ALLMAN ANNOUNCES MARIJUANA GUIDELINES

With the traditional April 20 start of the outdoor marijuana growing
season approaching, Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman has issued a
series of guidelines for his officers and for potential growers based
on guidance from the California Attorney General.

Allman met Friday with a group of defense attorneys as part of his
efforts to bring clarity to this season's marijuana growing rules.

Attorney General Edmond G. Brown Jr. issued an 11-page guideline in
August intended to clarify the medical marijuana laws for both law
enforcement and patients and caregivers. A copy of thie guideline is
available from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department website:
www.mendocinosheriff.com.

In addition to the Attorney General's guideline, a November 2008
ruling by the California Supreme Court in People vs. Mentch,
established "a defendant whose caregiving consisted principally of
supplying marijuana and instructing on its use, and who otherwise
only sporadically took some patients to medical appointments, cannot
qualify as a primary caregiver under the Act."

Before the ruling, many large commercial growers believed they had a
legitimate right to grow marijuana if they had copies of caregiver
cards from patients in other parts of California to show law enforcement.

Still pending before the California Supreme Court is the case of
People vs. Kelly, which questions whether the state Legislature had
the ability to modify or clarify the wording of a proposition when it
put marijuana possession limits in the Health and Safety Code.

Each medical marijuana patient may possess eight ounces of processed
marijuana and may maintain up to six mature marijuana plants or 12
immature plants, under the Attorney General's guidelines. A qualified
patient may possess more marijuana if needed for his/her medical
treatment, based on a doctor's recommendation.

In addition to the AG's guidelines, Mendocino County has established
a maximum of 25 plants on any taxable parcel and prohibits all
marijuana cultivation within 1,000 feet of any school, church or
youth facility.

Allman has established the following county marijuana enforcement
objectives for 2009:

1. Commercial marijuana operations.

2. Marijuana operations that cause environmental damage.

3. Trespass cultivation.

4. Marijuana operations that illegally divert water.

5. Calls for service from citizens reporting marijuana nuisances.

6. Providing compliance assistance and checks for medical marijuana
patients and caregivers.

Willits has a separate marijuana ordinance, limiting cultivation to
inside a secure building and allowing no more than six plants on any
parcel. Ukiah and Fort Bragg each have growing ordinances as well.

Allman also hopes to reintroduce a zip tie program, if authorized by
the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors. This would allow medical
marijuana patients and caregivers to register their plants for a fee.