U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE THREATENS LEGAL ACTION OVER POT PERMIT PROGRAM

The county of Mendocino will soon be rethinking its medical marijuana
permit program, according to a statement late Wednesday from the
Mendocino County CEO's Office.

Under the threat of legal action from the U.S. Attorney's Office and
anticipating the effect of a Southern California court ruling that
could end the popular permitting program, the Board of Supervisors
will consider changing its medical marijuana cultivation ordinance at
its next meeting, Jan. 24, according to CEO Carmel Angelo.

The ordinance allows medical marijuana cooperatives to grow up to 99
plants as long as they buy permits from the Mendocino County Sheriff's
Office and follow a set of rules.

The Ryan Pack v. City of Long Beach ruling, which came down in
October, could end the program if it is allowed to stand as a
precedent. The ruling quashed a similar medical marijuana permitting
program in Long Beach, saying the city overstepped its legal bounds by
issuing the permits, since growing and using marijuana for any reason
is illegal under federal law.

At the Jan. 24 meeting, County Counsel Jeanine Nadel will propose
"amendments (to the county's cultivation ordinance) that will conform
to the Pack decision and the concerns expressed by the U.S. Attorney's
Office," according to the CEO's Office.

If the board approves the changes Jan. 24, the amended ordinance will
go back before the board for approval Feb. 14, and would be effective
30 days after that.

"In the meantime, consistent with the current advice of county
counsel, applications for permits will not be accepted," the CEO's
Office stated.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said Tuesday that there were no
applications pending, and the 2012 applications weren't yet ready.
They usually start coming in around March or April, in time for the
growing season.

Newly elected Board of Supervisors Chairman John McCowen helped draft
the current version of the county's cultivation ordinance, codified as
county code Chapter 9.31.

"The 9.31 permit program created an above-ground framework that
balanced safe access to medical marijuana with public safety and
environmental protection," McCowen said in the CEO's Office's prepared
statement. "The Pack decision and the federal crackdown will have the
effect of driving medical marijuana back underground, making it more
illegal, profitable and dangerous."

He further stated, "If the federal government is not going to provide
the resources to eradicate all the marijuana that they consider
illegal, then they should not interfere with local regulatory efforts
to protect public safety and the environment."

Mendocino County's permit program also sells zip ties to people
growing medical marijuana to identify legal plants in the event of a
raid.

The permit money has helped fund the Sheriff's Office, and proceeds
from those permits and other medical marijuana-related sources has
amounted to more than $1 million, the Sheriff's Office reported last
month.