TRINITY REPEALS MARIJUANA LAW

Complaints of commercial growers prompt revisit year
later

Citing public safety issues, the Trinity County Board of Supervisors
on Tuesday repealed a year-old ordinance that allowed medical
marijuana users to exceed state limits on how much marijuana residents
could grow and keep.

After a public hearing at the Veterans Hall in Weaverville, the board
voted unanimously to repeal the ordinance that was passed last fall.

"What we adopted last year ruined the fabric of the county," said
Supervisor Wendy Reiss, who voted for the ordinance last year.

The ordinance repealed Tuesday allowed patients with a doctor's
recommendation to have 3 pounds of processed marijuana and up to 12
mature plants. In the absence of a county ordinance, marijuana users
in Trinity County must follow the state law, which says medical users
can have 8 ounces of pot and six plants.

The board decided to revisit the ordinance after complaints from
county residents and reports of a growing number of commercial growers
in the county.

About 300 people attended the meeting. Most of the some 50 people who
spoke at the meeting favored repealing the ordinance.

The meeting originally was planned for the Trinity County Library in
Weaverville, but officials moved the hearing to the Veterans Hall to
accommodate a larger crowd.

Supervisor Howard Freeman, who drafted last year's ordinance, said:
"I'm not sure it's a quantity issue as much as it is an enforcement
issue.

"Last year, the intent of the policy was so (the sheriff's) department
could allocate resources elsewhere and to allow medicinal patients
guidelines to operate under so they'd be OK," Freeman said.

But Sheriff Lorrac Craig said other problems arose from the new
ordinance.

"The emphasis of marijuana growing has changed in most cases from
medicinal to profiteering," Craig told the board Tuesday. "I have 15
men to patrol 3,200 square miles and the increased quantity. It takes
us eight hours to get to some parts of this county who have never seen
a cop."

During a supervisors meeting earlier this month, officials with the
county's health department reported that the ordinance has led to an
increase in hundreds of violations that included guard dogs running
loose, unpermitted dwellings, rentals being destroyed when they're
converted into grow houses, and septic lines draining into the ground
or creeks.