Pubdate: Tue, 01 Feb 2011
Source: North County Times (Escondido, CA)
Copyright: 2011 North County Times
Contact: http://www.nctimes.com/app/forms/letters/index.php
Website: http://www.nctimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1080
Author: Chris Nichols

MEDICAL POT, WILD TURKEYS, OPERA TOP SUPERVISORS' AGENDA

County Expected to Adopt Strict Pot Rules

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will face a broad and
eclectic set of decisions Tuesday when it considers topics from
medical marijuana to wild turkeys to the opera.

Here's a quick look at those items:

. Medical marijuana: Supervisors will hold a second reading of strict
new rules proposed for backcountry medical cannabis shops. A 'yes'
vote is expected given the board's initial approval last week of the
rules, which include an $11,000 annual fee to open and operate a shop
and additional limits on where the dispensaries can open.

Medical pot advocates spoke out against the rules last week. Some are
expected to speak again Tuesday.

. Wild turkeys: The board is set to consider whether a group of
mentored youths should be allowed to hunt wild turkeys at William
Heise Regional Park near Julian. The San Diego Chapter of the National
Wild Turkey Federation approached the county about the idea, saying it
would "provide guidance to youth on safe hunting and expose them to
the sport in a controlled and structured environment."

The county received a letter opposing the plan from the Back Country
Coalition of Santa Ysabel. A coordinator for the group opined that a
county park is not a good place to hold a hunt and "would set in the
minds of our youth the idea that slaughter is preferable to nurture or
other nonviolent solutions."

. Opera: Supervisor Pam Slater-Price has proposed sending $134,000
from her Neighborhood Reinvestment Program Fund to the San Diego
Opera Association. All supervisors control $1 million annually in
discretionary taxpayer funds and channel the money to various
community and nonprofit groups countywide.

Slater-Price has a long history funding the San Diego Opera and Old
Globe Theater.

Last year, however, her failure to report receiving 26 free tickets to
the theater and opera from 2006 to 2008 landed her a $2,000 state fine.

She has agreed to stop taking free tickets from both
entities.

Supervisors meet at 9 a.m. at the County Administration Center, Room
310, 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego.  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake