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Measure G back on the ballot
By Hempology | January 10, 2008
The Press Democrat, CA
8 Jan 2008
Mike Geniella
MENDOCINO RETHINKING POT POLICY
Some Residents Want to Overturn County’s Liberal Medical Marijuana Law
UKIAH — Unhappy Mendocino County residents today will push the Board of Supervisors to voluntarily allow voters in June a chance to repeal the county’s marijuana policy.
A citizens group calling itself “Restore Mendocino” said it will ask supervisors to place on the June 5 ballot an ordinance to repeal landmark Measure G. When passed in 2000, Measure G was the first in the United States to decriminalize marijuana for personal use, earning the county a national reputation as a haven for marijuana growers.
But seven years later, Measure G is being blamed for a surge in Mendocino marijuana production, and a host of crime-related problems. Critics contend the county’s pro-medical marijuana policy has become a “farce.”
“Measure G is not about medical marijuana but about the freedom to grow marijuana for income,” said Granville Pool of Redwood Valley.
If the board declines today to voluntarily put the issue up for a June vote, backers will have to go through a lengthy and potentially costly signature gathering process. It could delay a vote until the November general election.
When Mendocino voters in 2000 passed Measure G by an overwhelming 58-42 percent margin, it paved the way for locally liberal law enforcement policies surrounding medical marijuana use.
The measure allowed the growing and possession of up to 25 pot plants per person without fear of prosecution, compared to the state medical marijuana standard of six plants per individual.
Since Measure G, Mendocino’s marijuana production has soared to new records, creating what’s estimated to be a $1 billion-a-year underground economy, according to Supervisor Jim Wattenburger, referring to a report by an outside consultant hired to assess the economic impact of marijuana on the county.
Outsiders from across the country and from Mexico and Canada have flocked to the county seeking to profit from Mendocino’s permissive pot-growing attitude, law enforcement officials said.
But during the past year a public backlash began to emerge, fueled by repeated discovery of large-scale commercial marijuana growing operations, and reports of armed guards, threats of violence to rural neighbors, and significant environmental damage.
Medical marijuana advocates say they’re alarmed by the public outcry, fearing possible recriminations and “suppression of the legally protected rights of cannabis patients.”
Pebbles Trippet, a member of the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, couldn’t be reached for comment Monday. But Trippet recently noted in a Web posting for medical marijuana advocates that “until this year the county had not even tried to regulate marijuana for medical purposes.”
“The supervisors left that job to law enforcement — former Sheriff Tony Craver and former District Attorney Norm Vroman — for a decade,” Trippet said.
Trippet said the advisory board, whose honorary chairman is Craver, is considering whether to place its own “comprehensive ( medical marijuana ) policy measure” on the local ballot this year.
Supporters of the repeal Measure G drive say they believe public support of medical marijuana has evaporated.
“Yes, Measure G passed fairly handily, but now that its effects are better known, perhaps its support is not so widespread,” said Pool.
Local wine industry leader Martha Barra agreed. “This issue has gone beyond the medical benefits of marijuana,” she said.
“What we are sanctioning now is the lucrative but illegal business of producing and selling marijuana,” Barra said.
The pros and cons of Measure G and the county’s medical marijuana practices will be aired at today’s board hearing, which is scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m. in the county administration center on Low Gap Road.
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