MENDOCINO RETHINKING POT POLICY

Some Residents Want to Overturn County's Liberal Medical Marijuana Law

UKIAH -- Unhappy Mendocino County residents today will push the Board
of Supervisors to voluntarily allow voters in June a chance to repeal
the county's marijuana policy.

A citizens group calling itself "Restore Mendocino" said it will ask
supervisors to place on the June 5 ballot an ordinance to repeal
landmark Measure G. When passed in 2000, Measure G was the first in
the United States to decriminalize marijuana for personal use,
earning the county a national reputation as a haven for marijuana growers.

But seven years later, Measure G is being blamed for a surge in
Mendocino marijuana production, and a host of crime-related problems.
Critics contend the county's pro-medical marijuana policy has become a "farce."

"Measure G is not about medical marijuana but about the freedom to
grow marijuana for income," said Granville Pool of Redwood Valley.

If the board declines today to voluntarily put the issue up for a
June vote, backers will have to go through a lengthy and potentially
costly signature gathering process. It could delay a vote until the
November general election.

When Mendocino voters in 2000 passed Measure G by an overwhelming
58-42 percent margin, it paved the way for locally liberal law
enforcement policies surrounding medical marijuana use.

The measure allowed the growing and possession of up to 25 pot plants
per person without fear of prosecution, compared to the state medical
marijuana standard of six plants per individual.

Since Measure G, Mendocino's marijuana production has soared to new
records, creating what's estimated to be a $1 billion-a-year
underground economy, according to Supervisor Jim Wattenburger,
referring to a report by an outside consultant hired to assess the
economic impact of marijuana on the county.

Outsiders from across the country and from Mexico and Canada have
flocked to the county seeking to profit from Mendocino's permissive
pot-growing attitude, law enforcement officials said.

But during the past year a public backlash began to emerge, fueled by
repeated discovery of large-scale commercial marijuana growing
operations, and reports of armed guards, threats of violence to rural
neighbors, and significant environmental damage.

Medical marijuana advocates say they're alarmed by the public outcry,
fearing possible recriminations and "suppression of the legally
protected rights of cannabis patients."

Pebbles Trippet, a member of the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory
Board, couldn't be reached for comment Monday. But Trippet recently
noted in a Web posting for medical marijuana advocates that "until
this year the county had not even tried to regulate marijuana for
medical purposes."

"The supervisors left that job to law enforcement -- former Sheriff
Tony Craver and former District Attorney Norm Vroman -- for a
decade," Trippet said.

Trippet said the advisory board, whose honorary chairman is Craver,
is considering whether to place its own "comprehensive (medical
marijuana) policy measure" on the local ballot this year.

Supporters of the repeal Measure G drive say they believe public
support of medical marijuana has evaporated.

"Yes, Measure G passed fairly handily, but now that its effects are
better known, perhaps its support is not so widespread," said Pool.

Local wine industry leader Martha Barra agreed. "This issue has gone
beyond the medical benefits of marijuana," she said.

"What we are sanctioning now is the lucrative but illegal business of
producing and selling marijuana," Barra said.

The pros and cons of Measure G and the county's medical marijuana
practices will be aired at today's board hearing, which is scheduled
to begin at 1:45 p.m. in the county administration center on Low Gap Road.