LOCAL OFFICIALS' INITIAL THOUGHTS ON MARIJUANA BILL

Assembly Bill 390, introduced Monday by a San Francisco lawmaker, if
approved by the state, would allow marijuana to be sold to people 21
or older and taxed to help bring California's budget out of the red.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said he was not yet familiar with
details of the new bill when reached for comment Tuesday morning.

But Allman did say that the Sheriff's Office would be gearing up its
zip-tie program pending approval from the Mendocino County Board of
Supervisors.

"The Sheriff's Office is proceeding with zip-ties for plants and
should be able to collect money soon," Allman said. "Basically, we
are waiting on determination of how much we can charge for" them, Allman said.

Ukiah Vice Mayor Benj Thomas said that while he hadn't had time to
look at the proposal, he did support any means of putting the state
back on track financially.

"Not having read the bill I'm not inclined to comment, but in general
I think anything that can raise revenue for the state is a good
thing," he said in a phone interview Tuesday. "Is this the way to do
it? The question is, among other things, is it going to be effective
or is this a move that's being taken without the expectation that it
will pass?"

Thomas said the issue was more complicated than an up or down
decision on the matter.

"The whole question of legalization for me, that's not a yes or no
thing," he said. "I think it's something we need to look at really
carefully as a culture. I think there are substantial elements in
this country that will never come to legalization."

Ukiah City Councilmember Doug Crane said that the sentiment was
meaningless unless higher levels of government completely changed
their policies.

"It's the same problem I've had all along is that unless the federal
government changes their policy, what good is it?" he said. "And
maybe there's a sea change; I don't know."