TEHAMA COUNTY WILL STUDY POT REGULATIONS

RED BLUFF - After failing to pass an ordinance that would limit the
size and location of medical marijuana gardens, Tehama County
supervisors Tuesday will consider forming a committee to study the
issue.

The ordinance, stalled this week by a 3-2 vote, was proposed by
Supervisor Bob Williams after constituents complained about a
pot-growing operation in an El Camino-area neighborhood, Supervisor
Ron Warner said Wednesday. Complaints about gardens in other
residential areas followed.

"These things are starting to pop up all over the place," said Warner,
who joined Williams in supporting the measure.

The law would have prohibited marijuana cultivation within 1,000 feet
of schools and day care centers, and limited to 30 the number of pot
plants that could be cultivated at a single location. In addition, it
would have required that marijuana gardens be registered with the
county Health Services Agency and that growers provide fencing and
security.

While marijuana cultivation is illegal under federal law, qualified
patients and primary caregivers authorized to grow it for medical
reasons can be granted immunity from state prosecution. The Tehama
County ordinance was modeled after one regulating gardens in Mendocino
County.

Warner described it as a "nuisance ordinance," saying property owners
would have to pay for removal of gardens in violation.

"We were just trying to make it safer for everybody," he said. "I
thought it was a good ordinance."

Board Chairman George Russell said it needed more research.

"Normally, when you adopt an ordinance which is relatively
significant, you spend a great deal of time in an ad hoc committee,"
Russell said. "In this case, that procedure was not followed. I just
got the feeling we should have spent more time on it."

Timing also was an issue for Supervisor Charles Willard.

"Mr. Williams rushed it through," Willard said. "It was very apparent
to three of the supervisors that this was not well thought out."

Willard also had problems with the ordinance itself, saying it played
too much on people's fears. He also noted the financial problems
plaguing counties throughout the state.

"It's the wrong time, the wrong way to approach it and we don't even
have the money to pay these people (to enforce it)," he said.

For his part, Warner said he'd welcome study by an ad hoc committee,
providing the board sets an October deadline. That would allow growers
to learn the rules before spring planting, he said.

Williams and Supervisor Gregg Avilla could not be reached for comment.