LEGALIZATION NOT THE SIMPLE ANSWER

A bill to legalize and tax marijuana is getting lots of attention not
only here in California but across the nation where people are
wondering if it's finally time to put marijuana in the same category
as wine, beer and liquor.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, (D-San Francisco) who introduced AB 390 to
legalize pot smoking for those over 21 and allow commercial farming
of the drug and tax it at $50 per ounce, says it would raise about $1
billion a year for state coffers.

For a lot of people - including a lot of people in Mendocino County -
legalizing pot has always seemed like a logical idea. But, as we saw
in Mendocino County when pot was all but legal under our former local
Measure G combined with legalized medical marijuana, there are a
host of problems that come with letting just anyone grow marijuana.

Mr. Ammiano's bill talks about "commercial" marijuana growing, but we
know where a lot that commercial growing will take place: right here
in Mendocino County. The people living in LA and San Francisco might
think legalizing marijuana is a great idea and they'd love to be able
to stop by the corner store and buy their pack of joints, but what
about the people who live in the agricultural areas where all that
pot will be raised?

While we don't think Mr. Ammiano's bill has a chance of passing, (for
one thing, even if passed, it appears to depend on federal
legalization for much of it to take effect) we think that while the
conversation about legalizing the growing of marijuana in the state is
under way, there are several points that need to be addressed:

Like having, say, a liquor still in the back yard, would marijuana
growing be prohibited at home? No. Under Mr. Ammiano's bill anyone 21
years of age can grow up to 10 plants in the back yard. However, that
provision provides 10 plants to anyone in the household who is of
age. That means two people, 20 plants, 3 people, 30 plants and so on.
Citizens of Ukiah know what having someone next door with 20 plants
in the backyard smells like and what an attraction it is to
teenagers. This bill would make it all legal.

Will local communities be allowed to regulate the growing of
marijuana both commercially and individually? Like, say, a pig farm,
which can stink up a whole neighborhood, will cities and townships be
allowed to prohibit growing any marijuana in residential areas or
allow it only within certain zoning areas? No.

The bill also states that defying the cultivation laws is an
infraction with a fine of $100. How is that a deterrent?

How will the safety and quality of the marijuana be regulated? Will
there be requirements that all marijuana grown commercially be grown
organically? Who will oversee the quality and the safety of the
product? We may save money on some law enforcement aspects, but what
about all the agricultural inspectors and tax collectors we'll need
to make sure we're creating a product safe for the public as well as
getting our money's worth, so to speak. The bill does not address
the quality of the marijuana or its safety.

If marijuana growing becomes legal, there's certainly no reason to
continue prohibiting commercial hemp growing. How will the state
regulate the inevitable conflicts between hemp and marijuana growers
whose crops are not mutually compatible (industrial hemp plants can
cross pollinate marijuana and weaken its potency). The bill does not
address this.

What will the state do about regulating the undisputed health
problems associated with smoking - marijuana is bad for your lungs
too. Will second hand marijuana smoke be regulated in the same way as
second hand cigarette smoke? The bill only states that smoking or
ingesting marijuana in "public" is an infraction.

The bill also strikes the section of law prohibiting selling or
providing marijuana to minors but does not reinstitute it elsewhere
except to the extent that disobeying marijuana regulations is an infraction.

The bill provides that the $50 per ounce tax be spent solely on drug
education programs. How does that help the budget crisis?

The bill strikes the current provision in law in which marijuana is
treated the same as an open container of alcohol for the purposes of
having the substance in your car with you. How will law enforcement
be able to tell if you are driving high and police marijuana smoking
while driving?

The bill provides for mandated security systems at all marijuana
growing and processing places as well as at etail outlets, and
background checks on employees therein. That certainly implies
acknowledgment that this is still a valuable and dangerous commodity.
How many growers will pass background checks and how many will
instead go the "unregulated" route?

Even if the bill is moot without federal marijuana legalization, how
does the state deal with the tens of thousands of people who will
move to California from the rest of the nation to grow marijuana
anyway, simply because it is "legal" in California? Many of them will
try to do it without paying the taxes, without obeying any local
regulations, without being part of the "system."

The price of marijuana may drop in California (although it hasn't
dropped much even with legal medical marijuana in place here and
several other states already) but it will still be well worth growing
for the folks in Chicago, New York, Boston and Miami just to name a
few large cities which will depend on "legal" California pot growing.
How will the state handle the lawsuits from those states when they
claim that California is exporting its drug to their areas? How much
law enforcement will be needed to keep the pot within the state's
borders? We don't think frankly that the state will save all that
much on law enforcement when the rest of the nation's pot growers
spark California's 21st Century Gold Rush.

For years, people have argued about whether marijuana smoking is on a
par with wine drinking and whether our legal and prison systems
should be tied up with marijuana cases. Whichever side of those
arguments you reside, it is clear that legalization is not a simple
solution.