TO GROW OR NOT TO GROW?

The Tehama County supervisors are considering an ordinance that
tightens local medicinal marijuana restrictions. Medical marijuana
has been legal in California since 1996, and allows the possession of
12 immature marijuana plants, six mature plants or half-a-pound of
dried, processed marijuana if the person in question has a doctor's
recommendation.

Counties are not allowed to pass guidelines that lower these amounts,
but can raise the limit or pass other ordinances related to the
cultivation of marijuana. The ordinance crafted by Tehama County
Supervisor Bob Williams is based on a similar ordinance in Mendocino County.

It would limit licensed medical marijuana users to 25 plants while
requiring marijuana gardens to be surrounded by six-foot fences and
located no less than 1,000 feet from schools or day care centers,
school bus stops and other places where minors gather. It would also
require marijuana harvesters to register with the county Public
Health Department.

Apparently a growing number of locals are afraid of a rash of
incidents like the January shooting of Clarence Puckett, who, along
with his wife, had been growing marijuana in a Los Molinos residence.
In this isolated case several suspects, including a 17-year-old boy,
allegedly broke in and demanded money and marijuana before killing
Puckett and stealing several pounds of marijuana.

The hypothesis of the ordinance is that by requiring increased
security and moving the facilities away from children, medical
marijuana theft will be less likely. In addition to the potential for
theft, Williams' ordinance mentions the higher amounts of electricity
associated with indoor growth and the potential for improper
pesticide disposal as reasons for keeping a list of medical marijuana gardens.

I'm not sure what the supervisors may be smoking, but it certainly
isn't medicinal marijuana. These restrictions, if imposed, would
deprive many patients of a safe and private source of their
medication. Requiring registration and elaborate security measures
will only serve to highlight where marijuana is grown and contribute
to illegal attempts to steal it.

Making it illegal to grow within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop
basically makes it illegal to grow in nearly all urban environments,
and most rural ones. Higher electrical use by indoor growers should
be of no concern to the public so long as the power is paid for and
used safely.

In addition, pesticide disposal problems are minor for small time
growers, particularly in relation to their widespread agricultural
use in Tehama County.

It would appear that the supporters of this ordinance are making an
ill-fated attempt to deny medicinal marijuana patients access to
their medication. Similar actions have been successfully challenged
in court because of their unnecessary restrictions.

Rather than further regulate marijuana cultivation, it is more
productive to legalize adult marijuana use in order to address public
safety concerns. As an added benefit the state budget crisis would be
eased by taxing legal recreational use. Police, court and
incarceration costs would be significantly reduced, and a renewed
respect for reasonable drug policies would manifest.