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Sonoma County cuts pot plant allowance
Limit for medicinal marijuana plants lowered from 99 to 25
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050512/NEWS/505120333
County cuts pot plant allowance
Limit for medicinal marijuana plants lowered from 99 to 25
Thursday, May 12, 2005
By PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT (Santa Rosa, CA)
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Sonoma County law enforcement has slashed the number of plants it
will allow people to grow for medical reasons, but has left other
restrictions in its 4-year-old policy unchanged.
New rules backed by Sheriff Bill Cogbill and District Attorney
Stephan Passalacqua allow a person with a doctor's note to grow up to
25 plants, down from the previous 99 plants.
People who exceed the limits after July 1 could be subject to arrest
and prosecution, officials said. Exceptions can be made for people
who prove a medical need for more marijuana.
"We felt 99 plants was too many," Cogbill said. "The fear was people
were selling it or giving it to other people."
Medical pot activists objected to the change, saying people who smoke
marijuana for ailments such as migraine headaches or glaucoma won't
be able to produce enough weed.
Because the yield from a single plant varies from a half-ounce to a
pound depending on its size, limiting the number of plants is unfair,
said Doc Knapp of the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana.
"That's a major concern of ours," Knapp said. "People won't be able
to grow what they need."
Those who do could unwittingly break the law, Knapp said.
Rather than clogging the jail and courts, Knapp said the county
should follow the lead of Humboldt, Mendocino and Santa Cruz
counties, where plant limits were tossed out. All three counties have
adopted restrictions on garden size instead.
Other restrictions set by Sonoma County in 2001 - including a 3-pound
cap on the amount of pot someone may have in one year and a
100-square-foot limit on gardens - were left intact.
The policy was unveiled this week by a group of county police chiefs
with input from public health officials and medical marijuana
advocates.
Whether it will lead to more arrests and criminal convictions was unclear.
People growing more than 25 plants will likely have their excess
plants confiscated, Cogbill said. They could be cited if the
situation warrants, the sheriff said.
"There has to be some common sense," Cogbill said. "We want to make
the statement that this is what we're allowing. If you are over, we
could take action depending on the circumstances."
Prosecution of cases was less certain.
Sonoma County juries have been reluctant to convict people for
growing pot for personal use. And the District Attorney's Office has
not been pursuing cases.
Passalacqua promised in his 2001 campaign against former District
Attorney Mike Mullins that he would stop prosecuting medical
marijuana users.
"The bottom line is, we're going to look at each case on its merits,"
Passalacqua said. "Even though someone may be outside the guideline,
it's not automatic that they will be prosecuted. They could be
caregivers or growing for more than one patient."
Controversy over the issue has raged since voters in 1996 approved
Proposition 215, the "Compassionate Use Act," legalizing
doctor-approved marijuana statewide.
The measure didn't say how patients can legally obtain marijuana,
which remains outlawed under federal law, or how much they can
legally grow or possess.
Last year, the Legislature passed a related bill, SB420, to answer
those questions.
Passalacqua said the new limits help align the county with state law
but are not as restrictive.
The state limits people to six mature plants or 12 immature plants,
and allows qualified patients or primary caregivers to possess no
more than 8 ounces of dried pot per patient.
Sonoma County's new policy more than doubles the allowed amount.
"I think it is a move in the right direction for public safety and to
make sure patients' needs are met," Passalacqua said.
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IMC Network
Site ust outside SR limits; county supervisor to seek emergency moratorium
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
By PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Zoom Photo
Related stories:
County cuts pot plant allowance
05/12/2005
Ukiah restricts marijuana gardens
05/05/2005
RP adopts 45-day ban on pot clubs
04/27/2005
RP weighs pot club moratorium
04/26/2005
2 SR pot clubs burglarized
04/20/2005
Council votes to hold off on pot clubs
04/20/2005
Proposal would ban backyard pot gardens
04/15/2005
Council weighs pot club regulations
04/15/2005
Mendocino supervisors drop pot tax plan
04/06/2005
SR cracks down on pot clubs
04/06/2005
Santa Rosa may have a moratorium on pot clubs, but that isn't stopping one from opening on Santa Rosa Avenue, just outside city limits.
On Monday, a group will open Sonoma County's fourth medical marijuana dispensary in the former Cork 'n' Bottle liquor store.
Kenneth Beyries, a lawyer for the new Northbay Wellness Center, said he hopes the club will be a shining example in a region that has had its share of pot club problems.
"It will be strikingly different than any other club around," Beyries said. "We're attempting to operate in a manner as inoffensive as possible."
Word of the opening surprised neighbors, the landowner and county officials, who vowed immediate action to prevent more clubs from opening in unincorporated areas of the county.
Tim Smith, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, said he would propose an emergency moratorium Tuesday to give the county time to devise regulations. The county has no policies prohibiting pot clubs, but Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park and Sebastopol have temporarily banned new pot clubs while they draft permanent laws regulating their operations.
"I have no problem with the use of marijuana to ease pain and suffering," Smith said. "The issue is how it is it done. It's a matter of where it fits in."
Sheriff Bill Cogbill said deputies would not try to shut the dispensary, but he would launch a investigation to ensure no laws are broken.
"The law is not real clear whether cannabis clubs are legal," Cogbill said. "My opinion is they are not."
District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said his office would not prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries.
Several marijuana clubs have come and gone in the county in the nine years since California voters approved Proposition 215, which legalized marijuana for medical use. The businesses sell marijuana to people who have obtained a doctor's recommendation to use it for medical purposes.
Of the current pot clubs, one is in unincorporated Guerneville and three are in Santa Rosa.
Complaints this spring about a Sonoma Avenue club prompted the Santa Rosa City Council to impose its moratorium while it writes a law that governs where and when the dispensaries may operate.
Neighbors to Resource Green Caregivers pot club said patrons smoked marijuana around children, divided pot illegally and urinated in bushes.
All three Santa Rosa clubs have been targeted by thieves. Last month, robbers stole marijuana from a West Steele Lane cooperative at gunpoint, police said.
Operators of the new club said they did their planning with all of that in mind.
Beyries said they are opening in a commercial area that is far from schools and parks and will be closely supervised.
No one under 21 will be allowed to buy pot. Smoking on the premises will be banned and all patrons will be required to show proof of county residency, Beyries said.
Northbay Wellness Cooperative is a nonprofit California corporation that is run by a board of directors and is not connected to existing clubs, Beyries said.
"We simply want to be judged for ourselves, not the reputation of others," Beyries said.
Santa Rosa Avenue neighbors, including a family living next door, were skeptical about the club's ability to run trouble-free.
And the club's landlord, used car dealer Ruben Luna, said he leased the property for three years after the tenants said they wanted to open a video store.
"It's the first time I heard about this," Luna said. "I don't want it to be on my property."
George Creamier, a barber across the street, said he's afraid people will loiter at the club late at night and scare people away from his business.
"Personally, I don't like it," Creamier said.
Gina Porterfield, who lives in a house next to the club with her husband and three children, said mixing drugs and children is unwise.
"Look at how close they are," Porterfield said Tuesday, pointing across her yard. "Our swing-set is right there."