DUNSMUIR TO LOOK INTO MEDICAL POT CULTIVATION

About 45 people packed the Dunsmuir City Council chambers for a
public hearing Thursday night on whether the Siskiyou County town
should adopt medical marijuana cultivation regulations.

The hearing was sparked in part by Mayor Peter Arth's proposal to
build three greenhouses to grow medical cannabis across from the
Siskiyou County sheriff's substation in downtown Dunsmuir. Arth
plans to lease three plots he owns to Leslie Wilde, who runs a
medical cannabis dispensary a few blocks away.

Wilde says the greenhouse operation would provide a safe supply of
organic marijuana for her members, who number about 50 "regulars."
Arth, who's a medical marijuana user himself, promotes the
greenhouse project as a much better alternative to "black market"
supplies of the drug, whether grown in Mexico or the hills
of Siskiyou County, often with the use of toxic pesticides.

After a 90-minute, heated discussion, the council voted 3-1 to form
a subcommittee to look into the issue of how marijuana cultivation
should be regulated in the town. Arth's was the only "no" vote. He
said the town doesn't need such an ordinance.

"Of all the issues competing for the council's attention, I'd say
this one is at the bottom of the barrel," he said later. "It
wouldn't have even come up if we hadn't made our proposal."

The other council members disagreed.

"This issue is divisive. The town is split on this," said
Councilwoman Helen Cartwright, who suggested during the meeting the
issue be tabled until November, when the state's voters will decide
whether to legalize marijuana.

Councilwoman Cherie Du Pertuis concurred that the city should take
its time. "This all needs to be carefully considered. There's no
need for haste on this matter."

Councilman Mario Rubino said he was concerned that if quick action
wasn't taken to establish cultivation guidelines, medical marijuana
cultivation could expand and be unregulated.

But Thursday's action is unlikely to affect Arth's proposal, city
attorney John Kenny said Friday. "There was no ordinance regarding
cultivation before" the meeting or after, he said.

Before the meeting, Dunsmuir city staff moved Arth's proposal to the
Planning Commission, scheduled to consider it May 5, Kenny said. The
public hearing was on whether to pursue a cultivation ordinance, not
on Arth's specific proposal.

About 20 people spoke at Thursday's meeting, some staunchly opposed
to allowing medical cannabis cultivation and others who support it.
Two speakers called for the mayor's resignation.

Among those opposed was Phyllis Wood.

"This town is starting to get back on its feet after a long time
(being viewed as) a 'drug town,'" she said. "This (project) is
taking a wrong turn."

A number of residents said they worried about placing a
marijuana-growing operation in the town's historic district,
adjacent to its main street, where many of the town's teenagers hang
out after school and on weekends.

Mary Ann Kikerpill, who depends on medical marijuana to relieve some
of the pain from Stage 4 breast cancer, called the greenhouse
project a "controlled and secure" alternative to the prospect of
marijuana patches sprouting up all over Dunsmuir.

Jesse Tolen, who described himself as a decorated and wounded vet
with combat-induced kidney stones and lung disease, also spoke in
favor of the project.

"We need to give it a chance," he said.

A number of opponents of the mayor's project said they support the
use of medical marijuana, but emphasized their concern over the
project's location and its impact on the town's image.

John Villani of the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department raised the
possibility of renegotiating the sheriff's contract with the city if
the project goes forward.

In an interview after the meeting, he said he worried about
attempted burglaries of the facility and the possibility of illegal
growers targeting the facility as a competitor, with deputies having
to deal with "whoever gets caught in the crossfire."

"This issue is divisive. The town is split on this."