POT CULTIVATION ORDINANCE SUSPENDED

OROVILLE - Butte County's much-discussed and hotly-debated marijuana
cultivation ordinance is on hold.

The ordinance that was supposed to go into effect today was suspended
when supporters of a referendum aimed at blocking the measure
delivered petitions containing 12,308 signatures to the county
Elections Office.

The submission of the petitions put the ordinance on hold while the
county Clerk-Recorder's Office reviews the petition to determine if
they include the minimum 7,605 "valid" signatures necessary to move
the referendum ahead.

Andrew Merkel, president of the Citizens for Compassionate Use, the
group that spearheaded the petition drive, said there is no doubt in
his mind the petitions will more than surpass the required minimum.

In a telephone interview, he said his group has already compared the
signatures to the county voter roles, just to make sure.

Assuming the minimum signatures are validated, the Board of
Supervisors has two options: repeal the ordinance, or put it before
the public in a countywide election.

Merkel said medical marijuana patients are "buzzing" about the
petition drive's success.

"They are happy. They are excited," Merkel said.

He said if his group has its way, the supervisors will repeal the
newly-passed ordinance, and then sit down with the medical marijuana
community and produce an ordinance that is fair to patients.

"We need to move Butte County along," he said.

The approved ordinance is not a criminal item, but a land use
measure.

It prohibits the cultivation of marijuana on any plot of land smaller
than one-half acre.

It also prohibits gardens within 1,000 feet of a school, church,
residential drug/alcohol treatment facility, school bus stops, parks
and some other locations. There are registration requirement and fees
for larger gardens, as well as rules involving fencing and setbacks
from property lines.

The supervisors conducted three different hearings on the proposal,
each of which attracted hundreds of mostly anti-ordinance speakers.

After the third hearing that took place at May 24th in the Butte
County Fairgrounds in Gridley, the supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of
the ordinance.

Chico Supervisor Larry Wahl was the lone member of the panel to vote
no. He had proposed an ordinance that prohibited all marijuana gardens
within the county's unincorporated area. He said the county would be
in violation of federal law that forbids marijuana cultivation if the
supervisors approved any ordinance that allowed gardens.

Supervisor Steve Lambert, who chairs the board, said Wednesday he
expects the referendum petitions will be validated, but at the same
time he said he doesn't anticipate the panel would vote to repeal.

Lambert, who represents the 4th District and lives on a ranch west of
Oroville, said he would like to see the measure as approved, go before
the public for an up or down vote.

"If at all possible I want to let it go to a vote of the people. Let
them decide if they want it to be their national flower," said Lambert.

If it does go to a vote, those opposed to the measure would be allowed
to run advertising to urge a no vote. Lambert said the county could
not campaign in favor of the ordinance.

It would fall to private individuals and groups to campaign for the
matter, if anybody did.