REGULATION OPTIONS OFFERED IN COUNTY REPORT

Kern County is living in medical marijuana limbo in the wake of
federal drug raids on a county-licensed herb dispensary last month.

But the county, its lawyers say, can't stay in limbo.

All six marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated Kern have
voluntarily closed, but they still hold county permits. So, because
county ordinances don't allow any more than six dispensaries to open,
there is a de facto moratorium on medical marijuana shops in Kern County.

But state law, Deputy County Counsel John Irby states in an
eight-page memo to county supervisors, does not allow Kern to ban
dispensaries or put a moratorium on them.

So county supervisors on Tuesday will once again take up the burden
of marijuana regulation as they struggle to reconcile federal laws
that outlaw marijuana with a state law that permits it to be used as
a medicine.

Supervisor Mike Maggard said he struggles with the county having a
role in regulating something that is illegal under federal law.

"I think it's inappropriate for a county to allow an operation that's
in violation of the law," he said. "We've been put in an impossible situation."

One option, according to Irby's report, is for supervisors to throw
up their hands and remove all county regulation of medical marijuana.

Even marijuana legalization advocates think that's a bad idea.

"I think it would be a mistake not to have an ordinance," said Doug
McAfee, president of the Bakersfield chapter of NORML, a
pro-legalization group.

"Then you can have these things pop up just about anywhere. You can't
control the numbers and locations," County Counsel Bernard Barmann said.

"L.A. hasn't done (any regulation) and they have 400 of them," Irby said.

The other option for supervisors is to rewrite a 2006 ordinance to
put more restrictions on marijuana shops.

Supervisor Don Maben said he is giving that idea a serious look.

Irby and Barmann said the current draft of the county ordinance has
been abused by some dispensaries.

On Friday, Irby said the dispensaries, which state law envisioned as
pot-growing cooperatives, have become high-volume marijuana stores --
retailing herbs from major illegal growers to thousands of local users.

"If people grew their own the feds aren't going to bother them,"
Barmann said. "Everybody knows that. (The problem is) the money and
the demand. The demand and the money is ... it's just beyond belief."

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said the only sources for that
much pot are illegal growers.

Dealing with black-market dealers, Irby said, ensured that federal
drug agents would investigate.

Jim McGowen, who chose to close his American Caregivers Collective
following federal raids, said he only bought marijuana raised by his
patients who lived in California.

"I didn't sell any of that Mexican pot because I knew that was
against the rules," he said. "These 20,000-plant grows are illegal.
Everyone knows that."

Not all dispensaries crossed the line, Irby said. Some stayed small
and tried to keep clean.

But federal attention became focused on Kern County.

Youngblood refuses to be involved in future regulation of medical marijuana.

"I'm not going to have my deputies go in and collect information from
these people, knowing that I'm going to use the information I get to
put (shop owners) in federal prison," he said.

Irby's memo suggests transferring ordinance oversight to another
county department.

"Oversight should be from the Health Department," McAfee agreed.

A final decision about all the county's options will rest with Kern
County supervisors, who meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday on the first floor of
1115 Truxtun Ave.

Maggard said no decision can solve the situation.

"It's going to be a less-than-perfect solution," he said. "We didn't
create this mess. But it's in our laps, so we have to deal with it."

Marijuana Doctors

A portion of Deputy County Counsel John Irby's report notes that some
doctors who have recommended marijuana for Kern County patients came
to town to "sell" recommendations "apparently without examination."

Kern County Counsel Bernard Barmann and Sheriff Donny Youngblood said
the case they'd heard of was just an anecdote.

"It hasn't been investigated," Irby said. "We really aren't
regulating patients and we can't regulate doctors."

Youngblood said he'd heard the story, but wouldn't say if the doctor
had been investigated.

"We were in the middle of investigating a lot of things" before the
dispensaries closed, he said.

Jim McGowen of American Caregivers Collective said he invited the
unnamed doctor to town.

It wasn't an unethical situation, he said.

The doctor didn't do examinations, McGowen said, but he closely
reviewed the patients' medical records and asked tough questions
before he would hand out a recommendation for marijuana.

"He wouldn't prescribe for pregnant women. He refused a lot of
recommendations," McGowen said. "Some recommendations were just for one month."