COUNTY ALTERS MED. MARIJUANA RESTRICTIONS

The Del Norte County Board of Supervisors clouded the issue of what
is reasonable and excessive Tuesday when it decided to lift its
medical marijuana possession and cultivation guidelines.

By removing limits on the number of plants a medical marijuana
patient or caregiver can grow and the amount of processed marijuana
they can possess, the supervisors put the burden of determining how
much is too much on law enforcement, patients and their doctors.

Supervisor Leslie McNamer was the only one to vote against the new
ordinance, and said after the meeting that she made that decision
because she considers it a "medical issue" that should not be up to
politicians or police.

"I don't feel it's up to the sheriff's department to determine what
amount of medicine I'm supposed to take," McNamer said.

Under the county's current medical marijuana guidelines--which will
be in effect until the new law takes over Aug. 8--patients and
caregivers are allowed to grow up to 99 plants in a 100-square-foot
area and be in possession of up to a pound of processed buds.

It's one of the most liberal standards in the state and one that
local law enforcement officials have said contributes to marijuana
percolating to the street.

The Board of Supervisors tried to amend the original ordinance and
reduce the amount of marijuana a person can legally grow or possess
to six mature plants or 12 seedlings, and eight ounces of processed
product. This change would have brought Del Norte County in line with
a majority of counties in the state that follow the same guidelines.

However, the board opted instead for no guidelines after a state
appellate court ruled that placing limits on medical marijuana was
unconstitutional.

This decision has made both medical marijuana patients and certain
law enforcement officials a little uneasy, as the new ordinance
leaves the discretion of what is considered the right amount of weed
up to individuals--users, growers or officers.

If a patient doesn't have a set prescription for medical marijuana,
such as 35 plants and 2 pounds, then someone in law enforcement would
need to make a determination on whether or not the patient's
situation warrants that amount.

Del Norte County District Attorney Mike Riese--whose office would
eventually prosecute these cases--has expressed apprehension about
such judgement calls, as have others in law enforcement.

Supervisor David Finigan said it will now be up to Riese and Del
Norte County Sheriff Dean Wilson to come up with a solution.

"The district attorney ... (will) coordinate with the sheriff on how
to enforce it," Finigan said.