Pubdate: Sun, 28 Sep 2014
Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2014 The Fresno Bee
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/161
Note: Does not publish letters from outside their circulation area.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BAN NEEDS A FIX

There is only one direction that the Fresno County Board of 
Supervisors should go with its draconian medical marijuana ordinance: 
back to the drawing board.

Monday's day-long appeals hearing for medical marijuana cultivators 
and property owners offered ample evidence that $1,000-a-plant fines 
and an outright ban on medical pot aren't in the best interests of 
county residents.

We sympathize with the five supervisors who in January unanimously 
approved an ordinance banning all marijuana cultivation in the 
county's unincorporated areas. Too many people were gaming the 
system. Unscrupulous doctors were granting cards that allowed their 
patients to grow as many as 99 plants. Huge medical marijuana farms 
were sprouting all over their county - causing serious problems for 
neighbors and triggering violent crime.

The supervisors reacted to the complaints and the rise in crime, but 
in doing so approved an ordinance that is impractical and punishes 
people who rely on medical marijuana to control pain.

What's wrong with the ordinance?

The fines are so excessive that there is little chance they will be 
paid. Thus the ordinance fails to deter growers from planting large 
amounts of marijuana.

The ordinance lacks compassion and totally ignores the fact that 
marijuana has medicinal value. For some people in pain, smoking 
marijuana might be the only means of relief. These people are not 
potheads, nor are they drug kingpins trying to cash in on the state's 
medical marijuana law. They are folks looking for a decent night's 
sleep or are seriously ill and looking to spend the last year or days 
of their lives unaccompanied by searing pain.

The Board of Supervisors should not be hearing the appeals from 
growers and property owners cited by the Sheriff's Office for 
violating the ordinance. Board members are not judges. Only one of 
them, Chairman Andreas Borgeas, is a lawyer.

In addition, the supervisors have many responsibilities. They should 
not be spending entire days hearing medical marijuana citation cases. 
These appeals instead should be considered and ruled on by a 
county-hired hearing officer who is a lawyer or a retired judge.

To ensure that the appeals are fairly considered, skilled 
interpreters must be provided. Many of the people seeking reductions 
in the fines, which often total tens or hundreds of thousands of 
dollars, speak little or no English. At Monday's hearing, some relied 
on family members as interpreters, leaving the board to guess as to 
whether the translations were accurate.

The board also formulates decisions on the testimony of sheriff's 
deputies who sometimes read from reports written by other deputies. 
People challenging the fines should be able to ask questions of the 
deputies who actually were on the scene and issued the citations.

Finally, the county should consult with respected medical 
professionals and then revise the ordinance to allow individuals with 
medical cards to grow small amounts of marijuana for personal use. 
The Board of Supervisors was right to clamp down on the glaring 
abuses of Proposition 215, the state law that allows use of medical 
cannabis. Fresno County's response, however, needs revision.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom