MEDICAL POT ZONING SOUGHT IN MENDOCINO COUNTY

Request For Land-Use Rules Met With Skepticism

Mendocino County medical marijuana advocates have proposed that pot
production be regulated through land-use requirements in the county's
general plan, saying it would legitimize growers and generate income
for the county.

But Mendocino County supervisors have no intention of taking up the
issue.

"I put that in the ridiculous category," Supervisor John Pinches said
Thursday.

The case for medical marijuana zoning was submitted in a letter to
county supervisors by former Supervisor Norman deVall on behalf of
the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board.

The board "believes that normalizing legitimate growing of medical
marijuana for the benefit not only of patient-growers, collectives
and cooperatives but also for the county is overdue," wrote de Vall,
a planning and land use consultant.

Pebbles Trippet, a medical marijuana advocate and advisory board
secretary, has said such regulations could raise significant revenue
for the county in a time of financial crisis.

It also could be a way of finding middle ground between law
enforcement and the medical marijuana community, which have been
increasingly at odds, she said.

Just how the regulations would help the county was
unclear.

By law, land use permits can recover only the actual costs of
regulation. Unless the federal government joins California in
legalizing medical marijuana, it cannot legally be taxed.

Requiring growers to take out a permit to cultivate their marijuana
would be asking them to incriminate themselves and place the county
in jeopardy, said Supervisor David Colfax.

"The county can't put itself in the position of permitting the
growing and possession of marijuana," he said.