Pubdate: Thu, 28 Jan 2016
Source: North Coast Journal (Arcata, CA)
Column: The Week in Weed
Copyright: 2016 North Coast Journal
Contact:  http://www.northcoastjournal.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2833
Author: Grant Scott-Goforth

Thirst

Cheers and applause from a standing-room-only audience filled the 
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors chambers on Jan. 22 when the 
board voted unanimously to adopt an outdoor medical marijuana land 
use ordinance.

The ordinance - the culmination of a fast-paced review process by the 
board, county staff and the planning commission begun in September - 
will go into effect 30 days after adoption, just in time to avoid 
ceding control to state guidelines that haven't yet been fully 
developed. (Though the state deadline, imposed when Gov. Jerry Brown 
signed sweeping medical marijuana reforms last year, is poised to 
disappear, as North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood's bill striking the 
date has already passed the Senate.)

The ordinance dictates what types of properties people can grow 
marijuana on, limits the size of those grows, determines performance 
standards for cultivators, creates a "Humboldt Artisanal Branding" 
designation for low-impact grows, prohibits new grows in timber 
production zones and includes a host of other guidelines and restrictions.

At the meeting, Interim Planning Director Rob Wall reminded the 
public that the ordinance can be amended in the future, and thanked 
his staff. "Given our pace, I think we've done a pretty good job," he said.

Flint, Michigan's water crisis is a nightmarish boondoggle of 
bureaucracy and politics hurting the most vulnerable residents of a 
beleaguered community and their access to safe drinking water: a 
fundamental human right.

But if the city's residents were hoping to get stoned to escape the 
toll of their daily struggle, they're in for bad news. It turns out 
Flint's lead-filled water is bad for weed plants, too.

Trying to save money, city officials in 2014 switched the source of 
the city's water from Lake Huron to the Flint River, which happened 
to be filled with a litany of corrosive chemicals. Those chemicals 
ate away at the water pipes (no, not that kind), introducing lead and 
other contaminants into the water that came out of residents' taps. 
As recent reports have shown, officials knew the water was 
contaminated but hid that fact from residents.

High Times, meanwhile, bravely reports that the lead can be taken up 
into marijuana plants tended with contaminated water, meaning the 
city's stash is pretty bunk. That is bad news for the city's medical 
marijuana patients, but High Times reports most of the area's pot is 
grown in surrounding suburbs because of the city's high crime rate.

According to the report, several downtown dispensaries and grow 
stores have taken to giving away water treated with reverse osmosis, 
which removes dangerous contaminants like lead - though it's unclear 
if that's being provided as drinking water or water for plants.

With some large national retailers stepping up to donate clean water 
to poisoned residents, maybe it's time for Humboldt County's growing 
community to supply the people of Flint with some of its lead-free ultra-kind.

Right-wing billionaire Sheldon Adelson's shady purchase of the Las 
Vegas Review-Journal might not have made much noise outside of 
journalism circles, but the effects of Adelson's takeover are now 
manifesting in a dispute over marijuana.

According to a marijuana.com report, Adelson asked the newspaper's 
editorial board to reconsider its long-running support of marijuana 
legalization ahead of a statewide vote on the matter.

Adelson, the report says, funded a campaign that successfully 
defeated decriminalization in Florida in 2004.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom