REGULATING, TAXING POT IS WAY TO GO FOR COUNTY

This marijuana issue is going to come back and bite Kern County in
the rear. They've already hit a number of places that were in
compliance with state laws, and preventing dispensaries and limiting
the number of plants is only going to create a heap of problems and
lawsuits that we cannot afford and a war we cannot win. Bust one,
another pops up, this time in a rental home or on public land.

We don't have to allow 50 dispensaries and can limit to 10 or less as
we did prior to 2009, and we can certainly control and regulate where
they operate and where they grow, along with who runs them.

California tax authorities estimate that the state currently collects
$58 million to $105 million in sales taxes on $700 million to $1.3
billion in annual retail sales of medical marijuana. So why not
properly control and regulate our local market and gain some tax
revenue? It's not like the county can't set specific guidelines, and
the way it is being done now is not going to gain control.

It would be far easier and far more cost-effective to control the
local cannabis industry by regulating it and having the means to
supervise how it is sold, produced and who is doing it. Plus, it will
help keep growers off public land, away from schools and parks, and
regulated to specific areas and numbers.

Corey Clendenen

Bakersfield