MARIJUANA USERS CONTINUE LEGAL BATTLE

SAN BERNARDINO - Leticia Pepper won't face county representatives in
court until March 2012, but she's already gearing up for a battle
that may take her to the state Supreme Court.

Pepper is the attorney representing Crusaders for Patients Rights,
the self-proclaimed Christian organization that filed a lawsuit
against San Bernardino County in April, after the Board of
Supervisors banned medical marijuana dispensaries in all unincorporated areas.

The ordinance, passed April 5 by the board, also prohibited patients
and caregivers from growing marijuana outdoors.

Pepper and CPR say the county's ordinance puts a heavy burden on sick
patients. In the suit, plaintiffs say the county didn't follow the
California Environmental Quality Act when it adopted the ordinance.
The vocal attorney also says the county is violating state laws
regarding medical marijuana.

"What the county is doing is illegal under Prop 215, which says any
law must be designed to make access safe and affordable," Pepper said
by phone Friday, on her way to a conference in Los Angeles.

In the Morongo Basin, the county ordinance restricts dispensaries
from being established anywhere outside Twentynine Palms or Yucca
Valley. Yucca Valley has one dispensary currently operating.
Twentynine Palms city officials voted last year to ban dispensaries there.

Pepper claims the county didn't follow the CEQA process because
harvesting marijuana indoors can actually create environmental
hazards like pests and mold. Pepper also said growing marijuana
inside, without natural sunlight and climate conditions, degrades its
quality and effectiveness.

"The main thing is that it's better for the environment if people can
grow marijuana outside .... To make a law that people can't do
something when there's no good reason for it is illegal," she said.

During a public meeting of the board of supervisors in March, several
people spoke against the county's plans, saying they did not have the
means to grow their own marijuana and would be severely limited in
their access to it if there were no dispensaries.

Before adopting the ordinance, the county put a moratorium on
dispensaries in 2009 while it studied the issue, citing "a current
and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare." Ten
months later, the board of supervisors reviewed data from other
agencies and claimed crime, loitering and traffic troubles would all
result if dispensaries were permitted.

Pepper said the lack of sufficient evidence reviewed by the county is
one of many missteps supervisors made before adopting the ordinance.

"Nobody had any evidence about why it wasn't bad for safe and
affordable access. They also didn't have any evidence from their
local law enforcement. They had stuff the California Chief of Police
put together in a white paper," Pepper said.

The California Police Chiefs Association is named as an interested
party in Pepper's suit. The association tried to remove itself from
the suit, but a judge denied the request.

Neil Derry, 3rd District Supervisor, whose district includes the
Morongo Basin, said his main concern was safety.

"Under a court decision, one individual can grow up to 99 (marijuana
plants)," Derry noted by phone Friday. "My biggest concern is someone
jumping the fence and stealing them. If you want to set up a
greenhouse in your backyard and control it, I have less concern over that."

He said having a home where more than 100 large plants could grow in
someone's backyard "isn't conducive to a safe neighborhood."

Pepper said even if a judge rules in the county's favor, she's
prepared to keep fighting, saying, "If we have to go all the way up
to the California Supreme Court, we will."