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Marijuana: Mendocino County Coalition Moves to Further Restrict Cultivation -- But Late-Breaking Judge's Ruling May Undo Their Earlier Victory

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #547)
Drug War Issues
Lowest Priority Policies
Medical Marijuana
Personal Marijuana Use
Politics & Advocacy
State & Local Legislatures
Ballot Measures

outdoor marijuana grow in California, harvested early (from NDIC via usdoj.gov)
In June, foes of Mendocino County, California's relaxed marijuana cultivation ordinance, managed to narrowly repeal the eight-year-old Measure G, which made marijuana the lowest law enforcement priority and barred prosecution of anyone growing fewer than 25 plants. Now the Yes On B Coalition is seeking to tighten the screws even further on marijuana cultivation.

Measure B, which won with nearly 52% of the vote, undid the lowest law enforcement priority and no prosecution policy by repealing Measure G. Under the new law, only medical marijuana patients and providers are exempt from prosecution, and only if they do not exceed county limits of six mature or 12 immature plants and eight ounces of dried marijuana, the same as the minimum provided for by state law.

In a press release last Friday, Yes On B announced it planned to ask county supervisors this week to further restrict grows in the county. According to the release, the group plans to ask the supervisors to:

  • Amend the existing county nuisance ordinance to name off-site marijuana odors as a nuisance.

  • Amend the nuisance ordinance to name off-site visibility of marijuana plants as a nuisance.
  • Amend the nuisance ordinance to make violation of the ordinance a criminal offense, rather than merely a civil offense.
  • Adopt a new ordinance to prevent dispensing of diesel fuel into unsafe tanks.
  • Adopt a new ordinance establishing a Medical Marijuana Impact Fee to be paid by all medical marijuana growers, with proceeds going into a Medical Marijuana Impact Fund to be used

"The work we began with Measure B is still incomplete, and will be incomplete until reasonable protections are available to all residents from the impacts of nearby marijuana growing," stated a portion of the release.

Expect a battle over this in Mendocino, which takes in somewhere between $500 million and $1.5 billion a year from marijuana crops. Opponents of restrictions came late to the battle over Measure B, but are now organized and mobilized.

Update:A judge's ruling Friday appears to have overturned Measure B's plant limits.

News Brief
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Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

In a report published in this morning's Ukiah Daily Journal, Mendocino County Superior Court Judge John Behnke ruled that the plant count limits Measure B would impose were unenforceable. The California Appealate Court ruled in People v. Kelly that the limits imposed by Senate Bill 420 (legislative humor!) were unconstitutional because the bill modified Measure 215, an initiative, without the consent of the electorate. Measure B attempted to roll back the allowable plant count in Mendocino County to the Measure 420 level.

Fri, 08/15/2008 - 2:24pm Permalink

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