Pubdate: Wed, 29 Aug 2012
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Chico Enterprise-Record
Contact:  http://www.chicoer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861
Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority
Author: Roger H. Aylworth

MARIJUANA CULTIVATION PROPOSAL DIES; IT'S BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD 
FOR BUTTE SUPERVISORS

OROVILLE -- A hearing on a proposal to regulate the growing of 
medical marijuana took a surprising turn Tuesday when Butte County 
District Attorney Mike Ramsey said the ordinance was unconstitutional 
as written.

Three hours later, when the hearing was over, the entire proposal was 
scrapped and the county was headed back to the drawing board.

The hearing was the first reading of an ordinance that would outlaw 
all outdoor growing of marijuana.

Ramsey said provisions of the proposal would make outdoor growing a 
misdemeanor and grant sheriff's deputies authority to destroy any 
plants found growing outside.

"Your new proposed ordinance does go too far and goes illegally too 
far," said Ramsey.

He said under Proposition 215, which was passed in 1996, people with 
a medical marijuana recommendation are allowed to grow their "medicine."

Making the ordinance a misdemeanor makes it illegal to grow marijuana 
under some conditions in Butte County.

"State law fully occupies the area of criminal prosecution of 
marijuana for compassionate use," Ramsey said.

Moreover, according to the district attorney, there is no 
circumstance where it would be legal for deputies to destroy plants 
on their own say-so.

If the measure was a land use item - like the one that was rejected 
by voters in a June referendum - Ramsey said it could be legally 
crafted to say where and how the marijuana was grown.

Butte County Chief Administrative Officer Paul Hahn said even as just 
a land use item, there would still be a need for additional deputies.

As a land use item, county code enforcement officers would do the 
investigations. Hahn said he could not let them go into potentially 
dangerous situations without sheriff's backup.

If the ordinance was passed as a land use regulation, additional 
staffing and equipment would cost the county between $750,000 and $1 
million, according to Hahn, and the money would come out of the general fund.

Chico Supervisor Larry Wahl said it sounded to him like the board was 
being told to give up on marijuana regulation.

Supervisor Bill Connelly of Oroville said he is regularly getting 
calls from people who won't come before the board in an open hearing 
because they feel intimidated.

He said these people, who have done nothing wrong, say they are 
unable to use their land because of the stench of the growing 
marijuana, are fearful of the violence that can erupt when thieves 
invade a garden, and fear the potential the raiders could hit the 
wrong address and attack them.

Over most of the next three hours, all but a handful of the people 
who spoke denounced the proposed ordinance and touted cannabis as a 
miracle cure. A relative handful of speakers rose to endorse the 
proposal, citing the smell, the dangers and the negative impact the 
gardens have on adjacent property values.

After the public comment, Paradise Supervisor Kim Yamaguchi said, "We 
need something that is going to work for our citizens on both sides 
of the fence."

He called for a committee of individuals from the District Attorney's 
Office, the Sheriff's Office, county administrator's office, the 
county counsel and representatives from the pro- and anti-marijuana 
contingent to work out a proposal all parties could live with.

Connelly said he wanted to expand the size of the committee to see 
that more people who are growers or impacted by gardens would be 
involved in crafting the proposal.

Butte County Counsel Bruce Alpert said it could be an ad hoc 
committee that would not have to deal with public meeting issues to 
move forward speedily.

Hahn said he could have a plan for the committee by the end of the 
year, and an ordinance could be crafted before the time comes to 
plant marijuana in the spring.

Any proposal would come back before the board for additional public hearings.

The supervisors told Hahn to move ahead on forming the panel.

By taking no action on the ordinance before them, they killed the 
proposal, according to Alpert.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom