -- within the next fifteen (15) days. Please heed our call and act promptly and sincerely to resolve these issues. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and support. Let freedom grow, Steve Kubby Jim Hill Trelanie Hill Kristen Peskuski Tom Davenport Dane Wilkins Paula Dieter Bob Dieter ================== MEASURE G: MARIJUANA ORDINANCE FOR MENDOCINO COUNTY Section 1: FINDINGS. The people of Mendocino County find as follows: * WHEREAS Cannabis sativa (marijuana) is a beneficial plant with a respectable heritage and hundreds of well-known industrial, medicinal and recreational uses; * WHEREAS two decades of marijuana law enforcement in Mendocino County has not stopped cultivation here but has unnecessarily marginalized a large number of otherwise law abiding citizens who grow and use marijuana; * WHEREAS those who grow for personal use are not responsible for violent incidents sometimes associated with marijuana cultivation, but are vulnerable to theft; * WHEREAS The Institute of Medicine has found that marijuana has bona fide medical uses and is not a gateway to hard drug addiction; * WHEREAS law enforcement has carried out investigations, confiscations, and arrests against persons cultivating and using medical marijuana under Proposition 215 in Mendocino County; * WHEREAS the cities of Berkeley and San Francisco have longstanding ordinances which instruct police to minimize the priority of marijuana enforcement. Section 2: PURPOSE The ordinance codified in this chapter will: A. Instruct the county government to support all efforts toward the decriminalization of marijuana; B. Instruct the county sheriff and district attorney to make marijuana enforcement their lowest priority with respect to other crimes; C. Establish a maximum limit of plants and weight for cultivation and possession of marijuana for personal use in Mendocino County, and prohibit the expenditure of public funds for enforcement of marijuana laws against cultivators and users in possession of quantities below that limit. D. Remove the fear of prosecution and the stigma of criminality from people who harmlessly cultivate and/or use marijuana for personal medical or recreational purposes. E. Extend police protection to those growing or possessing marijuana for personal use; F. Provide for the continued enforcement of marijuana laws against those who cultivate, transport and possess marijuana for sale. THEREFORE: the purpose of this chapter is to establish Cannabis enforcement policy for Mendocino County. Section 3: DECRIMINALIZATION OF CANNABIS IN CALIFORNIA It is the desire of the people of Mendocino County that the cultivation for personal use of Cannabis be decriminalized in California. In this context, the board of supervisors is directed to lobby state and federal governments for the immediate decriminalization of the personal use of Cannabis, specifically by repealing Sections 11357, (possession), 11358, (transportation), and 11359, (cultivation), of the California Health and Safety Code. The people also urge the Sheriff and District Attorney to publicly support such decriminalization. Section 4: LAW ENFORCEMENT PRIORITY OF CANNABIS Through its budgetary authority, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors shall seek to ensure that the Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney give lowest priority to the enforcement and prosecution of marijuana laws. Section 5: SHERIFF OFFICE ARRESTS AND CITATIONS The Board of Supervisors shall use its budgetary authority to ensure that the Sheriff's Office makes no arrests and issues no citations for violations of the above state Health and Safety Code sections in any single case involving 25 or fewer adult flowering female marijuana plants or the equivalent in dried marijuana. Section 6: DISTRICT ATTORNEY PROSECUTIONS The Board of Supervisors shall use its funding authority to ensure that the District Attorney shall not prosecute any violations of the above state Health and Safety Code sections nor seize any property in any single case involving 25 or fewer adult flowering female marijuana plants or the equivalent in dried marijuana. Section 7: EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS FOR CANNABIS ENFORCEMENT Neither the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, nor the Sheriff, nor the District Attorney shall spend or authorize the expenditure of any public funds for the investigation, arrest, or prosecution of any person, or the seizure of any property in any single case involving 25 or fewer adult flowering female marijuana plants or the equivalent in dried marijuana, nor shall the Auditor Controller or the Treasurer- Tax Collector approve any such requests for such expenditures of public funds, or authorize or approve the issuance of any form of payment should such expenditures be made. Section 8: REPORTING The Board of Supervisors shall instruct the Sheriff's Office and District Attorney to report on December 1 of each year regarding marijuana law enforcement and prosecution activities engaged in by themselves and by state, federal, and/or other law enforcement agencies within the County of Mendocino. Section 9: SERVERABILITY The people of Mendocino County intend that in case a court of competent jurisdiction should find one or more of the above Sections illegal, the remaining Sections remain in full force and effect.