Pubdate: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA) Copyright: 2013 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 BUTTE SUPERVISOR WAHL USES CHILD PROCLAMATION AS REASON TO SLAM POT ORDINANCE OROVILLE -- An innocuous proclamation on the consent agenda is not the kind of thing that usually triggers a heated dispute among Butte County supervisors, but one did this week. At the request of Chico Supervisor Maureen Kirk, the board was asked to adopt a proclamation declaring 2013 "The Year of Child." The item was put on the board's consent agenda, a place for non-controversial material. The controversy arose when Chico Supervisor Larry Wahl began commenting on the proclamation in relation to a recently passed marijuana cultivation ordinance. Wahl, reading from the proclamation, said, "It is imperative that the elected officials, community leaders and policy-makers of today prioritize California's children and consider the impact of each decision they make on all of our children today, tomorrow, and in the future." Wahl said it was obvious to him that the supervisors were not considering the "impact" on Butte County's children when they approved a medical marijuana cultivation ordinance. He charged that the board was not making the safety of the children its top priority when supervisors voted to allow marijuana gardens next door to the homes of those children. Wahl claimed that children are put in danger because of the criminal activity around the gardens and the guard dogs growers use to protect their crops. Addressing Wahl, Supervisor Steve Lambert said, "Let it go." On Feb. 26, the supervisors adopted the ordinance putting limits on the cultivation of medical marijuana in the unincorporated areas of Butte County. The Chico supervisor opposed both the most recent ordinance and the one passed in May of 2011, which was later overturned in a referendum vote in June of 2012. Wahl has consistently pointed out that the cultivation and possession of marijuana is a federal crime despite California's Proposition 215 that allowed for the growing and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Tuesday, Lambert said the board did not vote to make growing marijuana legal. He said the board voted to make it illegal to grow cannabis near schools, playgrounds and other places frequented by children. The county provided all of the protections it was legally allowed to do, according to Lambert. Supervisor Bill Connelly of Oroville, who chairs the board, called Wahl's comments "grandstanding" on the back of the "Year of the Child Proclamation." Connelly said the day before the board approved the cultivation ordinance, there were no restrictions on growing marijuana in the county, and the day after there were a range of restrictions. Finally, on a motion by Wahl, the supervisors unanimously approved the proclamation. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom