Mendo Controversy Over MJ Growing - The Uncomfortable Truth

The following op-ed from the Willits News casts an illuminating
light on some uncomfortable truths about Mendocino County's marijuana
economy. The author is skeptical of the Board of Supervisors' ballot
proposal to repeal the county's Personal Use of Marijuana
Initiative, Measure G, approved by 58% of the voters in 2000:
http://www.canorml.org/news/mendorelse.html
The board's June ballot proposal - Measure "B" for "Bad" as
opposed to " G" for "Good" - would repeal G and lower the
cultivation limit for medical marijuana patients from Mendocino's
current standard of 25 to the state minimum of 6 mature, 12 immature
plants. Measure B is the upshot of a public backlash led by
NIMBY's, local officials, and some genuinely irate neighbors, who are
fed up with abuses (mostly minor) associated with underground MJ
grows. The problem mainly involves commercial growers with larger
gardens. Many are outsiders with no local roots or sensitivity to
their neighbors. Some claim to be Prop 215 caregivers for multiple
patients at the rate of 25 plants per patient. At the extreme end
of the spectrum are the notorious "Mexican" growers who plant
enormous non-medical plantations in the national forests.
The repeal of Measure G would do nothing to fix the various
(mostly minor) problems that irate Mendocinans have been blaming on
MJ growers. Measure G does not authorize commercial gardens, only
"Personal Use" gardens of 25 plants or less. Neither does it require
that Prop 215 caregiver gardens be allotted 25 plants per patient.
The Mendo Supes have been struggling to regulate caregiver grows, and
recently approved a 25-plant per land parcel limit on them. The
county has a legitimate interest in regulating larger, commercial
marijuana grows, although current federal law makes it difficult to
do so. However, as this article makes clear, the county stands
nothing to gain from repealing G and launching a crackdown on
small-scale MJ growers, medical or otherwise.
- D. Gieringer, California NORML

from:
http://www.willitsnews.com/columnists/ci_8119716


COMMENTARY: On the other hand
By Chris Woods
Article Launched: 01/30/2008 11:10:31 AM PST

Recently I read in this paper about the desires of some in this
community to repeal the pot proposition, and to me this kind of
thinking is like stepping back in time. So, let me break it down and
share with you my thinking in this matter.

We live in a country that has tolerance for a lot of ways of looking
at things. Everyone does not approve of alcohol, yet it is sold on
almost every corner. Why, because we put up with the desires of
others, even though they conflict with our ideas of a perfect world.

This country just works better this way.

Additionally we do not want to make criminals out of people who do
not look at everything the way we do. America is not the "Middle
East."

You mention it is difficult to hire people in this community, but in
my investigation into the hiring practices locally in this area and
those of the pot employers, it is generally well established, older
adults (mostly women) in need of a few months work, that do the
"trimming." The other aspects like soil and area preparation, along
with fence work, can be very hard work indeed and requiring the
lifting of 50 pound sacks, or heavier and lots of hard associated
labor along with it. Often in high heat and baking sun.

I have asked around about hiring men to do ranch work and have been
told on numerous occasions that in this area, everyone who wants to
work is working.

Additionally I have attempted to hire home/office bookkeeping
assistance, man or woman, and have been unsuccessful at any
reasonable price.

This is a large county with a small population and labor is just hard
to find. Some time ago, a friend of mine ran an add in the San
Francisco Chronicle, looking for carpenters at $50 per hour. He did
not receive one call from his add and the problem had nothing to do
with pot growers.

Many of the women who "trim" either hold down other jobs, or wish
they could get one. I have never met a 'trimmer' in this area who has
a new car or owns their own house, they take the work they can get in
this area and trimming work is a short season.

Because of their age, many of these people are in the "unemployable
age group" where it is very difficult for them to find a job at all,
no less a job with a meaningful wage that would get them through the
winter with the high cost of fuel and food that we must now endure.

Additionally, we have just lived through a period where there is
almost no unemployment at all (anywhere at all in this county except
possibly Detroit) and additionally there must be over 5 million
undocumented workers finding employment and when everyone is working,
it is hard to find real American workers that are available to work
inexpensively or at all. The problem is not all due to the pot
growers.

It is also my belief that the growers of Mendocino County are a much
under represented group in this county because it is against their
better judgment to identify themselves.

Therefore bending the laws against these people is an easy task
because these people do not have representation or a voice in this
county and they can not stand up for themselves. They have no union
and no voice, so they are easily legislated against.

Also the negative comments about the county sheriff are somewhat
ridiculous. Upon election the new sheriff was asked about his
priorities and he brilliantly stated he was worried about members of
his community who could be stranded without adequate food or medicine
in case of a huge earthquake or fire that would isolate some
communities.

He stated he would like to obtain trailers to keep in these areas
full of food and medicine. This is the kind of man we want running
things around here.

This all sounds like a thinking man with a deep and educated concern
about the community he serves and that pot is not the big issue, the
safety of the men, women and children in his county are his big
priority and the rest of the issues he must devote time to will fall
in their proper place in line behind the well-being of his population.
Yes, the population of this county s growing, but it is not just
filling up with people coming here to grow. In fact, it appears most
of the growers in this county have been living here and growing for
many years and are proud contributors to our population and economy.

Don't think this business is just about putting a few seeds in the
ground and watering them from time to time. It is a very complex grow
process and those who appear to be successful at it (and many are
not) will spend from early morning until the sun sets caring for
their garden.

These gardens have many natural enemies: deer, pigs, bear, birds and
humans, and all kinds of bugs and worms and mold.

It is a tough job and with lots of sweat that requires lots of time
and a substantial investment in hardware and nutrients, and if a man
works really hard at it and stays close to the legal limit, the
rewards are somewhat similar to a good paying government job after
expenses.

There is no big money to be had unless the grower is way over the top
with numbers of plants, and then the grower is always looking over
his shoulder and is susceptible to a very uncomfortable jail sentence.

This is not as easy as it looks. Take a hard look at the process and
you'll discover the out-of-shape or slightly lazy person would not be
a successful grower. It's hard work. And it requires a great deal of
attention.

There are a few more issues about this process that are a little more
abstract and that is the balance of payments.

Growing a quality product in this county, state or country, reduces
the likelihood of foreign smugglers bringing in product from Mexico,
Columbia, Jamaica and even Canada and the Bahamas, which start some
55 miles east of Miami, Florida, and the gangsters that come with
them. Although this kind of thinking may sound strange or ridiculous,
with foreign timber, oil, toys and tools, and lots of foreign cars,
draining the wealth of our nation, the growers of Mendocino County
are adding to the country's Gross National Product. These growers
also are helping reduce the balance of payments by preventing us
having to buy these products abroad or from smugglers.
Obviously, many in Mendocino County are growing a quality product,
very comparable to grapes, that they are proud of and require a
certain love of the work to be successful.

These exceptional growers generate a certain following, or clientele
from all corners of America and perhaps beyond. Additionally they
assist the sick and keep their business very much out of sight.

it seems to me we in Mendocino County would rather be producing other
products like fish and timber, along with our great cattle, but most
of that is gone for now and the "growers of Mendocino" are the fabric
that holds the community together with jobs and an influx of income
that rapidly gets spread around. That's a fact.

Perhaps it's not your way, but is another way, and for now it seems
to be working better for the community than without them.

It appears clear to me that if too much pressure is applied to this
group along with further criminalizing them we could then be tearing
apart that fabric. Your head would spin watching this wonderful
community fall into economic depression.

It would not be difficult for these people assuming too much pressure
were to be applied (as your recent article suggests should
happen)--to pull up stakes and move to another county. This could
happen and believe me there would be a large price to pay for those
of us remaining in this county without the resources these people
bring here.

For now, the balance held with those keeping close to the legal
borders of California state law is a delicate one that should not be
punctured; it should be preserved until we can find a better way
forward.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chris Woods is a Willits resident.

--
California NORML, 2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
-(415) 563- 5858 - http://www.canorml.org