MENDOCINO: 25 plants, 2 pounds stands

MENDOCINO: 25 plants, 2 pounds stands


By BEN BROWN The Daily Journal
Article Last Updated: 08/15/2007 08:20:13 AM PDT



In a 3-2 vote, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors voted not to reconsider its Aug. 7 decision setting possession limits for medical marijuana at 25 plants and two processed pounds.

Fifth District Supervisor David Colfax and Chairwoman Kendall Smith voted to reconsider with 1st District Supervisor Michael Delbar, 2nd District Supervisor Jim Wattenburger and 3rd District Supervisor John Pinches opposed.

Colfax asked that the motion be reconsidered because he felt the board had not heard sufficient community input on the amount of processed marijuana a patient should be allowed to possess.

"We had virtually no discussion," Colfax said.

At its Aug. 7 meeting, the board limited discussion to the number of plants a patient should be allowed to possess in accordance with the motion set before the board by the Criminal Justice sub-committee.

Just before the motion went to a vote, the board included the two-pound limit after discussion with Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.

Smith said it had not been her intention to rush the item without discussion.

"It's important that we have a solid process," she said.

"I don't want it to be said that we limited them," Smith said.

Colfax said he asked that the resolution be reconsidered because he realized that Measure G, on which he had based the resolution, did not provide clear guidance about the amount of processed marijuana a person should be allowed to possess. Measure G says a patient can possess an "appropriate amount" of processed marijuana.

"Two pounds is inconsistent, on average, with the amount produced by 25 plants," he said.

Arguing against reconsideration, Pinches said he thought the issue had been resolved on Aug. 7 and that the limits set then provided a solid working base for county law enforcement.

"We owe it to this citizenry to have something definite," Pinches said.

"We in law enforcement now have a clear directive on where the Board of Supervisors wants to go," said Dan Edwards, president of the Mendocino County Deputy Sheriff's Association.

Although public comment was not as vociferous as at the previous meeting, several people appeared to speak.

County resident Marshall Sayegh said he felt the board had spent too much time and money on the issue of medical marijuana and should leave the rule as it stood to see how it worked out.

Pebbles Trippet, of the Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, said she hoped the board would reconsider the resolution because of the position it put growers in.

Trippet said the resolution would entrap medical marijuana growers because a person growing 25 plants would likely have far more than two pounds of marijuana.

"What you have created here is a monster," she said. "Two pounds is not the equivalent of 25 plants."

Trippet also criticized the board for passing a resolution on the amount of processed marijuana it was legal to possess without allowing discussion on it.

Attorney Susan Jordan was also critical of the board's actions on Aug. 7.

"The best laws are made when the people are heard, and there was no public input on the pound limit," she said.

Before voting, Pinches said he felt the board should allow the resolution to stand for a year to see if it works.

"Everything this board does can be undone," he said.

Ben Brown can be reached at udjbb@pacific.net.


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