MENDOCINO: LEGALIZE POT

Conceding There's Little Hope of Success, Board of Supervisors Urges
State, Feds to Change Law

Mendocino County supervisors said Tuesday the war on marijuana is lost
and it's time to legalize, regulate and tax the multibillion-dollar
illicit crop.

"Whether you love marijuana or hate marijuana, you can agree it's time
for a change," said Supervisor John Pinches, part of a 4-1 board vote
in support of a letter asking state and federal lawmakers to legalize
marijuana.

The letter, penned by Pinches, is addressed to North Coast Congressman
Mike Thompson and copied to the governor, both California senators,
other area representatives and President Bush.

The Mendocino Board of Supervisors is the first North Coast government
body to make the formal request, said Dale Gieringer, Bay Area
coordinator for NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws.

Other jurisdictions, including Santa Cruz and Oakland, plan to send
similar letters, but they are being generated by voter-approved
ordinances, not county legislators, he said. Mendocino County voters
passed a similar measure in 2000, but it was nonbinding.

"The time has come to call upon our leaders in federal government to
initiate, sponsor and support legislation that calls for the
legalization, regulation, and taxation of this multi-billion dollar
crop," states the letter, signed by Board Chairman Kendall Smith and
approved by the board.

Supervisor Mike Delbar was the lone "no" vote, saying now is not the
time to legalize marijuana.

"I don't believe legalization is the answer," Delbar said.
Legalization sends the wrong message to the community, particularly
children and youth, he said.

Thompson said it's doubtful the letters will have much impact on
Congress.

Noting that his efforts to legalize medical marijuana at the federal
level have so far failed, a bill legalizing all marijuana would be "a
long shot," Thompson said in an e-mailed response to a reporter's
questions Tuesday.

Supervisors said they expect the request to be largely ignored, but
are hoping to stimulate debate.

Supervisors said they do not advocate smoking marijuana, but said the
war on its production not only has failed, it has made growing and
selling marijuana increasingly popular, dangerous and lucrative.

Currently, marijuana sells for between $3,000 and $4,000 a pound,
Gieringer said. People are being robbed and killed over marijuana
because it's so valuable, supervisors noted.

Growers have come to Mendocino County from out of state because they
erroneously believe it's legal to grow marijuana there, said attorney
Susan Jordan, who has represented some of the growers in court and
supports legalization.

Rather than a reduction in the amount of marijuana being grown,
Mendocino County has seen an increase in the number of plants, Pinches
said.

Last year, 227,019 plants were seized in Mendocino County, a record.
This year is expected to yield at least that much.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman did not attend Tuesday's meeting,
but said he neither opposed nor supported the letter. He said the
problem in California is a lack of consistency in the law.

"Wherever we go, I hope it is on a trial basis to see if we can work
for public safety," Allman said. "Is legalizing marijuana increasing
public safety? I don't know the answer."

He said even the record seizures are barely scratching the
surface.

"I don't believe that we are getting 10 percent of the illegal
marijuana in Mendocino County," he said.

The letter claims marijuana is a $5 billion crop in Mendocino County,
a figure provided previously by former District Attorney Norm Vroman,
who died last year.

Pinches said the crop could generate $50 million a year for Mendocino
County in taxes. But that figure was based on the current street value
for pot; the price is expected to drop if it is legalized.

Area resident Jeanne King disagrees with legalization. She said she
grew up near the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco and spent
much of high school stoned and accomplishing nothing.

Now, as a teacher, "I've seen the devastating effects of marijuana on
students," she said.