MENDOCINO SHIFTS STANCE ON POT GRANT

UKIAH - Bowing to state pressure, Mendocino County supervisors voted
Tuesday to drop controversial wording from an application in order to
get the county's yearly $250,000 grant for anti-pot efforts.

On a 3-2 vote, the board deleted language calling marijuana
eradication "not a reasonable and attainable goal" and "not a wise use
of public funds" in favor of a sentence characterizing it as necessary
for "the safety of the public."

State drug officials requested the wording be changed, saying the
county's application needed to reflect the goals of the program, set
by federal legislation.

Supervisor Richard Shoemaker, who authored the offending language and
served as the board's swing vote, said he succeeded in sending state
officials a message. He said he believed the original statement was
true.

However, it's in the county's best interests to back down from the
state challenge and ensure the funding comes through, he added.

"I guess my last comment on the motion is it may be ugly. You may
think it's pathetic," Shoemaker said. "All I can say is there is some
progress being made on this."

As with the board's first approval, Supervisors Charles Peterson and
John Pinches dissented.

The board's May debate on the issue lasted more than four hours and
concluded after one supervisor broke down in tears. Nearly everyone in
Mendocino County has been touched by some side of the pot trade or
efforts to eliminate it, they said.

The grant is funded by the federal Marijuana Suppression Program and
is administered by the state. This is the second year of a three-year
program. In both years, Mendocino County pursued the grant after 3-2
votes.

Throughout Mendocino, Lake and Humboldt counties, public officials
have questioned the federal government's drug-fighting priorities and
suggested pouring the money instead into combating hard drugs.

In a letter to state Sen. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, Lake County
supervisors asked that the law be changed to give local officials more
flexibility in how to use the money. They said they doubt the
effectiveness of the marijuana eradication program.

"It is the feeling of this board that the most serious problem in our
county is the manufacture, sale and use of hard drugs
(methamphetamines, etc.) and that the funds currently dedicated to the
marijuana eradication program would be much better spent in attempting
to control these hard drugs," the letter said.

Checked-by: (trikydik)