MERRY MENDOCINO

In Mendocino, Calif., voters Nov. 7 passed a ballot measure to
decriminalize the cultivation and personal use of marijuana.

Under the newly passed Measure G, local authorities are ordered to make
marijuana enforcement their lowest priority and to entirely stop
prosecuting cases involving "25 or fewer adult female marijuana plants or
the equivalent in dried marijuana." Thus, the measure effectively
decriminalizes the personal use and cultivation of marijuana within the
county. Selling marijuana, or growing more than 25 plants remains a felony
offense.

In a county where the sound of helicopters searching for hidden marijuana
crops routinely breaks the rustle of wind in the trees, Measure G's passage
appears to be a backlash against the government's war on marijuana. For the
last two years, state and federal anti-drug agents have eradicated more
marijuana plants in Mendocino County than in any other county in California.

"The landslide victory for Measure G shows that the people are tired of
misappropriating money away from schools in order to finance a
military-style war on plants," said Richard Glen Boire, a lawyer well-known
for defending marijuana cases.