POT WAR GOES TO COURT

A second lawsuit seeking to block Measure B from appearing on the
June ballot was filed last week.

The suit, filed by independent newspaper publisher Richard Johnson,
follows an earlier lawsuit by Mendocino attorney E. D. Lerman on
behalf of medical marijuana clients Paula Laguna and George Hanamoto.

The Lerman suit was filed March 26; Johnson's lawsuit the following day.

Both lawsuits contend Measure B is unconstitutional because it
violates the "single subject rule." According to Johnson, that rule
"is implicit in the state constitution. The state constitution
forbids ballot initiatives from having more than one subject in order
to prevent 'log rolling,' or the inclusion of high-profile subjects
in an initiative merely to attract votes.

"The logic is that voters deserve the opportunity to consider matters
separately, and some may want to reject one while accepting the
other," Johnson said.

As written, Measure B contains two items. The first states that
voters wish to nullify Measure G, which was approved in November 2000
and sought to make cultivation, possession and transportation of
marijuana the lowest priority for county law enforcement. Measure G
stated law enforcement was to lay off any grow operation that had 25
or fewer plants or the equivalent amount of dried pot.

The second section of Measure B states that the California minimum
limits for marijuana cultivation and possession would also apply in
Mendocino County. Although not explicitly stated in the measure,
those standards state that six mature plants, 12 immature plants and
eight ounces of processed marijuana may be possessed by an individual
at any one time.

Tuesday, Mendocino County Superior Court Judge John Behnke rejected
Johnson's pre-emptive request that Measure B not be allowed to go to
the printer's for publication in the June ballot.

Johnson had requested a temporary restraining order (TRO). At a
hearing on the matter, Behnke rejected Johnson's claim that a hurried
judgment was in order. Instead, he set the date for a hearing on
Johnson's suit for April 18.

The court will hear the arguments on the Lerman/Laguna/Hanamoto suit
on April 11 at 9:30 a.m.

Both sides have been blitzing the press with a barrage of press releases.

"A carefully coordinated scare campaign has smeared marijuana farmers
as environmental monsters, foreign criminals and violent thieves,"
Johnson said in one press release.

"They claim to be responding to neighborhood complaints about noises,
smells and a generalized sensation of losing control of the
community. Their real agenda is to eviscerate marijuana as an
economic engine and as a political force before it threatens the
existing establishment."

On the other side of the issue, Ukiah businessman Ross Liberty has
emerged as a spokesman for the Yes On B Coalition.

"The opponents of Measure B are trying to prevent voters from taking
a stand against marijuana abuses that cause a public nuisance,
endanger public safety and trash the environment," said Liberty.

"The opponents won't be able to block a vote on Measure B because
there are no legal grounds to do so. Measure B was drafted by the
county counsel at the direction of the board of supervisors and meets
all legal requirements. The opponents waited two and a half months to
file this lawsuit. It is a blatant attempt to circumvent the right of
the people to decide this critical issue," Liberty said.

According to former Mendocino County sheriff's Deputy D.J. Miller,
the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported 1106 marijuana-related
offenses in the year 2000. In 2006, there were 1535 such offenses.

According to Liberty, the term "marijuana-related offenses" means
incidents noted in police and sheriff's reports including crimes
involving marijuana and incidents for which law enforcement responded
to a call, and at which marijuana was noted as being present at the
scene and judged by officers to be related to or involved with the
dispute in question.