TULARE CO. JUDGE: MEDICAL MARIJUANA NOT AN AG CROP

Pot may be a huge cash crop in California - but don't call it an
agricultural crop.

In what is believed to be the first such finding in the state, a
Tulare County Superior Court judge has ruled that a marijuana
collective can't operate on land zoned for agriculture.

In his ruling that was finalized Tuesday, Judge Paul Vortmann
dismissed a property owner's argument that a medical marijuana
collective's cultivation of marijuana is legal because it is in an
agricultural zone.

"In this state, marijuana has never been classified as a crop or
horticultural product," Vortmann wrote.

Marijuana is a controlled substance, the ruling said, adding that
"the court finds as a matter of law that growing marijuana ... is not
an agricultural use of property."

Tulare County Counsel Kathleen Bales-Lange, whose office sued a
property owner and collective on behalf of the Tulare County Board of
Supervisors, said it's the first time a court has addressed whether
medical marijuana might be an agricultural crop.

Marijuana plants are "agricultural in nature" because they grow like
any other crop, said lawyer Brandon Ormonde of Tulare, representing
the property owner. Still, he acknowledged that medical marijuana has
never been recognized as an agricultural plant.

In 2006, marijuana legalization advocate Jon Gettman made a splash
with a report that marijuana was the nation's top cash crop at $35.8
billion a year, more than corn and wheat combined.

Maybe, but marijuana is not recognized by the California Department
of Food and Agriculture as a an agricultural commodity.

In fact, no agricultural commissioner in the state -- not even in
Mendocino or Humboldt counties -- lists it in annual crop reports.

"We don't regulate or track marijuana at all and regard that as a law
enforcement issue," said Steve Lyle, spokesman for the state
agriculture agency.

That could change under a proposed ballot initiative that envisions a
farming future for marijuana. Among other provisions, it proposes to
apply "existing agricultural taxes and regulations to marijuana" and
would prohibit zoning restrictions on cultivation.

It was recently approved by the Secretary of State's Office for
signature gathering for a 2012 ballot.

The Tulare County case involved the Foothill Growers Association
medical marijuana collective, which rented a building south of
Ivanhoe in an agricultural zone. The collective grew plants inside
the building and functioned as a dispensary.

The county sued the collective and property owner last year, arguing
that medical marijuana dispensaries are only allowed in specified
commercial and manufacturing zones.

The group has until noon Friday to stop using the building.