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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom