Pubdate: Fri, 13 Mar 2015
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348

CLEAR RULES NEEDED FOR POT INDUSTRY

Robert Jacob has a unique vantage point for California's marijuana debate.

As a Sebastopol city councilman, he represents constituents concerned 
about neighborhoods and safety and, yes, access to medical marijuana. 
As the operator of three dispensaries, he deals with customers, 
security concerns and regulations.

Jacob told Staff Writer Julie Johnson the biggest problem is a black 
market created by laws limiting marijuana use.

Maybe he's right.

But even if an initiative allowing recreational use appears on the 
2016 ballot, and it passes, there's next to no chance that Congress 
will repeal a federal prohibition on marijuana use anytime soon.

Nor is there any reason to believe that many states will follow the 
lead of Alaska, Colorado and Washington, where recreational use is 
now legal. To the contrary, some of Colorado's neighbors want a 
federal court to snuff out the Rocky Mountain high.

So, for the foreseeable future, the black market will be open.

With that comes grow houses, home-invasion robberies and, as one 
Santa Rosa neighborhood witnessed recently, occasional shootouts. 
There also are clandestine gardens behind tall fences in residential 
areas and wild lands occupied by armed growers with no regard for the 
environment or anyone who happens by.

It's been almost two decades since voters approved medicinal use of 
marijuana, and there's little public oversight of what has grown into 
a lucrative industry - some claim that marijuana is California's 
biggest cash crop.

Pot advocates steadfastly oppose restrictions on outdoor gardens in 
residential areas, dismissing complaints about odor, downplaying the 
threat of robberies and disparaging neighbors who raise legitimate 
concerns. Until recently, influential law enforcement organizations 
opposed regulation, apparently believing it would further legitimize marijuana.

In communities that did act, most notably Mendocino County, threats 
from U.S. attorneys and grand jury subpoenas undermined promising 
regulatory systems - while underscoring the fact that a ballot 
initiative won't resolve conflicts between state and federal law.

In Sacramento, legislators have introduced competing proposals to 
regulate the medical marijuana industry.

One, supported by cities and law enforcement, would require licensing 
by the state Department of Consumer Affairs, which handles licensing 
for industries ranging from auto repair to cosmetology, including 
pharmacies and health care providers.

Marijuana purveyors are again backing legislation that would place 
them under the authority of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage 
Control, the agency that regulates nightclubs and liquor stores. 
We've asked before, and we ask again: Are dispensaries serving sick 
people or supplying parties?

California needs common sense rules for doctors, dispensaries and 
users of medical marijuana.

That includes state licensing and, consistent with a state Supreme 
Court ruling in 2013, local ordinances clearly identifying 
appropriate locations for dispensaries as well as where marijuana can 
and cannot be grown and how much any individual is allowed to grow or 
possess for legitimate medicinal needs.

Two years ago, facing an uproar from marijuana users, Sonoma County 
supervisors backed away from a modest measure that would have 
restricted people to six plants and eight ounces of pot - the state 
standard - and banned cultivation in unoccupied residences.

The supervisors are preparing to revisit the issue amid renewed 
complaints about marijuana growing in residential areas and violent 
crime that often follows marijuana growing. This time they need to 
follow through. As Supervisor Susan Gorin said, "It doesn't matter if 
we support cultivation of medicinal cannabis or not; we are all 
concerned about the public safety challenges."

Those challenges aren't going to get any easier if recreational use 
is added to the mix.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom