Pubdate: Sun, 29 Nov 2015
Source: Ukiah Daily Journal, The (CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Ukiah Daily Journal
Contact: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/feedback
Website: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/581
Author: Justine Frederiksen

UKIAH URGED TO CONSIDER CHANGES TO MARIJUANA LAWS

The City of Ukiah is evaluating its current regulations on growing 
medical marijuana, and will likely have more discussions and perhaps 
recommended actions for the City Council soon, City Manager Sage 
Sangiacomo said at the board's most recent meeting earlier this month.

"I know that the marijuana ad-hoc committee (which includes Council 
members Jim Brown and Maureen Mulheren) is working diligently 
reviewing the regulations and determining possible actions for the 
Ukiah City Council, and they may be brought forward for further 
discussion," Sangiacomo said, responding to a city resident who urged 
the council to review its medical marijuana regulations in light of a 
regulatory package signed into law in October that requires state 
oversight of the entire industry.

The new regulations take effect the first of the year, but local 
municipalities face a March 1, 2016, deadline to put in place 
regulations to preserve local control. Otherwise, the state will take 
jurisdiction in regulating that area.

"I am very concerned that more pot is going to come up to Ukiah," 
said Pinky Kushner, adding that she doesn't think "the community has 
protected the children enough" from exposure to the drug, and "as a 
retired neuroscientist, that concerns me greatly."

Kushner said the current city ordinance law "allows 12 plants to be 
grown indoors," and she advised the city to "think carefully about" 
what it allows, because "growing indoors means it's much harder to 
supervise because your neighbors can't see what's going on."

Kushner said the city needed to act quickly because of the March 1 
deadline, but City Attorney David Rapport said the city would not be 
affected by the deadline.

"If the city doesn't have any regulation in effect, the state law 
will supercede it, but what it does have in effect will remain," 
Rapport said, adding that he also was of the opinion that the March 1 
deadline will "not preclude the city from amending its regulations 
after the deadline."

Brown then said that both he and Mulheren had recently attended a 
presentation on the coming changes by Mendocino County District 
Attorney David Eyster, which Rapport also attended, and he felt they 
were fairly well-versed on the topic so far, and that they had more 
meetings planned to discuss the issue.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom