Pubdate: Sat, 27 Sep 2014
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2014 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830

PENALIZING POT PRODUCERS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

For several months, Riverside County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries has 
developed an ordinance that would impose criminal penalties for 
growing marijuana in the unincorporated areas of the county.

While Mr. Jeffries and Supervisor Jeff Stone work to revise the 
ordinance to create exemptions for medical marijuana card holders, 
one has to wonder if such an ordinance is necessary at all.

According to a document outlining the purpose and rationale of the 
ordinance, "the cultivation of marijuana is currently not a permitted 
use in any one classification in the county. Section 3.3 of Ordinance 
No. 348 provides that when a use is not specifically listed as 
permitted or conditionally permitted in a zone classification, the 
use is prohibited."

In other words, it is already against the rules to grow marijuana, in 
addition to the federal prohibition on the drug. Yet, the document 
goes on to note that in Mr. Jeffries' district alone, "hundreds of 
marijuana groves have been observed."

As a result, Mr. Jeffries argues that "cultivation of marijuana 
should be expressly prohibited in the county's zoning ordinance." Mr. 
Jeffries is proposing the prohibition of "large-scale marijuana 
groves," defined as 12 or more plants, with violations being subject 
to a misdemeanor, a fine of up to $1,000 and up to six months in 
jail. Individuals with seven to 11 plants would be subject to a $200 
fine and individuals caught with six or fewer plants would be subject 
to a $10 fine.

The Press-Enterprise reports that Mr. Jeffries is concerned with some 
marijuana growing operations being tied to Mexican drug cartels. If 
Mr. Jeffries is concerned with combating Mexican drug cartels and 
keeping them out of the county, these sets of prohibitions aren't 
going to do it.

Prohibition at the federal level creates significant incentives for 
criminal enterprises to grow and sell marijuana, because millions of 
people throughout the country want it. The federal government has 
tried for over four decades to stop people from ingesting marijuana 
and has failed miserably to the point where federal marijuana 
prohibitions are taken seriously by fewer and fewer people.

Imposing a $10 fine, or even threatening a misdemeanor, hardly seems 
like it would do more than waste the time of whatever law enforcement 
officer has to carry out that citation.

In July, Mr. Jeffries stated, "I do not want public safety resources 
spent going after a handful of plants." That sounds reasonable, yet, 
either this ordinance will do just that or will create another 
low-priority, rarely enforced county ordinance.

It is certainly a decent idea for the supervisors to consider 
creating an exemption for medical marijuana users, but the board 
might as well authorize and permit the opening of medical marijuana 
dispensaries in the county if they're going to create such exemptions.

All things considered, there does not seem to be any compelling 
reason for the county to move forward with this prohibition at all. 
If combating Mexican drug cartels is the goal, this ordinance won't 
do anything. If stopping people from growing marijuana is the goal, 
it seems redundant to add an additional prohibition against it.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom