MEDICAL MARIJUANA ZIP-TIES TAKE STEP FORWARD

Medical marijuana regulation in the county was the subject of a Monday
meeting with the Mendocino County Health and Human Services Committee.

The Health and Human Services Committee is chaired by county
Supervisors John McCowen and Kendall Smith.

"We agreed on modifying language for the zip-tie provision," McCowen
said Tuesday, "and we are going to recommend that the board amend 9.31
(code) to provide for zip-ties."

Under new adjustments from Monday, the Public Health Department will
be involved with issuing the zip-ties and not the Mendocino County
Sheriff's Office, McCowen said. He added that 50 percent discounts
would be handled on the basis of having a Medi-Cal card, for example.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said Tuesday the issuing of
zip-ties by the Public Health Department is a good plan, because HIPPA
concerns and confidentiality are handled by Public Health.

"We have zip-ties in stock," Allman said. "I am ready to give them to
Public Health as soon as the Board of Supervisors approves it."

In earlier weeks Mendocino County supervisors approved a price of $25
per zip-tie and zip-tie provisions looked close to becoming part of
county code, but a vote by supervisors to advance the ordinance fell
3-2, with yes votes from Supervisors Carre Brown and McCowen.

A complete review of the county's medical marijuana cultivation
ordinance will be coming up in June.

County code also has other provisions in addition to zip-tie
regulations including that a limit of 25 marijuana plants applies
regardless of how many qualified medical marijuana patients live on a
parcel of land, according to information from the Mendocino County
Sheriff's Office.

According to the Sheriff's Office, code also says that a 25-plant
limit also applies to marijuana grown or possessed by a primary
caregiver for multiple qualified patients.