LARGE CROWD EXPECTED AT POT HEARING

CHICO - A hearing on a proposed ordinance governing the cultivation
of medical marijuana in unincorporated Butte County is expected to
draw hundreds of people to a rare evening meeting of the Board of
Supervisors Wednesday.

After more than a year of heated and passionate discussion, the
supervisors will hear the public one more time, then have the option
of adopting the ordinance and the fees associated with it.

A five-hour hearing in February saw a crowd that was well over twice
the official capacity of room, crammed into the Supervisors Chambers
in Oroville. That situation prompted the board to move the rare night
meeting to a much larger Chico Elks Lodge venue.

At the center of the discussion are land use regulations controlling
how many plants can be grown where, what setbacks are required on
what size parcel, fencing requirements and other issues.

Number of allowable plants is contingent on the acreage of the
property involved.

Over the months the proposed ordinance has evolved through various
incarnations.

In the earliest version no more than two plants could be grown on a
one-acre or smaller lot.

The current proposal allows for up to six mature plants to be grown
on a 1.5-acre or smaller parcel.

The ordinance also requires that gardens on the 1.5-acre or small
lots be at least 100 feet from "a school, park, church, or
residential treatment facility" and mandates the plants not be
visible from street or public right of way.

One of the earlier drafts of the ordinance required that owners of
the smallest gardens pay an annual "registration fee" of $832, which
could climb to $1,231 depending on the size of the property devoted
to the garden. That incarnation also included a $44 "zip-tie fee" per
plant, which amounted to a census fee to track the precise number and
specific individual plants.

The ordinance on the agenda Wednesday calls for a $285 annual
registration fee that is the same regardless of the size of the
parcel, and the zip-tie fee has been totally eliminated.

During previous meetings many of those who spoke asserted Proposition
215, which was passed by state voters in 1996, gave medical marijuana
users, an absolute right to grow and use cannabis as long as they had
a "recommendation" from a physician.

It is a claim Butte County Sheriff Jerry Smith denies.

"That recommendation does not make growing marijuana legal. They have
no right based on that recommendation to grow marijuana or otherwise
possess it. The only thing the recommendation does is allow them, if
they are arrested, to present an affirmative defense on their
behalf," said Smith.

The "affirmative defense" means the individual can challenge any
prosecution because of Proposition 215. Smith said as a practical
matter, when officers come in contact with somebody who has a small
amount of "personal use" marijuana, they are not arrested or prosecuted.

Referring to the February meeting, the sheriff told a reporter, "You
heard those people in the back of the room shouting down (District
Attorney) Mike (Ramsey) and I, saying, 'This is our right. This is
our right.' They have no right to break the law. They have an
affirmative defense if they are arrested based on a recommendation
the doctor provides them with."

Because of the anticipated crowd at Wednesday's meeting, the board
has announced plans to allow each speaker a strictly enforced two
minutes to make their statements for or against the proposal.

Butte County Board of Supervisors

5:30 p.m. Wednesday

Chico Elks Lodge

1705 Manzanita Ave.