WHY SHERIFF, COUNTY ARE TARGETING POT

As debate continues on county government's stance on medical
marijuana, particularly limiting residents with a doctor's
recommendation to 12 plants, questions abound.

Why put the number at 12?

Why did county supervisors also pass a ban on store-front medical
marijuana collectives in unincorporated county areas?

Law enforcement says it's a public safety issue. But medical marijuana
proponents argue there's no more crime near collectives or grows than
anywhere else and county supervisors are just whipping up hysteria.

The ongoing conflict isn't just in Kern; it's also playing out in
counties throughout the state. Pot is legal under California law with
a doctor's recommendation, but federal law says any possession of
marijuana -- even with a doctor's recommendation -- is a crime.

The 12-plant limit is already in effect, and the ban on collectives is
scheduled to go into effect 30 days from the date it passed.

With attorneys for the collectives promising a lawsuit blocking the
ban's enactment, the debate won't end anytime soon.

Dangerous, or not?

When Drug Enforcement Administration agents and deputies raided a
marijuana grow last week, they found more than just pot plants.
Seventeen booby traps connected to shotgun shells were also on the
property, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Department.

Chief Deputy Francis Moore said the booby traps are just one example
of how a grow could lead to a disastrous situation. The combination of
caretakers at grows, many of whom carry guns, and thieves targeting
plants could lead to violence.

Two recent raids were at grows within a few blocks of schools. Urban
grows are a relatively new phenomenon in Kern County, authorities have
said.

"The potential for a tragic event is there," Moore
said.

The sheriff's department is targeting and raiding grows that are
clearly in violation of state law, some with thousands of plants on
their property, Moore said. There are also crimes associated with
collectives, he said.

Moore said it's his belief the state law allowing marijuana for
medicinal purposes with a doctor's recommendation is heavily abused.

Several doctor recommendations the sheriff's department has looked
into over the years turned out not to be issued by legitimate doctors,
just someone with a website saying he's a doctor. Many people get
recommendations from out of county and have never even see a doctor in
person, Moore said.

The sheriff's department did not immediately have statistics available
for any crimes near collectives.

Medical marijuana attorney Phil Ganong said there are no statistics
showing an uptick in crime near collectives. Drug cartels will be the
only ones to profit from the county's decision to ban collectives, he
said.

"(The supervisors) have taken a well-identified and regulatable
industry and have driven it underground into organized crime's hands,"
Ganong said.

Jeff Jarvis, of Kern County Medicinal Collective, Inc., said he has no
issues with the sheriff's department busting the massive grows
containing thousands of plants. He said those should be stopped.

The collectives, however, are nonprofit businesses that provide a
service to sick people and aren't hurting neighborhoods they're in,
Jarvis said.

"There's no crime at this place," Jarvis said.

Twelve's the limit

Kern County Supervisor Mike Maggard acknowledged there is a wide range
of opinions about how many plants one person needs for medical
purposes, but supervisors' research led them to determine 12 is a very
reasonable number for one person.

Not only should that provide plenty of marijuana for one person, but
it's also a small enough number that the person is unlikely to be
targeted by thieves, Maggard said.

People caught with more than 12 plants face a misdemeanor charge that
carries up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, Moore said.

Supervisor Karen Goh said the board's decision allows people with a
doctor's recommendation to legally obtain marijuana while also
providing greater public safety through restricting the growing and
distribution of large amounts of pot. She said she personally received
reports from constituents who are concerned about marijuana grows.

"This was a very difficult decision that required us to consider both
the needs of seriously ill patients and the need for public safety,"
she said.

Ganong, however, believes the board just made an arbitrary decision by
choosing 12 plants as the limit. He said it has nothing to do with the
law or any research he's seen.

How much marijuana someone needs is different for every person, Ganong
said. Not only does the ailment the person's suffering from come into
play, but so does the method by which they use the marijuana.

A person can either burn, vaporize or eat marijuana, Ganong
said.

Burning requires the least amount of pot, but is also the least
healthy method, he said. It's far better to vaporize -- heating the
marijuana up to just below combustion -- but more marijuana is
required because the process isn't as efficient.

The third manner, eating, requires even more product because cooking
it breaks down the plant's efficiency, Ganong said.

He also said people who live in small apartments or don't have money
to grow marijuana for themselves need someone to grow it for them.

"You can't make this stuff in a pharmacy. If you could it would be
killing us like all the other pseudo-medicines you get," Ganong said.

Jarvis said 12 plants is "pushing it" in terms of being enough for a
single person, especially if they're eating it.

"At the end of the day it takes a lot more product to make a medicinal
edible product," he said.

A person in constant pain requires significantly more marijuana than
comes from 12 plants, Jarvis said. At least 50 to 60 plants are needed.

Outlook in other counties

Butte County's Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance earlier this
year prohibiting marijuana from being grown on any lot smaller than a
half acre. Voters responded, however, with enough signatures for a
referendum, and this past week supervisors decided to put the
ordinance up for a vote in June.

Sang Kim, Butte County's deputy county administrator, said opponents
of the ordinance felt it was unfair to people with smaller parcels of
land. With the referendum nearly a year away, Butte County effectively
has no ordinance regulating the growing of marijuana.

In Fresno County, supervisors voted last week to ban medical marijuana
collectives, but the dispensaries say they'll sue, according to the
Associated Press. There are an estimated 15 pot dispensaries in the
county that have six months to shut down.

Some dispensary owners have said they'll try to get a ballot measure
to repeal the ordinance, the AP reported.

Tulare County doesn't have an ordinance limiting the number of plants,
but does limit where collectives can conduct business. County
government spokesman Jed Chernabaeff said collectives are limited to
commercial and industrial zones.

Supervisor Steve Worthley said that decision was made because growing
or dispensing marijuana in agricultural areas or backyards could
potentially lead to thefts and gunfire. The board decided to limit
dispensaries to industrial areas to minimize the risk to adjoining
property owners.

Their decision has been backed up in court, Worthley said. Recently,
the county won a lawsuit against a collective operating on
agriculture-zoned land.

Worthley said he wasn't aware of any crime issues with the
collectives, but he added the board has kept a pretty close eye on
them.

"There's a high risk associated with them," he said.