MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN NEVADA COUNTY

In this era of viral political discord where neither side is open to
the ideology of the opposing party, my encounter with Sheriff Keith
Royal and District Attorney Cliff Newell at the zoning board's
council meeting to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in Nevada
County was encouraging.

When we introduced ourselves, I made it clear that we were on
opposite sides of the fence on this issue. To my amazement, both the
sheriff and D.A. remained friendly and courteous when I had expected
them to back away as if I were Typhoid Mary.

Often we tend to associate with people of a like mind. As a patient
consultant, I know I see medical marijuana from a totally different
perspective than the sheriff, who must deal with people trying to
circumvent the law. That we could find some common ground was a step
toward developing a

rational policy dealing with medical marijuana.

The question remains how to get quality medicine to residents of
Nevada County while curtailing the illegal growers who are selling
their product out of state or here on the streets. It's easy to adopt
a nimby (not in my backyard) attitude toward dispensaries; it is far
more difficult to draft an ordinance that gives patients access
without creating a nuisance factor. But it can be done.

Right now, a patient has few options for legally obtaining marijuana
in Nevada County. One option is to grow their own (which takes an
unreasonably long amount of time to accomplish when one needs their
medicine now) or to join a collective. Unfortunately, many older
patients do not have access to finding a collective. Perhaps a
registry could be established to match patients with legal
collectives operating in our county.

Otherwise a patient must find a reputable dispensary to supply their
meds, which is more difficult than it sounds given the glut of
dispensaries operating today. I'm the first to admit that 90 percent
of the dispensaries should be put out of business.

The same goes for most growers. Most of them are in it strictly for
the money and care little for the well-being of the patients who
truly benefit from marijuana therapy. The industry is a little late
in imposing self-regulation and has created a "stoner party" image
that is an insult to serious patients.

The other 10 percent serve their communities well. A good dispensary
looks like a medical office from the outside (which it is) rather
than a head shop or strip bar staffed with scantily clad, buxom
beauties. A good dispensary is staffed with professional employees
who are well versed in the various strains of marijuana and know
which strains alleviate which symptoms.

Ordinances have been drafted by several communities lately that
include requirements that all of the products distributed through the
dispensary must be lab-tested for quality and purity. This measure
eliminates the bad growers who use toxic chemicals and pesticides
from pushing their products on unsuspecting patients.

Unfortunately, very few dispensaries are willing to spend the money
to test their products. A few dispensaries in Sacramento have
lab-tested strains, but more often a patient has to travel to the Bay
Area to obtain quality meds. This is an undo hardship for elderly or
terminally ill patients.

Mendocino has enacted a certification program where each grower must
comply with certain strict ordinances. Zip ties are purchased from
the sheriff's office for $50 each and must be attached to each plant.
There are restrictions on the amount of plants that can be grown on
one site and limits to the size of the footprint that the garden can
occupy. Growers have to demonstrate that they have the patient base
to justify the amount of plants they are cultivating or that they are
growing exclusively for a certain dispensary. This would separate the
legal from the illegal grows and make law enforcement's efforts easier.

Third party certification programs are available to make sure that
growers use environmentally sound procedures to produce their crops.
Together with lab-testing, this ensures the patient of a quality
product. Growers not willing to follow these requirements should look
for another line of work.

I don't know how many plants are currently being grown in Nevada
County, but my guess is at $50 each, it would go a long way toward
closing the gap in our budget deficit and perhaps save the jobs of
scores of teachers, firemen or police.