SHASTA COUNTY TAKES WAIT-SEE APPROACH TO POT

Shasta County supervisors will consider extending a moratorium on
medical marijuana dispensaries for another year in the county's
unincorporated areas at a public hearing Tuesday.

In February 2010, supervisors enacted what became a series of
moratoria on dispensaries, saying they wanted to wait for pending
state court cases on medical marijuana regulations to settle before
any new dispensaries were allowed.

The first moratorium, proposed by 2nd District Supervisor Leonard
Moty, prevented use permits for dispensaries in unincorporated areas
for 45 days.

The second, approved in April 2010, extended the original moratorium
to February 2011.

But now, a 12-month moratorium is proposed because there has been
little or no progress on these state cases, according to a staff reports.

Resource Management Director Russ Mull said no one tried to obtain a
use permit before the first moratorium was approved.

"The one thing about dispensaries for Shasta County is that most
dispensaries like to be sited where the urban population is, so the
pressure to site them in the county hasn't been particularly intense," he said.

Mull said anyone who wanted a use permit would still have to wait six
to eight months to obtain it, even without the moratorium.

Waiting to establish new ordinances on dispensaries also gives the
county time to "consider, study and assess various approaches to
regulating medical marijuana dispensaries," the staff reports says.

That means the county's primary approach is "watching other
jurisdictions" to determine the best way to regulate dispensaries, Mull said.

At public hearings held in February, some medical marijuana patients
argued that they should not be treated as criminals.

But other medical marijuana proponents are in favor of the moratorium.

Chuck Herring, a volunteer at River Valley Collective in Redding,
said he doesn't think the drive to Redding is too far for patients
from the county's unincorporated areas.

"I've heard of people driving two hours to go to Costco," he said. "I
don't really see a difference."

Herring, 37, said he thinks regulations need to be strict to avoid
illegal use of marijuana.

"It has to start somewhere," he said. "It can't just be a free-for-all."

If you go

What: Public hearing on moratorium for medical marijuana dispensaries

When: Tuesday, 9 a.m.

Where: Board of Supervisors chamber, 1450 Court St., Redding